Indigo Fairy - The Beginning

I love online swaps and recently I joined one called Needful Things which is being hosted by Val over at Yarnigras Swapper Spot. We are to make at least one of the items we send our partner and then can either purchase or make at least 5 other fun things. Well, after careful deliberation I chose to make a fairy for my partner in her favorite color. I know that the fairy will exceed the $30 package cost but I am too excited about making her to care!

Armature

Taped and Ready for Clay

Tools of the Trade

Baked and Ready for More

This sweet little fae must be complete and mailed by this Saturday so I'll be moving pretty fast on her. 

Yesterday I dyed several hanks of fabric including some Dupioni Silk and a nice cotton sheeting along with a small pelt of Tibetan Lamb.

Original Pelt

Rinsed and Ready to Go

Tools

In the Dye

I searched the internet and found several ideas for dying the hair but the products they mentioned (other than Kool-Aid) were either not available locally or were not in stock in the color I needed, so I decided to experiment.

I am using Dylon permanent fabric dye in a deep blue. Since this dye is also suitable for silk and wool I figured it should work.

To start I had to mix the dye with 4 cups of water and stir it until the dye was dissolved. Note – use a bigger bowl than I did. When stirring I managed to spill it on my white tile counter. The good thing is that it did clean up easily but I will have to take some scouring powder and scrub the grout to remove the last traces or dye.

I then rinsed the hair I planned to dye and gently patted it with a paper towel to remove the excess water.

Next I filled a container with enough water that the hair could move freely and added 4 tablespoons of salt. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Once the salt was dissolved in the water I added the dye, stirred it until it was completely combined with the salt water then in went the pelt of Tibetan lamb.

Now we wait. I let the pelt soak in the dye for an hour, checking it occasionally. I can tell you during the entire process that I had no idea how the hair was taking the color. The dye was just too dark and I didn’t want to rinse it early.

Once the hour was up I rinsed the pelt in warm (not hot!) water, combed it out and let it dry. Not too bad. I then let it sit in the dye overnight and got a slightly darker color. Next time I will either order the color I want from someone or order the correct dye online. 

Dry and Ready to Use

Thankfully the fabric I dyed is stunning and perfect for her costume and the Tibetan Lamb will work just fine to add streaks of color to her hair.

More Birdcage Fairy Progress Pictures

I am getting closer to the finish line with the Birdcage Fairy. Her costume is almost done and then I'll finish her hair and create her wings. I've had a quick project come up that has put a hold on her until this weekend. See bottom of post for more info!

Costume Detail

Tiara - final Bits

I am currently involved in an online swap called Needful Things and I am creating a fairy for my partner in her favorite color. Check back later today to see the beginnings of the Indigo Fairy.

More Progress Pictures

Here are a few more in-progress pictures of the little faerie.

Mohair is a fabulous medium to work with. You can use styling products on it just like you do your own hair. It is easy to curl and if you don't like the way the hair style turns our all you have to do it wet the hair and comb it.

In the first two pictures I used a dowel that I cut into approximately 1/2 to 1 inch pieces and warpped water dampened hair on, making super easy curlers. I then clipped the "curlers" in place using these darling clips that I found at the dollar store. You can use larger dowels to change the size of the curls. I recommend sanding the edges of your "curlers" so the curled hair doesn't tangle in the cut edge. 

Her hair is full of curlers. She is just waiting for everything to dry to see how they turned out. 

Once her hair dried I was able to remove the curlers. Right now her hair is still a little wild. She'll be getting a crystal tiara and some additional curls once she is costumed. At that time I'll really be playing with those curls. 

She finally got her skin! It still looked a little rough here but that is OK! All of the "muscle" is now covered and she has a shape to her. Since she a younger faerie she does not have that slim, hourglass, figure but I think she is going to be just fine. 

This is the preliminary base of her wardrobe. She still needs lots of work but she is really coming along. I hope to finish her costume this next week and then get to work on her wings and tiara. 

Stay tuned for more progress pictures - hopefully soon!

Update - Fairy Progress

This is where she was when I updated last week. She had a basic face and limbs but that is it!

Hands and Feet!

Checking her proportions

Fleshing out the body

A little bit of makeup

HAIR!

Here is where we are now.

Now I am waiting for her hair to dry so I can style it. Next up I'll be adding a body stocking to hold everything together and then I'll work on her wings, costume and crown. A new bead shop opened up in Reno so I now have a great place to get what I need to make fairy crowns.