Workable Wings

[bellevivre]

I have most of Rosabelle's clothing designed, except for her wings... I am concerned about being able to have wings, and then still be able to shop! My thought was for dragonfly-esque, downward tilting wings, but I dont know that those are showy enough... thoughts?

Still not decided on cellophane vs. stocking over frame...

[analise]

I wear wings to MDRF (and other festivals. The tents at Spoutwood or the MD Faerie Fest, for example, are pretty tight compared to a shop at MDRF!) an awful lot and I find as long as I remain conscious of where my wings are (and I tend to do most of my shopping when they aren't as crowded, to minize potential for mishap), I'm usually okay. Or at least, I've yet to knock anything down.

You can see mine and how far they stick out here:

[Trillium]

The size of the wings mainly depend on the size of you and how much hassle you're prepared to deal with.  The big things to keep in mind are the ability to get through doorways/shops, crowds, and getting in and out of the privy.  Thankfully TRF and Scarby have real privies and not portables, but keep it in mind if you plan to attend other faires.  Personally, I cannot get into a portable.  I learned this trying to help my son at Xcal...   As you can see from my profile, my wings stick out a good 2 feet behind me and about 1-1 1/2 feet out on each side.  There are some shops that I don't attempt to enter and others that I will only consider if there aren't many people already inside, and I don't even attempt to enter Seadevil Tavern (too many oblivious drunks).  Thankfully I have a large barbarian with me most times so getting through crowds isn't too difficult.  Also, if you watch a show, be conciencious of your wings and their ability to block views, we normally sit on the outskirts.

[analise]

Good point about the privies, Trillium! I usually slip mine off (they hang on my shoulders) and hand them to a friend when I go, but I did discover when alone at Spoutwood that mine will, indeed, fit! Barely.

[renfairephotog]

You have to test wear them around the house to "feel" how wide they are. When well sell our wings at faire, we tell the customer to Stick out thier arms. That's how big you are now.

[bellevivre]

think I fogured out how I'm going to do my small wings- they will be cellophane style, and I will take two  metal coat hangers, one for each wing- I can stretch/bend the wire from the flat center to make the lobe, and then the hook can be bent to become the attaching bracket to slip inside my bodice.

[bellevivre]

Look, faerie wings are done!!!





oh, and along the way, my ViVi seems to have found some Faerie's shed wing!



the wreath is almost done, so I think we may be good to go for opening weekend @ TRF!

[ArielCallista]

Those wings are absolutely wonderful! I know you said you used a hanger for the framework of the wing, but how did you do the swirls and such? wire i assume but how is it attached. I'm trying to come up with a plan for making my own wings and I'd like to use the wire/cellophane option. No worries tho I'm not stealing your dragonfly wing style.

[bellevivre]

lol steal away!

it's 18 gauge florists wire, fastened with green florists tape (the stretchy, sticky kind)

it took me probably 3 hours to get them all done, and you'll want some good needle nose pliers, but with patience it works out.

Also- for the part of the wing that rests against your back- before you do anything else, once you have the basic outline shape, bend the 'handle' part of the hanger so that the finished wings will rest at the desired angles- the framework/cellophane could be damaged if you do this later on....

I think i'm going to make a diary for the wings, at least, because for whatever reason there arent tutorials on this style!

[ArielCallista]

How are you attaching these wings to your back?

[bellevivre]

you'll see in the second to last pic, the wings are attached to a pad of felt- the wings were positioned through a center piece (woven so they'd hold thier correct angles) then hot-glued down- i then used small pieces of steel boning to stabilize the center piece, then hot-glued another piece of felt on either side (front and back)

when I get dressed, the pad will slip down into the back of my bodice under the top lace- they will be held in place by that tension, and look as if they spring directly from my back!

[Trillium]

nicely done!  Hopefully I'll see you opening weekend!

[Elennare]

Oooooh!  Very nice!

[bellalye]

there are nice tutorials out there, like this one

http://www.freewebs.com/faeriemuse/constructiontutorial.htm

the design tutorial (linked on the page) shows ways to bend the frame to make a back brace too.

toodles!

[bellevivre]

yep- that's the only one i could find, and the one i used!