Burning Man - Costume Completed, The Update

Burning Man 2013

Once a year, tens of thousands of people gather in Nevada's Black Rock Desert (also known as "the playa") to create Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having left no trace whatsoever.

In the 1990's my son attended Burning Man along with about 6000+ other individuals.  He is returning this year but this time, there will be 70,000+ individuals sharing the playa.  This should be an entirely different experience and I am anxious to here about it when he returns.  Part of the immersion into this experience is to express yourself with costume.  Last week, Andrew came down for a visit and we went to Jo-Ann's to make the initial fabric selection for what he has designed.  

We started by making a paper pattern for a "space age collar" and things are evolving from there.

He told me that he would like to have the black sections of the collar, float over the top of the silver sections as he wants to attach some battery operated lighting.  Quickly, the clothesline in my craft closet came to mind.  We cut a strip of fabric and folding it in half over the clothesline, I used the zipper foot to create cording which I will use to separate and create space between the two collars.

The fabric he selected is really fun, I was thinking it might be difficult to sew on, but it's a dream!  90% poly and 10% spandex.

Cording completed!  Check!  Now for the collar bits.

We got some really cheap batting and stitched the collar pieces together with the batting on the bottom.  He wanted dimension and this will give us plenty!

I am leaving the one side open on the silver pieces, they will get run through the serger for a finished edge that he can stitch down to a t-shirt.  The black collars are stitched all around.

The stack of collars are finished with the initial sewing, now the batting must be trimmed and the fabric must be turned right side out.  I carefully pushed out the pointed areas with a large wooden knitting needle.

So here we have the collars ready for top stitching which will create a very metalic look.  Then I will start on the belt and the belt buckle.   I have purposely left a large space in the outside edge for us to insert wire to give this some lift and shape....The collar will be V-shaped front and back with pointed tips at the shoulders that will rise up a bit...let's see if we are successful...more to be revealed!

Pinned up on the design wall.

Well, Andrew was down yesterday and we finished up his costume for Burning Man.  There are other bits that go with it which he has at home, but these are the contributions I helped with:

The Liquid Metal Shirt

After  finishing the collar, Andrew decided that it needed a liquid metal shirt underneath...so, we made this!

The Completed Costume

The collar looks great over the shirt and is held in place by a couple strips of industrial strength velcro, so no worries about it slipping off the shoulders.

The Fur Shirt

And as an after thought, he decided that he also wanted a "fur" shirt for the evening.  It can get cold out there on the Playa...hard to believe, I know.  I was shaking my head (internally) when he told me this and shaking it even more when I saw what he picked out, but you know what?  It actually made up into a really good looking shirt, suitable for wear, post Burning Man.

Great day, spent creating with my son.  Truly a collaborative effort.