From Special to Steampunk Extra Special by Abigail Lagden
One of the many things I love about Powertex is how easy it
is to take old and unwanted items and turn them into something spectacular. But
it doesn't have to be unwanted items, you can also take cherished, sentimental
items and preserve them by incorporating them into a piece of art . We all have
pieces of clothing or jewellery, even toys or other keepsakes that are safely
hidden away in boxes, cupboards and drawers. With Powertex you can find a way
to display them.
In this blog I will show you how I transformed an old hat
into a fabulous piece of wearable art, incorporating all kinds of special
trinkets and fabrics into the design.
The idea grew from a few events that I had planned over June and July this year. At the end of July I will be selling my creations at the
Whitby Steampunk Weekend and anyone who has been will know how spectacular some
of the outfits and costumes are. So, I wanted to create something a bit special
to wear myself, that would also demonstrate how Powertex can be used.
In June, I also participated in a couple of events where I
was demonstrating Powertex and allowing visitors to have a go. So, I decided to
create a piece of art that visitors could add to throughout the two events.
What better than a hat, which once complete, could double up as something I
could wear at the Steampunk Weekend!
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| Original hat |
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| Converted hat |
The old hat I started with was a fedora style hat, so first
I needed to make this a bit more Victorian and convert it into a top hat. I did
this by just using cardboard to make the desired shape. (The lace band and
flower on the original hat was removed and is waiting in my stash for another
project)
The whole base hat and cardboard was then painted with
bronze Powertex and the cardboard secured onto the hat using a strip of fabric
coated in Powertex. It was now ready to be transformed. Over the two events, a
variety of embellishments and trinkets that I had stashed away were added to
the hat, sitting in scrunched up pieces of different textured fabrics all
coated with bronze Powertex.
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| After the first event, Make in Durham |
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| After the second event - Clervaux Fair |
By the end of the second event the hat was
approximately two thirds covered, so I didn't have too much left to do myself
other than add the unzipped cogs and cover the top and brim.
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| Back of hat |
For the final colour I wanted it to have a Victorian feel so
I opted for burgundy powercolor pigment over the fabric elements and copper, bronze and gold colortricx over
the embellishments. I couldn't resist a rainbow in there somewhere though, so
the unzipped cogs got that honour!
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| Front of hat |
I can't wait to proudly wear my hat in Whitby at the end of
July - watch out on my Curiously Contrary facebook page for photos from the
weekend.
Until next time, Abs xx
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