The pearls are all embroidered to the front, and I'm outlining each area with gold braid. I hope to have the whole thing done by Tuesday, and I'll unveil it then.
The only problem is that obviously, I had to figure out how to make the kokoshnik as I was making it, and it's not 100% perfect. Part of me wants to make a second one, without the mistakes I made on the first one. Another part of me asks "are you nuts? It'll take weeks for the skin to grow back on your fingertips as it is!"
We'll see. I have plenty of supplies, so making another kokoshnik wouldn't cost me anything but time But what on Earth would I do with two of them?
If they are life size... wear it. If not, find someone who creates wonderful dolls who would be able to use it to finish the look of a fabulous Russian doll. Diana, who isnt going to beg for it.. .yet. ;-)
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 16:48:27 -0500, meijhana wrote (in message ):
Good god, no one would want to wear the thing! It weighs five pounds, easily, and would make anyone look extremely dorky. A single woman can't wear a kokoshnik, and a married woman wouldn't be allowed to have even one hair showing when outside the house. I have something a _lot_ nicer for you. That's not to say I don't like the kokoshnik - I do. But it's really a period piece, and I can't imagine anyone outside of the SCA would want to wear it. OTOH, if you want to be a 15th century Russian woman, have I got a deal for you!
Aren't you glad that so far the plans are for late Sept/early Oct?!!!
Wish I could say "get those breathing treatments done" and invite you out. You will *still* get an invite, but I think I will have to make you a video tape...:-)
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 16:49:06 -0500, meijhana wrote (in message ):
It is full sized. I made it large enough to fit on my head. However, I can't imagine myself ever wearing it. It's red silk satin, encrusted with pearls, and weighs a ton. If I come back as a 15th century Boyarina, I'm all set. (I'll need to bring my neck brace back with me, though)
I bought a vintage hat form for display purposes. It's covered with a tan burlap type fabric, and is a whole lot nicer than your basic styrofoam wig head. I saw some glass heads, but liked this a lot better.
One thing I did that was totally out of period is that the whole thing is sewn with Power Pro. No way was I going to use silk thread that would degrade in the humidity of New England. I spent way too much time work on this thing to have it fall apart in three or four years.
BTW, the whole front is done (five layers of silk held together with interfacing - a total bee-yotch to embroider - if I used the brains god gave me, I'd have done the embroidery before fusing all that silk together.), the back is done, and the pearl veil overlays are done. I just need to make a piece for the top of the head, and sew it all together. I'm paranoid as anything about cutting out the front piece (I drew the pattern piece and embroidered it in place), and I'm really not looking forward to the blisters I'm going to get sewing all those layers of silk and interfacing together.
On Mon, 16 Feb 2004 21:19:35 -0500, AmazeR wrote (in message ):
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Mine turned out quite differently than either of the plans here. I used a more tradtional shape, and I have a lot more pearl embroidery on the front, and nets of pearls covering the back of the head and nape of the neck.
It's been challenging, but really fun to make, so far.
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