Haunted Histories of Hartlepool Costume

Haunted Histories Costume

The costume has been constructed for Hilda and it has been fitted on the model. Grey light weight calico has been used and the fishtail skirt has lining added to the inside so that netting could be attached to the bottom making the skirt flared. On the sleeves interfacing was added to the top so that it would keep its shape. The fur boa was the most time consuming since it consists of lots of rectangle piece of fabric which needed to be frayed around the edges and attached to the base. Through creating the boa I found some techniques that other might find useful when fraying fabric.

Fraying Tips

-Cut the fabric on the grain instead of the cross grain so that the fabric has a vertical and horizontal warp and weft, this makes it easier to fray and the fraying is straighter whereas when on the cross grain it is harder to fray and the fray lines are diagonal.

-Wash the fabric in the washing machine, this will start off the fraying but it creates a uneven effect since the loose threads are not always fully removed.

-Use a wire brush to fray the fabric brushing it downwards at the edge of the fabric. When doing this place the fabric on a hard surface and brush on top of it. Make sure it is not a surface that will wear away due to the wire brush, I used a plate. You may need to pull some of the fabrics threads.

-To stop the fabric from fraying more then required, machine stitch across where you want the fabric to stop fraying.

 Haunted Histories Boa Close-up

Haunted Histories Fishtail Skirt