Cleopatra's Mummy Costume
I signed up for a Halloween-themed costume race a few months ago and had to come up with something that was cute, but that I could also run in. Being a little glamorous wouldn't hurt either...
Hmm... mummies are cool and pretty simple to pull off, but where does the sparkle come in? Ah ha! Cleopatra's mummy! I'll bet she was one fancy, jewel-encrusted mummy...
I started off with some cheap muslin fabric. I bought two yards, and then ripped it up into 2" strips. Cool. But mummies aren't white. They're grungy and dusty from being entombed for centuries. So I dyed my strips of fabric with tea.
I pretty much just boiled some water, tossed in the tea leaves and stirred in my fabric strips. If I were to do it again, I would definitely contain the tea leaves in a pouch or something... I was hoping they'd stick to the fabric and make little dark spots, but it just made a huge mess- especially when I tossed the strips in the dryer. Yikes. It sounds like one of those rain sticks every time it starts up now. Ha ha... I'll have to get that cleaned out.
Well, once the strips of fabric were dyed, they really clashed with the white leggings and t-shirt I had picked out of my closet to use for this, so I ended up ordering a brown long sleeve shirt and leggings instead (which actually got several compliments at the race- mummies aren't white, they're brown!).
Once everything was ready, I stuck the brown shirt on my dress form and started pinning wrappings to it. I started with strips of metallic gold tulle that I crumpled up- I wanted it to look like glamorous yet rotted gauze. I followed the tulle with my frayed, tattered, ratty dyed muslin. The part that took forever was hand-stitching the strips to the shirt in enough places so it wouldn't come unraveled. I also had to have my hubby help with pinning the strips to the leggings... I had to wear them so they'd be loose enough to wear. I survived with only a few minor poke holes. :)
I added a bit of bling to my mummy costume around the neckline; I'd imagine Cleopatra wouldn't be caught dead without a necklace (ba-dum-tsh). I cut a half-circle of tulle and trimmed it to fit the collar of the shirt, then glued a variety of bargain rhinestones to it in an Egyptian-esque pattern (or so Google told me). I also made a tulle headband with a similar pattern of rhinestones... but apparently my glue was garbage because about a mile into the race the stones started falling off my headband one by one...
I guess I learned a couple things from this experience... 1). Stuff generally looks better on the dress form. They may claim to be "your double", but it's a lie! 2). Always use glue meant for your particular purpose. I used Tacky Glue, but it may have been ruined from a few freezes in the garage. 3). Makeup and sweating don't mix. Yuck... it tastes horrible. 4). Always take your garment for a practice run! If I had known these leggings were too big to run in, I would have traded them for a smaller size!
Hmm... mummies are cool and pretty simple to pull off, but where does the sparkle come in? Ah ha! Cleopatra's mummy! I'll bet she was one fancy, jewel-encrusted mummy...
I started off with some cheap muslin fabric. I bought two yards, and then ripped it up into 2" strips. Cool. But mummies aren't white. They're grungy and dusty from being entombed for centuries. So I dyed my strips of fabric with tea.
 |
| 2 yards of shredded muslin. |
 |
| Clearance bling and gold tulle. |
 |
| Looks like witch's brew... but it's just tea! And fabric... |
Well, once the strips of fabric were dyed, they really clashed with the white leggings and t-shirt I had picked out of my closet to use for this, so I ended up ordering a brown long sleeve shirt and leggings instead (which actually got several compliments at the race- mummies aren't white, they're brown!).
Once everything was ready, I stuck the brown shirt on my dress form and started pinning wrappings to it. I started with strips of metallic gold tulle that I crumpled up- I wanted it to look like glamorous yet rotted gauze. I followed the tulle with my frayed, tattered, ratty dyed muslin. The part that took forever was hand-stitching the strips to the shirt in enough places so it wouldn't come unraveled. I also had to have my hubby help with pinning the strips to the leggings... I had to wear them so they'd be loose enough to wear. I survived with only a few minor poke holes. :)
I added a bit of bling to my mummy costume around the neckline; I'd imagine Cleopatra wouldn't be caught dead without a necklace (ba-dum-tsh). I cut a half-circle of tulle and trimmed it to fit the collar of the shirt, then glued a variety of bargain rhinestones to it in an Egyptian-esque pattern (or so Google told me). I also made a tulle headband with a similar pattern of rhinestones... but apparently my glue was garbage because about a mile into the race the stones started falling off my headband one by one...
I guess I learned a couple things from this experience... 1). Stuff generally looks better on the dress form. They may claim to be "your double", but it's a lie! 2). Always use glue meant for your particular purpose. I used Tacky Glue, but it may have been ruined from a few freezes in the garage. 3). Makeup and sweating don't mix. Yuck... it tastes horrible. 4). Always take your garment for a practice run! If I had known these leggings were too big to run in, I would have traded them for a smaller size!
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