Sven the Reindeer Costume

At long last Sven the Reindeer is finished and ready to go. I have become quite attached to him over the last few weeks and really don't want to let him go, but go he must as Kristoff is waiting for him and they are both going to be dancing in the Allesley School of Dance Christmas show in December.
There are 31 characters in the Frozen Troupe, 10 Trolls, 10 Girl Villagers, 6 Ice Maidens, Olaf, Sven, Kristoff, Anna and Elsa. I am just finishing painting the flowers around Anna's skirt, which I will blog about next, and once I have put her costume together, they can all go to their new owners. Here are some photos of the stages of making Sven, starting with the finished Costume




Sven Costume

 

Basic Face

The base of the antlers which I cover with strips of wadding and then white jersey tubes that I sew on

 

 

I have used expensive fur to give him an extra plush look. The eyes are made with white lycra and black velvet which I sew on painstakingly by hand. There is a cream lycra helmet inside the head so that it will grip tightly to the face and I will be attaching some straps so that it can be tied onto the child's body so that he can dance freely without fear of it falling off. I have made hooves out of thick black vinyl and trimmed them with long cream fur.

 

Here is a photo of the finished Kristoff Costume, which fitted the dancer perfectly, It is complete with mittens and boots, which are sewn onto the costume to prevent them falling off/getting lost.

 

 

Kristoff Costume

I make up my own patterns for most of the costumes I make, spending a lot of time studying the character and then having a go and developing them bit by bit. I keep checking the measurements to make sure they will fit.

Once I have finished this troupe, I will be making 11 Playing Cards from Alice in Wonderland, the Johnny Depp version, A Red Queen, White Queen and Alice herself in her little blue number. I will try and blog as I go along.

Bye for now, I hope you have enjoyed a little insight into my world of fantasy and creativity. I am looking forward to watching Alice over and over now to get me in the zone. I will be talking like the Mad Hatter by the end of it, or even worse, the March Hare!