Lady Au Pair

This is the first time I've sewn a costume completely from scratch. Usually at least some part of what I wear is bought and/or modified. But on this one everything between my knees and my neck I made myself. (I'm a little bit proud.)

Of course if you look too closely at the back of the dress, one of the seams is noticeably askew. But luckily the apron covers the biggest mistake. Also, I realize they should be 3/4 length sleeves. I planned to do them that way, but then I made the puffed part of the sleeve too small and didn't realize it until they were already done. There was no way to fit another layer of fabric under there without redoing the sleeve, and at that point being screen accurate seemed less important than not having to do more work. Oh well. (I'm still proud!)

Here's the hat.



Bought it on ebay. Stripped it down. Spraypainted it. And then added my own ribbons and flowers.

The murderous moppet has already been introduced.

Eyebrow, Youbrow

So you say you're planning to wear a pink wig but skip the light fandango, mister! Your eyebrows are not pink! No one has naturally pink eyebrows! Oh dear. What to do? If you're like me (lazy and poor) you probably don't want to bleach or dye your eyebrows to match your wig. Especially because chances are you're only going to wear your wig for a day or two. And when you take it off to go back to work or school or some other place filled with people not wearing stormtrooper outfits, what the heck are you going to do with pink eyebrows?

To that end, here's a cheap and easy way to temporarily change your eyebrow color. It's not the most natural look ever, but it works and it's something anyone can do. I do think it'll work best if you have thin, groomed eyebrows. I don't have the ideal brow for this myself. My eyebrows are somewhat thick and dark, and I was trying to turn them white. So I think the fact that this worked reasonably well for me despite all that means it would work quite well for other people.



What you need:

Elmer's School Glue - This is the standard Elmer's glue you used on all your school projects when you were 8. (Some of you probably also ate it, which is okay because it's non-toxic. Though not especially nutritious.) Make sure it says washable on the bottle. If it DOESN'T say washable it is THE WRONG GLUE and you should NOT put it on your face.

Acrylic Paint - Any brand is fine. Feel free to mix colors to tweak the shade just like you would if you were going to paint something other than your facial
hair.

What to do:

1) Put on your other makeup first. I tried this a couple ways, and it worked better when I didn't put it over any makeup at all. So if you have the option of not putting makeup on the area around your eyebrows, that's what I suggest. If you don't have that option, just make sure to put any other foundation, eyeshadow, or body paint on before you do your eyebrows.

2) Cover your eyebrows in Elmer's Glue. What I did was squeeze a line of glue right onto my eyebrow and then spread it with my fingers. A paintbrush would also work I think. Don't worry about the glue getting stuck in your eyebrows. If you got the right glue, I promise you it will wash out with soap and water. You'll want to cover your eyebrows completely, but don't overdo it. Try not to go onto the skin around your brows too much, and try not to coat them overly thickly. The thicker you lay on the glue, the less natural it's going to look. (But note you DO want to cover them completely because you want the paint on the glue not on your actual hair.)

3) Wait for the glue to dry. Think 10ish minutes. If you did more than one coat of glue it may take a bit longer.

4) Brush the acrylic paint onto your eyebrows with a paint brush. Again, a lighter touch is better. Since I do have thick brows and I was trying to go from black to white, I tried really slathering it on at first to cover all the black. But I think it's ultimately better to have a little bit of the old color showing through than to have a solid, plastic looking mass of glue and paint. You want to cover the old color, but you also want to limit yourself as much as possible to the hair itself without spreading out to the skin around the brow. Basically you still want your eyebrows to look somewhat like they're made of hair, and if you go too far overboard they won't. Once you're happy with it, let the paint dry. It should take less time than the glue.

And that's it. Your eyebrows are now a whole new color!

5) When you're ready to return to your normal citizen costume, wash your eyebrows with soap and warm water. (Cold water is okay for this too, I just think warm water is nicer.) You may have to comb through your eyebrows a bit with your fingernails to get all the glue out, but I've done this a couple times and I promise you will not have to shave off your eyebrows. Washable glue. It WILL wash out.