Dodo Ruff.

This was my original inspiration, for the ruff idea. 

The Dodo Ruff. 

Whilst designing the character of the Dodo I decided to create a ruff, an elizabethan style ruff to create the illusion that the Dodo could be regal. I used lots of scraps of fabric left over from making the feathers so that the colours reflect the rest of the costume. I used alot of different textures as well as the fabric from the feathers, because i wanted the ruff to look really textured and colourful. I used a gold netting which i layed over the top to keep the fabric from flopping around and make it look more unified.  I then sprayed starch over it to create the stiffness which the ruff needed. 

Using bondaweb to attatch the pieces of fabric to the ruff.

These pieces of fabric are attached to a piece of cotton which was a full cirle which i cut the middle out of.

Once i had stuck all the pieces of fabric to the cotton circle, i ironed cut out a piece of the gold netting and put it on top. I then added a a piece of gold fabric along the bottom and cut the bottom edge in scallop shapes.

Once all the glue had dried etc, i began to fold.Using a glue gun and stitching i folded the fabric in a consetina style to create the ruff. 

The last steps for the ruff was gluing on feathers, home made and real ones to the other side of the ruff and binding the inner edge. 

I am so pleased with the final result, the multi textural look is the exactly what I was going for. It compliments the rest of the costume well and the colours are great. i am really glad i put the net over the top of the other fabrics as it takes away the busy- ness  and creates a more streamlined professional look.

Dodo Mask.

 The Dodo Mask.

• After the latex beaks were attached to the masks i used feathers and my home made feathers to decorate the mask.
• I used a mixture of the made feathers and the real bird feathers creates a good contrast and blends very well.
• I painted the latex beaks with a metalic paint to give it the shine, it is the same paint i used on the unitard which helps connect the two together.
• 
  

Dodo Unitard Embelishment.

 Dodo's Unitard. 
Because of the nature of the Dodo and it lack of wings, I have decided to only have illustrated feathers on the arms and the fingers will have feathered gloves to represent the little wings of the Dodo. In contrast the Owl will have feathered arms as the Owl has proper wings. 


Although it's no where near completion, Im pleased with its progress. 

Home Made Feathers.

Home Made Feathers.

As I explained in the post 'Making feathers' I decided to go with that method and make my own feathers! I've used lots of different materials, silks, cottons, polycottons, sythentic viscose all in differnt colours which will suit the Dodo and the Owl costumes. For the Dodo I have decided to go with autumn colours, browns, ambers, ocures etc, & for the owl soft white and creams. I think the outcome is really effective and has a lot of movement and texture, which was the effect I was going for.   

Delivery of real feathers from ebay!

I ordered some feathers off ebay to add to some of the masks and to the feathers I have made already to give a textured effect. 

Making Masks.

 MAKING MASKS.

• To make the beaks I began to mould the shapes of the beaks out of clay. I used pictures taken from my first research  into birds to use as a guide to make the beaks. I found this really creative.   

Once I had created all of the beaks in clay I let threm dry compleatly for a week. For the next step I decided to use latex rather than any other materials, because of its flexiblity, and lightweight nature. 
Latex has to be painted on in layers, so I painted it on to the clay beaks until they had a thick layer coated on top. On the last few layers I added some acrylic paint to the latex mixture and painted the last few layers on.

 After the latex had dried I pealed the latex off the clay and I trimmed away the scabby bits of  latex away. Originally I was going to attach the latex beaks straight on to the the lycra face 'sock' balaclava, however I realised that the if the 'sock' is ill fitting etc the beak will sag and look awful. So I decided to use a premade make to add stability.
I found these masks at 'The Market Gallery' in Poole for £1.50, I used a glue gun to attatched the beaks to the masks. because of the smooth plastic I made sure that the plastic melted with the heat of the glue gun so that when more latex was added to the masks it would stick and not just peel off. I coated all of the masks with the latex so they had a smooth consistant surface rather than having the look of being stick on.      

  I also found this hat, which would be a good base for the owl's headress, obioviously I will remove the skull and cross bones, but the shape will be good and sturdy to add padding onto.