I think I have gone quite over the top these days. Seriously. Mad as a Hatter, big headdress and all. I recently sent my OOAK cloth Egyptian Doll to a woman in Michigan and within days other people were asking me "do you still have that Egyptian doll?" No, I don't. But, with all my plastic doll madness, I got to talking with a new friend in New York and we decided the thing to do would be to make an Egyptian costume for big headed Blythe.
Well, why not? I didn't think I could come up with anything quite as grand as I had for my Egyptian statue doll, since Blythe is only 12" tall, but I knew that I was on a roll with headwear, so there'd be that at least.
I started with white cotton, made a strapless bodice and used gold/silver/pale blue thread and did a fancy design all over the front piece. I then knife-pleated a skirt, added some more fancy thread work and attached that. Added a pleated decorative overwrap and a red silk sash and voila', one Egyptian, Nefertiti style dress. Well, if you're going to have the dress, certainly you'll need the right hat. So, I spent an entire day cooking up a Nefertiti style hat.
I checked out the internet for pictures of the Nefertiti bust and set to work. I dyed up some white cotton in a beautiful blue, appropriate to the "real" hat, and had a piece of gold colored fabric for the front inset already. I wove a couple of ribbons for the band across the top, made a polymer and gold flake centerpiece and pulled the thing together. When it was done, I was actually quite pleased. Big head and all, I think it's a pretty cool costume.
I'm sending it to my friend in New York today. I rarely keep things I make, and this is no exception. I truly have run out of shelf space, and I have a lot of shelves! Stuff is piled under my 2 tables now (so much for my new plan of keeping stuff off the floor), the piano, the closet is full, the shelves are packed, and I really have no where to put a single other thing. Well, maybe just one more hat...
