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The costume modeled on my duct tape dress form which I made just to help with this project

me and my iPhone

The full wingspan is about 9 feet.  Do excuse the photobombing toddler and her tricycle  (she's all hopped up on candy) 

Here you can see the handmade feathers better.  The collar with real feathers is detachable so it can be worn without the cape.

stacks and stacks of handmade/distressed feathers made with organza, chiffon and my dogs' slicker brush!

A party shot with the inside of the cape! I also painted my friend's sugar skull make-up and hot glued her flowered headpiece about 15 minutes before we left!

The costume modeled on my duct tape dress form which I made just to help with this project

Photo: me and my iPhone

Here is my Morrigan The Raven costume!  This is not an anime thing in case there is a character out there somewhere with the same name!  I had the inspiration for the winged cape and then did a little research and discovered the Celtic Goddess of War who took the form of a raven.  It was mostly complete by the time I saw Snow White and The Huntsman but I must have had some subconscious inspiration from the evil queen in commercials or something.  

Everything is made by me.  The only pattern I used was for the corset in a great wet-looking, black brocade.  The top is a halloween polyester knit for which I could find no other use.  The skirt is 8 layers of ruffled tulle, netting and chiffon which I cut hign in the front and floor length in the back.  

For the cape I used an interesting fabric that I found on sale.  I think its a metallic organza loosely attached to a black cotton back. It worked out perfectly for the feathery texture I was going for.  I made each feather by sewing long strips of the metallic stuff and black chiffon together with one line of stitching.  Then I cut the long strips into 6-8" pieces and shaped them into feathers by snipping into the edges and then going to town fraying them with a dog slicker brush.  I am still finding the debris from this process all over my house.  I attached them to the cape with fabric glue after realizing that the seams showed too obviously when I sewed them.  I added strips of heavy weight interfacing to the "fingers" of the wings so they would remain stiff when I lifted the wings but still hang nicely at my side.  I also added thin dowels on the outer edge of the cape so the wingspan would be fully extended beyond where I could reach.  

I made the collar with a lot of trial and error and interfacing and finally some boning to keep it stiff.  I glued real, very long coque feathers to extend over the shoulders and down the back.  Then I used coque feather trim to line all around the inside and outside of the stand-up collar.  I added some sequins and rhinestones around the neck, but wish I hadn't 'cause honestly what goddess wears rhinestones and sequines?  Live and learn.  The collar is fastened with an invisible snap and it just laid perfectly over the cape underneath which I could easily remove when it got hot on the dance floor, while still keeping the dramatic collar on.

I also added some red contacts and feathered eyelashes to complete the look.  I hope you like it!

cstolarz, member
Posted on Nov 9th, 2012 in sewing, design, garment construction, embellishments, reader's closet, halloween, feathers, raven, morrigan, winged cape

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Comments (1)

LeslieD writes: I think this costume is the ult! I love everything about it. You did an excellent job.

Posted: 11:52 pm on January 1st

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