Maleficent Horn Molding and Hat Progress: Yikes Halloween

[Goat Goat Etc.]

So I thought for the sake of keeping myself truly invested in trying to make something, I'd record my progress here. And by the end I can christen this a tutorial. My aim isn't to be AJ Malificent, by no means--NO. I'd rather be super green and mean Mali but I thought original would be better and more rewarding.


I'm trying to make this hat from this Threadbanger Tut and it is going smoothly so far, I've just begun molding my big horns. I wanted some meat on my horn bones? lol But def wanted my horns to be substantial, so yeah I wanted bigger but not huge. A good halfway point.

Been using this tutorial too.

I've been working on this hat for over a week (work is heavy on me now) and I'm doing things a tad differently when it comes to the horns. Instead of applying clay horns to the hat, I'm making molds to stuff instead so that the hat remains lightweight and has a little more texture and dimension.



What I'm using so far:
Ducktape
Exacto Knife
Masking Tape (Optional)
A cutting board wrapped in foil
Crayola Air-Dry Clay
Scissors
Masking Paper or Newspaper
Flour
Water
Liquid Starch (Optional)
Cornstarch (Optional)
Hairdryer (Optional)

 

[Goat Goat Etc.]

Okay so to start, I made the headdress base in the video. **Btw, Buckram fabric should be at any fabric store in the area with interfacing fabrics. I found mine at Hobby Lobby and saw some later at Joanns.

I do not have a printer so I just scrolled and traced the pattern provided from my computer screen. Cut out the pieces,combined both with masking tape, and then cover the entire pattern with masking tape and trimmed as necessary. Traced the pattern on the buckram and the felt.

So shaping the felt is probably the most daunting and anxiety causing part of making the headpiece. The felt needs a lot of attention and molding. My tip would be to initially start pulling the felt over the head by taking both your hands and petting the felt from the top of the head to the sides. You'll see it take to the roundness of the head and become easier to deal with. In the video she did say she had to tuck the felt and LORD, yes, you'll have to, but remember you will be covering this thing. So I did not feel bad when I had to tuck the front and the back more than once. When it dries down and you trim stuff off you'll see it's all minor anyway.

 

[Goat Goat Etc.]

So I bought Air Dry clay and modeled one horn after what I felt the majority of Maleficent horns looked like. Clay can be sticky so I covered a large cutting board I had with aluminum foil and used it as a portable work surface while I worked the clay. You'll be using your foil covered cutting board for the mold making part too. The instructions say to let clay dry for 2-3 days. It dried in about 2 days.

Tragedy struck. After wrapping my first mold, my puppy dog lovingly chewed it up so I had to start over and again and looked for a trick. I learned you can bypass the dry time on the clay and your mold with a hair dryer. They do dry way fast in about 3+ hours with this technique.



"Chew, chew, chew! Nom, nom, nom!" went my puppy.


Hair drying example
(Your horn should NOT be encased in tape while this is happening.)



Anywho, your clay mold should feel firm and look dry and white-ish. And then you can begin the mold making process--which is essentially paper mache. Take your duck tape and wrap your clay horn mold in it. You're taping around your horn to 1) preserve it while you add paper layers to it and 2) to act as a barrier between the glue and the clay horn. Without the duck tape on there you could potentially lose some paper mache layers or break your clay horn. Take great care around the thinner parts of your horn, as those parts are more fragile. Cut out small strips of duck tape and apply them horizontally up and down your horn until it is completely covered. In addition to that you can build the thickness of your horn with the masking tape and then follow with another layer of duck tape to act as "shapewear" and make the horn trim again.




Next take your paper and fold it up several times until you have a sizable envelope. Cut the folded creases off at the sides and then cut down the middle to create long strips. I halved these strips further and got about 100+ strips for each horn.



Next you gotta make the secret sauce. Add a tad of flour (please don't do a lot or you'll waste it) and cornstarch in a bowl and gradually add some water until you get a creamy/gravy like consistency. Add a tad of liquid starch. And you essentially have glue.



Work on a foil-covered table or on your foil-covered cutting board when beginning the mache, it gets messy. Dip your fingers in he glue and coat your strips. Apply them base to tip on your duck tape-covered clay horn until you run out. Take care to make sure you're applying the strips evenly especially the curves and horn base. Then go ahead and let this dry on your foil surface either overnight or with the aid of your hair dryer. When dry get your Xacto knife and cut a middle seam through your horn. Don't panic if you cut your clay mold on the surface, it's still retaining its shape regardless. Gently peel the mache layer off. Do the same for your second horn.

I'll update this later.

 

[Goat Goat Etc.]

What I used in addition: Stuffing.

So popped my molds off. First mistake was letting one dry for a few days without filling it to keep it's shape. It dried a little misshapen so I had to re-wet the inside and manipulate it some. The second mold on the other hand was dry on the outside and a little damp on the inside, this was a pretty good thing. I could still keep the shape as it dried by stuffing it lightly so it would dry to it's intended form. So now, some people would tape the seam up and down and stuff as best they could. The horn isn't stick straight so I just stuffed and taped little by little.


Omg, stuffing was prob the most frustrating portion of this. I was aiming for my horns to be even and had to slice open my horns in a few sections over and over. I was either taking stuffing away to even out the girth and help curve the horns or be adding more stuffing. And to boot I was taping over and over. Put I think I got close enough. Finally, this can come together this weekend. Now for the pretty stuff to happen.

 

[Goat Goat Etc.]

They got "gooder" tonight. Also this fabric I've been stocking was the last 2 yards are Joann Fabrics and was on sale! My cape is gonna be amazor!

 

[Goat Goat Etc.]

I intentionally slayed this.

 

[beautybrushed]

You did a great job! Looks awesome

 

[SannyRo]

That looks amazing...