A vintage image was pretty much the inspiration for my SUN headpiece.
When I set out to try to create my own headpiece for the number, I went to a samba frame site for inspiration. Here is an image from their site. Each piece on their site is custom welded. I don’t weld so I came up with another way of creating a similar base.
I started with some heavy gauge wire from a hardware store as the main base, and some slightly thinner, softer wire (the squiggly piece seen on top) to use for connecting the thicker wire. I definitely needed a wire cutter for the thick wire.
Using my inspiration photos, my design ideas and my own head, I created the basic shape from the thick wire and connected each joint by wrapping the softer wire around it. Somehow I must have been on a roll and I forgot to take a photo of the naked frame!
NEXT, I cut thin strips of felt, coated them in FABRITACÂ (also called MAGNATAC) adhesive and wrapped them around the frame. This was a technique I had found on a Samba costume creation website.
The next step was covering the felt in satin ribbon. I coated sections of the felt-wrapped frame in FABRITAC and wrapped my roll of ribbon around and around until I got a pretty smooth finish.
After that, it was all about embellishment! Layers and layers of it! The frame is sturdy, yet bendable, which I like. When I travel with it, I bend the front and back in a bit. I needed to make it so I could take it off during my number, so I couldn’t use loops and hairpins. When I wear it, I put my hair through the triangular hole in the back and it helps keep it on my head nicely. More feathers, crystals, trims, etc etc etc!! I mean, it’s the centre of the SUN, it has to be dazzling, right?
The end!
