#fosshape

All the hats I needed to make for my millinery college course for the first of 3 classes are done!  The next set of hat classes don’t start till fall 2023.

Every one of these hats are handmade by yours truly.

If you would like to help support me for school supplies (because fabric is not cheap, especially wool, fosshape, grosgrain, felt hat stiffener,or buckram), help keep me caffeinated, or help with my YouTube Channel, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi, at the link below:

You may have seen this egúngún masquerade dance costume several years ago when it was exhibited in Disguise: Masks and Global African Art (2016) and Diverse Works: Director’s Choice, 1997-2015 (2015), or even in Passages: Photographs in Africa by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher (2000). During these earlier exhibitions the costume was simply draped onto a support with its flaps hanging down lifelessly. 

For our current exhibition One: Egúngún, the costume mount received a dramatic makeover giving the viewer a suggestion of the costume’s dynamism. Consulting with Sills Family Consulting Curator, Kristen Windmuller-Luna, and working with our mount maker Mike Mandina, we modified the mount to create a more compelling and lively display of the work to reflect how the costume was originally used.

Suggestion of body movement was obtained by cutting and angling the internal Ethafoam® support. Ethafoam® is an easily carved archival polyethylene foam regularly used in museums. Additionally, enhancing and angling the internal head form helped to create the illusion of a moving figure beneath the costume. Supports comprised of a soldered brass armature covered in Fosshape were used to lift the fabric flaps and give the effect of movement.

 Fosshape is a non-woven synthetic fabric that can be heated and manipulated into a desired form. The flap supports at the bottom of the costume were secured by inserting the brass frame into Ethafoam planks underneath the objects, while those at the top were secured in place using magnets. 

The use of magnets and Fosshape in conservation and mounting of artworks is relatively new and not available when the costume was acquired in 1998. Utilizing these new technical innovations allowed us to greatly enhance the presentation of this object.

Making Fosshape Boots

By the makers of Wonderflex, Fosshape is a relatively new material which is being considered the ‘buckram’ replacement. Though still lightly pricy for a cosplay material), Fosshape can be used in a multitude of way to make hats, armor, inserts, and other items requiring a stiff yet flexible feel to them.

Sheikah Link WIP

Legit all I have left for this costume for me to go ‘I can wear this to con’ is the mask and that makes me so happy. Finally all of that armor work was put together on my boddy and the belts attached.

@altereiko was a sweetheart and let me borrow her body when she visited to place the armor on her shoulders and arms. During which I realized her shoulders are smaller than mine but OHWELL. I needed the arm plates and shoulder plates set first so I could build up the belts, so having her arms was a great help. Afterwards I placed the armor on my dressform and body to position the chest pieces, using air dry-able markers and snaps to set everything. Then back on my dressform I carefully cut and set the belts to get the patterns I wanted, and also used snaps to keep them in place. (PS Hand sewing with a curved needle through both fosshape and pleather isn’t fun.) I’m INCREDIBLY happy with how this overall turned out.

Sheikah Link WIP

GETTING SO CLOSE. Attaching the rest of the trim was so fucking tedious and I realized for several pieces I cut them the wrong size (how) but I’m not starting from scratch so I just made them work and used paint to cover my mistakes. Each edge was attached with e6000 and hot glue, and then cut to make a mitered corner.  The next step for most of these is to add snaps that then will be attached to the body suit. The shoulder pads will need to wait till next week because I need either help or another similar body to ensure it lays out right.