My Mystique (FINISHED! Pics on page 3)

GeektressGalore

Sr Member
Right, so up till now I've done things that don't really require me to alter my appearance in any way, so I decided to give myself a bit more of a challenge with my next costume. Which turned out to be not so much of a challenge.

Here's a picture with all of my supplies for my Mystique costume. I'm doing her white dress, so that was already a simple choice.
DSCF0600.jpg


If you can't see, I've got about 3 yards worth of white jersey knit, a pair of white gloves, white gogo boots, a thing of Ben Nye's CL-19 Blue, a BRIGHT red wig, two pairs of blue tights, and I've got 5 bags of small silvery skulls (only one pictured).

Up to now, I've got a skull attached to the wig (as pictured below)

DSCF0602.jpg


It's not totally attractive right now, but I'm working with it.

I've also got the dress sewn. It only took about an hour and a half or two hours to get it done. I like to work fast.

DSCF0603.jpg


What I plan to do with the tights is use one pair for my legs (obviously) and use the other to make my arms blue. I took a hint from some of the Weeping Angel costumers out there, but since I'm wearing gloves, I decided to just cut a hole for my fingers and two more holes for my pinkie and thumb so it doesn't ride up. I also have a hole cut for my head so it goes on like a shirt. A very blue, awkwardly transparent shirt.

Hopefully by the end of the week, I'll have the skulls sewn onto the dress to hide that hideous seam in the middle. That way I don't have to worry about attaching plastic skulls to a belt of some kind.

What are your thoughts? Am I doing everything I should?
 
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Re: My Mystique

Looking good so far, except I would consider redoing the hem on the slit sides of the dress. It looks like it got stretched out while it was being sewn, that's probably what's causing the wrinkling. If you don't want to re-sew it, at least iron it some, to give it a smoother edge. Sorry if I'm sounding nit-picky -- the rest of what you've got looks good! -- but details like that can make a big difference in the overall impression of a costume.
 
Re: My Mystique

Looking good so far, except I would consider redoing the hem on the slit sides of the dress. It looks like it got stretched out while it was being sewn, that's probably what's causing the wrinkling. If you don't want to re-sew it, at least iron it some, to give it a smoother edge. Sorry if I'm sounding nit-picky -- the rest of what you've got looks good! -- but details like that can make a big difference in the overall impression of a costume.

Yea, I literally just finished it before I took pictures. XD
I plan on ironing it to see if that helps at all. I think a lot of it is that it's really a lightweight material, but it's got the stretch I need and it hangs just right ... when it's not all weird.
 
Re: My Mystique

I do hope you've gotten some sort of sealer for that Ben Nye make up. It will be getting all over your white neckline otherwise. I've used it a lot in theater and it can be messy.
 
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Re: My Mystique

looking forward to seeing this...didnt care for the movie version or the movie characterization
 
Re: My Mystique

Why don't you try a blue unitard or wear something with a blue turtleneck so you won't ruin that dress with the makeup? Could probably be had for not too much money.
 
Re: My Mystique

Yea, I literally just finished it before I took pictures. XD
I plan on ironing it to see if that helps at all. I think a lot of it is that it's really a lightweight material, but it's got the stretch I need and it hangs just right ... when it's not all weird.

Is it a lycra/spandex?

That's some pretty intense puckering... I'm not sure that ironing is going to do it except to intensify the effect.

I have a suggestion for overcoming that but it might involve a seam ripper :\

Otherwise, everything is coming together quite nice!:) I always enjoy a good old school mystique.
 
Re: My Mystique

Why don't you try a blue unitard or wear something with a blue turtleneck so you won't ruin that dress with the makeup? Could probably be had for not too much money.

I thought about that, but the design for the dress involves a white turtleneck, so either way I'd be running the risk of getting makeup on it. I opted for the cheaper route.
 
Re: My Mystique

Is it a lycra/spandex?

That's some pretty intense puckering... I'm not sure that ironing is going to do it except to intensify the effect.

I have a suggestion for overcoming that but it might involve a seam ripper :\

Otherwise, everything is coming together quite nice!:) I always enjoy a good old school mystique.

It's a jersey knit. I really didn't want to do a pure spandex dress, but I needed a bit of stretch, so I didn't use the leftover gabardine I have from my Assassin's Creed costume. It has just the right amount of stretch, as far as I can tell, and if need be, I'm not afraid to take a seam ripper to it. I may have just had the tension set too high on my machine.

I'll keep everyone posted. I'll be ironing it tonight.
 
Re: My Mystique

I actually went ahead and took 10 minutes to iron the dress, and it seems to have gotten rid of the puckering. I tried it on and it lays more flat, so I think we're good.
 
Re: My Mystique

Those of you interested, here are pictures of the dress with the tights, gloves and boots:

DSCF0604.jpg

DSCF0605.jpg


Just thrown on, no makeup or wig or anything.
Like I said before, I plan on sewing the skulls on later.
 
Re: My Mystique

It's posts like these that remind me that I should find a geek girl some day. :lol

Glad to see it looks like your hem smoothed out. :)

Ryu
 
Re: My Mystique

Cool, glad it came out! Looks great. (At first I was like, :\, and now I'm like ^¬^ )
 
Re: My Mystique

Looking good there so far, *thumbs up*

Not looking forward to sewing spandex for the first time, I'm definitely not comfortable with the stretching issue due to my lack of sewing skills. Anyone got any advise? Not trying to hijack your thread, lol
 
Re: My Mystique

Thanks everyone! I'm glad that's all it was, and I'm glad you think it looks better! :D

Looking good there so far, *thumbs up*

Not looking forward to sewing spandex for the first time, I'm definitely not comfortable with the stretching issue due to my lack of sewing skills. Anyone got any advise? Not trying to hijack your thread, lol

Well, when I sewed my Harley Quinn hood, I had the tension setting on my machine set to 3. It was loose enough that it let the spandex stretch fine, but tense enough that it didn't fall apart.

I'd suggest testing with your sewing machine with small pieces of spandex to see what works before you do anything larger scale. :)
 
Re: My Mystique

Looking good there so far, *thumbs up*

Not looking forward to sewing spandex for the first time, I'm definitely not comfortable with the stretching issue due to my lack of sewing skills. Anyone got any advise? Not trying to hijack your thread, lol

For lycra:
The ideal tool is a serger, but most people don't have that.

The next best option is a...
1. ZIG ZAG stitch. Most important part.

Looks like this /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

That allows plenty of strech in Lycra without using a serger.

1. Very important. The right kind of needle. "stretch"

Also, if you are sewing long, straight panels, a way to counter-act the pull of the foot (which creates puckering in lycra) is to sandwich it in between two sheets of thin paper. I like to use tracing paper. It allows the lycra to get sewn without being stretched and bunched by the pull of the foot. (Then you can just pull the paper away...)
 
Re: My Mystique

Very nicely done so far, X-men was a big thing in my childhood, I'm even named after Wolverine :D

I was considering doing his original costume, but I'm too small to do it justice, plus leather is a pain in the arse as I learned from my Altair costume.
 
Re: My Mystique

Thanks for the advice Geekstress and Rogers, u guys rock! Coincidentally, I added my little project to my albums if you guys wanna take a look.
 
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