Sakura Art Book Dress How To
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Tutorial by: Evie Evangelion
I worked very hard on this dress and I learned a lot while making it. I was lucky enough to find an article like this when I started making the dress, which I found very helpful, and I wanted to share how I made the dress in hopes of helping someone else down the line. I am very proud of this dress and while the way I made it might not have been the smartest or the best, it still came out beautifully.
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Dress Materials:
Hula Hoops (from the dollar store, they have 3 different sizes and where hollow and there for light)
Duct tape
A thrift store wedding dress (for the petticoat)
10 meters of Tulle (two different stiffness, about 5 of each)
2.5 meters of twill (for the cape)
2 white curtains (for lining the cape, from the thrift store)
1 gold curtain (from thrift store)
6.5 meters of white satin (for the dress)
1.5 meters of white spandex (for gloves)
10 meters of horse hair braid (for the hem)
16 gold buttons
Prop Materials:
Model Magic (for wings and staff)
Cardstock (wings and staff)
Gold and Black paint
Ribbon
Wooden dowel
Steps to making the dress:
First I worked out thumbnails and set out a design I wanted to follow, because it was an art book dress, I added some details that couldn’t be seen in the art book picture. I added a pattern of gold wings to the bottom of the cape.
Once this was done I started work on the hoop skirt and the petticoat, I took some left over stretchy fabric I had and made a waist band, I then attached the hula hoops to it using duct tape, and of course arrange the hoops from smallest to largest. Once this was done I moved on to the petticoat. I cut the top of the wedding dress off and the train off; I took the extra fabric from the train and sewed it into the skirt so that I could add more volume. In the end I had to sew 5 meters of the tulle into the wedding dress and make, a waist band/belt like part of tulle, (like a tutu really) to tie over the wedding dress to get the volume I wanted in the dress.
Once I had the volume I wanted I started working on the cape. I sewed the curtains together and then cut them to the shape I needed for the cape. I cut the fabric for the outside of the cape and the gold fabric into the shapes for the wings. Once I had all the pieces cut out I tacked the gold pieces to the bottom of the cape so that they didn’t shift when I satin stitched them down. I did the same on the red upper part of the cape.
Once everything was in place I sewed the outside and lining together (like a pillow case) leaving the top opened, I then closed it by sewing the red on to the top. Once it was all together I tacked the cape and lining together to help keep the cape from poofing open like a pillow. I also ironed the cape, adding creasing to the sides where my shoulders are to help keep the cape in shape.
CAPE IS DONE! On to the dress!
To start with the dress I set up the hoop skirt and petticoats on a dress form (made of duct tape), and measured from the waist to the floor. I used the wrong side of the satin I got because it was softer and I didn’t want the high shine for the satin.
I cut out 2 half circles so I could make a full circle skirt. (in fact I had a little hiccup and was short to make one semi-circle so I ended up with one half for the front and two quarters in the back, but it all adds up to the same thing really), I sewed the pieces together and then moved on to the top, I cut 3 rectangles for the top and sewed them together, making sure that 2 of the seams where down my front. Once the two parts where done I sewed them together. Once it was all one piece I pinched bit of the skirt and tacked them up to the top to give it a ruffled look, I did 6 of these. I added two button holes next to the seam of the skirt (for the wings that would go there). I also added 3 white and one gold bead to the pickups I added around the seam just to have them look cleaner.
Once everything was sewn together I trimmed the extra fabric from the bottom of skirt, I then sewed the horsehair around the bottom edge of the skirt, i sewed it to the outside of the skirt and then folded it under twice and sewed it down as a hem. This made the hem super nice and super easy! My skirt is now about 2 inches off the ground and had a lovely flow to it thanks to the horse hair braid.
Lastly for the dress I had to sew the buttons to the front, I did this by adding a smaller button behind each one to help them sit straighter.
DRESS IS DONE!
Now on to the gloves!
Yeah I tried to make the gloves…didn’t work, so I went out and bought a pair.
GLOVES ARE DONE On to Props!
So this dress has a gold wing in Sakura’s hair, a choaker with a gold wing, a pair of wings where the skirt and top of the dress meet and a staff.
I made all of these using a similar method, I cut the shape out, out of illustration broad/card stock, and then used model magic to build the shapes up on the wings and staff head. Once this was done and dried I paper-mache the wings to make them stronger. When they were all dried I painted them, (pretty simple)
For the wings at my hips I attached ribbon to the back of them to feed through button holes on the dress and tie under the dress. For the head piece one I attached a hair comb to the wing so it could sit in the wig good.
For the staff I cut a slit into a piece of dowel and bolted the staff head into it. I also cut the dowel in half and added a screw to it so that it could be transported in 2 pieces. I built up some more model magic around where the dowel attached to the staff head and to the bottom of the poll as well and then painted it.
AND ALL DONE!!
If you have any questions or want to know more feel free to ask!!
By: Geek Girl
Evie Evangelion -
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June 08 2013