hey boochjunkie,  yes spray adhesive is the same thing as spray mount. :-) Glad you found my page. It's old, but I haven't stopped creating; and have since made lots of hair contraptions. If you have any further questions along the way, just lemme know. I'd be happy to advise.

Wool Roving wig and the "circus"

I am going to Phoenix Comic Con next week to present a lecture and demonstration on 18th Century makeup techniques. In anticipation of both the audience and the look of the period, I wanted to make a wig out of wool roving that looked like cotton candy. Here are the steps I took to make it along with pictures of the process and final product

Making the Wig

I purchased 1 lb of natural white wool from EBay.

Dyed it with "rose pink" a union dye (RIT)

Laid each strand out to dry over night

Pinned each strand to Ballet Slipper pink elastic -- chose this for color and width

Sewed the elastic to a mesh wig cap -- I stretched the wig cap over a head block prior

At this point, i put the wig cap, now with wool "tentacles" if you will, back onto the head block.

Cut out a "U" shape pattern, a half circle pattern and a tube pattern

Fill the shapes with batting and sew open ends closed.

*These "pillow" like contraptions were for the inside of the wig to give the wool the shape i wanted and to hold it up.

Cut the patterns out of Bridal tool which is mesh and stretchy.

Sew the largest one in the center of the wig cap, then followed with the others.

At this point, I pulled the wool up and style the look i wanted.

I used Spray Mount in place of hairspray to secure the first layers to the mesh/pillow.

I did the same for the reoccurring layers except the top layer because this left it sticky.

To make the curls, I laid out lengths of wool

Put batting on one end, and rolled. *I used remnants of pink wool to camouflage the ends of the curls by tucking some inside the curl.

I used Spray Mount to adhere the curls to one another and to the wig.

Tack in place with thread and needle.

Hand made black velvet bows with b&w striped piping sewn to each one.

Pink trim sewn in place.

Set Design

I prepared a "scene" for photographer http://hardiephotography.blogspot.com to shoot the wig in.

Note: these pictures here are from my simple Cannon. I will post Whitney's professional and lovely photographs in my next post.

I used the makeup studio and lots of props.

The props included vintage makeup containers still filled with brightly colored face

powders, circus pictures, flowers, and much more.

The look i wanted to achieve were two seasoned circus performers getting ready at their makeup stations.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me.

Working with photograper Whitney Hardie

Recently i worked with photographer Whitney Hardie. I wanted to capture an image of my 18th century jacket and waistcoat (seen in the images here) that I constructed a few months back.

To compliment the look, Whitney choose a location that helped realize the undertones of society during the 18th century. I found the juxtaposition of this location with the color of the costumes very becoming and fresh.

The jacket & waistcoat were cut and modified from a modern pattern. The fabrics were purchased in Los Angeles and Utah. The metallic foiling roses were created with fabric foils, a heat press and glue that adheres the foil to the fabric.

Photographer: Whitney Hardie~ Hardie Photography

Stylist: Haleh Risdana

Jacket & Waistcoat Construction: Haleh Risdana

Models: Shelby Luke & Kaitlyn Kilough Shields

Working with photograpers

I just worked on another great photo shoot with Jeff Blake, and assistant Shiloh White.

We did hair, makeup and wardrobe on model Shannen Crane. The dress she is wearing is over thirty years old, so we had some mending and revamping to do. In the end it proved to be another super adventure with Jeff Blake down one of his creative rabbit holes!