So it may seem pretty obvious that cellophane is an extremely flammable material but sometimes you just have to learn the hard way…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted! I’ve just been super busy with life but I have been making progress..honest. So I’ve made the metal framed wings which I’ve shown you and talked about in my previous post. I have then covered them in sheet of iridescent cellophane. Because the wire winged frames are a bit bulky from the hot glue (explained in previous post) I struggled to get the cellophane taut and smooth leaving it with quite a few air bubble which was very frustrating but I guess to be expected. Like I said in my last post, I have ordered a soldering kit so I can join the wings together more seamlessly which will create a stronger structure and prevent air bubble from emerging when applying the cellophane.

Anyway…even though the air bubbles were triggering me I wanted to finish what I’d started so I would have something to look back on and think, ‘wow…that was terrible…don’t do that again’, thus learning from my mistakes.

When the glue spray adhesive had dried the cellophane nice and securely to my wired wing structures it was time to neaten up the edges. I watched a tutorial on Youtube before I started the project to get a better idea on what to do, the next step was melt the edges of the cellophane so that it looks more organic and clings to the wire structure nicely.

DISCLAIMER! If you find yourself making fairy wings in this way please ensure that you are outside in an open space with you hair tied back! I did NOT do this and like the silly lemon that I am I decided it would be a good idea to do this in my bedroom…

So I started ‘artistically’ melting one of the wings and all of a sudden ‘whoosh’! The whole thing went up in flames and I was just waving around this massive fire ball in my hand! The flames thankfully died out when I whacked what was left of my wing on the floor and  walloped it vigorously with a shoe…

Yeah so like I said…make sure you’re outside if you decide to do this.

I am quite sad that my hard work has gone up in flames but the positive thing is that I’ve learnt a lot and my house didn’t burn down which is always good.

As my deadline grows near to finish off the wings I’ve decided to make some more simpler ones out of tights, which I will post about shortly as they’re nearly done. I will be making more cellophane wings soon but I’m still waiting on that soldering kit.

Stay tuned and stay safe!

I’m so so excited! I’ve always wanted to create my own collection and now it’s finally happening!

Right now I’m just gathering inspiration, putting together a mood board to help guide my vision of how I want collection to be. This is by far the biggest project I’ve ever done and I couldn’t be more excited. It’s going to be challenging but I know this experience is going to help me grow as a designer so much and show people who I am.

Ive decided to name my collection ‘Virtuality’, as it’s based on our fantasies, our fear, the other realm where everything is possible. I’ve always loved the idea of being in a fantasy and what would be better than making that come to life.

I feel very blessed to have you guys follow me on this journey, witnessing my struggles and achievements. Your support means so much and inspires me to keep doing what I love.

PS. Stay tuned for new updates on my fairy wing project!

 

So I’ve hit a little bump, these particular wings that I’m making have turned out to be a lot more challenging that I thought. You lied to me YouTube it’s not as easy as you made out to be! Because of this I’ve really had to think of solutions on how to get the best results.

Hot-glueing, I thought that was the answer to my problems but apparently not…  I’ve been following my fairy wing patten that I made, moulding and cutting my wire then fixing everything together with the hot-glue gun.

So problem number one about hot-glueing, the results look bulky and gloopy, making the whole thing look messy. I was thinking about spray painting the the wire veins of my wings to hide the gloopy mess which is an option/solution. However, the wings aren’t that strong. I’ve found if I move them around too much they fall apart and I have to glue parts back again. Bearing in mind these are being made for kids so as you can imagine they will be falling apart in no time. I was hoping that once I cover the wing structures in a laying of cellophane they might become stronger as everything will be compact together.

The only other solution that I can think of is soldering. I’ve looked on Amazon at a little soldering kit which isn’t too dear so I may invest myself in one. It would be a cool thing to have anyway regardless.

So for right now I’m going to see how things go with hot-glueing and spray painting,  keeping my fingers crossed that the cellophane saves the day! If it turns into a disaster I will turn to the soldering kit.

With my luck…

Right, so far things have been super frustrating… These wings were meant to be done by now!

So near the begging of the month I ordered all my materials that I needed to make the wings from Amazon and only a few things arrived and some didn’t even turn up. So I didn’t just loose out on money but also on time whilst waiting for everything to arrive.

But all that chaos is sorted now and I can finally start making! Wwhayyy!!!

All I’ve done so far is make the pattern for the top and bottom wings. The next step is to follow the pattern and make the wings out of wire.

So for this project I’m teaming up with my the amazing photographer Daniella Jaine! I’m very excited to be working with her as I really admire her work and vision.

Daniella specialises in fairy, fantasy photography and she has asked me to make some fairy wings for her photoshoots. I’m very excited and nervous about this challenge as I’ve never made realistic fairy wings before. I’ve been watching videos to give me some inspiration, I’ve found that some of them either turn out amazing or look a bit tacky which makes me a bit anxious as it’s kinda a hit or miss process. So let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that they turn out amazing!….

So Daniella has put together a Pinterest board to give me some guidance and vision of what sort of thing she wants. I’ll share that with you so you can see what type of wings I’m aiming to make.

Wish me luck guys…I will need it.

Hello everyone! It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted anything but I can excitedly tell you that my dress is now complete and I’m planning on doing a photo shoot within the next couple of weeks with an amazing friend of mine. She is such an inspiration to me and her work is absolutely beautiful. Please check her out and give her some love :). https://www.instagram.com/danniellajaine/

So it’s going to be a few weeks before you see the final photoshoot, in the meantime I’m going to focus on some other projects and keep you updates on what’s going on.

Posting last week has been a but delayed but you know how life can be at times.

So I’m happy to let you guys know that my dress is almost complete! I just need to add some bias binding on the neckline and sleeves. I also still need to make a little slip dress for under nether but the main piece is basically done.

I feel very excited nearly having everything finished and I can’t wait to show you guys the dress. But for the meantime I still want to keep it a secret so I can surprise you when it’s fully complete!

Stay tuned…

The dress making course that I’m doing is only two hours a week so making a dress is quite a slow process but I’m going to start working from home to speed things up and hopefully make a few more dresses before the course ends. The course is more of a sewing club really, a group of ladies sewing together and giving support to beginners. I’m actually really enjoying it and it’s exciting seeing what others come up with.

So far I’ve cut out all my pattern pieces and have nearly finished the bodice of my dress. It’s taking me a little longer than normal as I have decided to French seam each hem as I feel it will make the dress look much neater. I’m also working with chiffon which slides around a lot so bear with me guys…

As the fabric is quite see-through I’m going to make a little slip dress to go underneath  So don’t panic people no panties will be seen!

So I’ve finally settled on a design that I’m happy to make. I’ve very excited to see how everything turns out. I kinda want to keep my design a secret so it’s a surprise for when you see my final piece but I will be keeping you updated on my progress.

I’ve sourced out my material which is khaki green chiffon. Not the easiest material to work with but it falls really nicely and I think it’s going to look super pretty.  All I need to do now is finish cutting out my pattern pieces then onto the sewing machine to do my magic!

So here we have it, here are my finished candles I did last night. I wanted to do a couple more but I only have one mould. I’m really happy with how they came out and I can’t wait to make some more and experiment with different colours!