PRETTY FLAMINGO...

The flamingo costumes (x4) that I made for the JRock Eisteddfod that I spoke about last post would have to be one of my most favourite costumes so far.

I sourced some beautiful fabric that was called "feather" and it just set the costumes off. It was a hot pink chiffon with feathery strands hanging from it. It played havoc with my hay-fever, and in fact, still over 12 months later, I still find bits of pink fluff on things!!

I made the head section using the Simplicity 3663 pattern, which were a little tricky to put together. The beaks being the hardest as they were from craft foam. Well worth the effort in the end though. And just because Bec was one of the flamingos...I ordered some extra long false eyelashes from ebay for them all and stuck them to the eye section. Then I used sparkly glue on the eyes to make them glisten. The girls thought that was a huge laugh! You may just be able to see them if you click on the photos...Very girly indeed!




I just made the necks like a bent tube that thinned out towards the head and attached them to the skirt front and head section. They're just stuffed with wadding.

As they were performing a ballet, the teacher requested that they be a little more delicate looking for the body part, so I took inspiration from this. Only as the fabric wasn't stiff, I had to find another way for the back part to stick out. Several prototypes (and weeks) later, I ended up making elasticised skirts with an extended behind so that they could hide a 'bustle' under their skirt. I haven't got any pictures of the bustles that I made them (tsk, tsk), but they were pink and made from the Butterick 3737 View D. Another 'hit' with the girls!

We just bought black skivvies and hot pink tights to finish off with.



Making those flamingos was indeed a very long journey. But the 'Ooohs and Ahhhs' that I heard from the crowd when they graced onto the stage made it so worth while.

Edit: I forgot to add that the school scored a perfect 10 for the costumes too!!!! Yay!