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"I am exhausted from living up to your expectations." OK, I may not be exhausted, but recreating the stunning masquerade ball jewellery worn by Sarah in the film Labyrinth was certainly quite a challenge! Happily, it did very much live up to the expectations of Ben and Alicia, who had requested the pieces. So how did I create these surprisingly complex earrings and necklace? I'm so very proud, I'm going to share a bit of behind the scenes, how it was made - Prepare for double sided tape, complex line diagrams, and sparkle! Usually being sent a photo asking "Can you make something similar to this?" makes my gut clench, because it means I need to explain that I don't copy the work of other makers. When Ben messaged me, I was grinning. If you aren't aware what the film Labyrinth is, well hop off for about an hour and forty minutes, and marvel at the puppetry, catchy tunes, and David Bowie's infamous trousers. Done? Welcome back. Fun wasn't it? Sarah and Jareth's costumes from Labyrinth's masked ball scenes are popular for cosplay and fancy dress, and from just one picture of an earring, I knew exactly what Ben and Alicia were looking for. Ben expressed understanding that exact copies probably weren't possible, so the combination of "I love this film!", an interesting challenge, and folks who appreciated the limitations of my abilities, had me hooked into the project. Start by doing your research properlyI started by scouring the web for as many photos as I could find, and discovered two things: 1. Promotional photos for the film had colours fiddled with, and were even flipped! There's an AMAZING blog here by Aria Couture with detailed images and analysis of the actual original costume. 2. Some of the jewellery already available I wouldn't have associated with the film, if their product details didn't name check it. I know different makers are inspired in different ways, but it surprised me that so few designs were close to the originals. I didn't want to make exact copies, because I can't and it'd drive me mad, but I was determined to keep the same shapes, sizes and colours. This was also why Ben had been contacting makers, approaching 30 to 40 before finding me - who wants to spend money on something which feels "not quite right"? That's the joy of commissions, you work together to get it right! Sarah's fantasy ball earringsThe best option for shape, size, quality, gorgeous sparkle, and actually being available in the UK, and not in packs of 300... were Swarovski crystal and Czech glass. I mounted the flat pieces on wire mesh (kind of sewing with wire!) and also used a high quality glue, so the earrings are durable, while also having the backing hidden, leaving the focus on the shape and sparkle. The loopy Labyrinth Masquerade necklaceUsing photos from Aria Couture's blog as my reference, I gathered a right assortment of beads from my stash to go with those I'd bought, all in keeping with the original necklace. Then a lot of planning, drawing a 1:1 scale plan of the necklace's loops, and swirls, noting where cross overs, larger beads, different colours and shapes are. Once done, I drew a copy, which we'll come to in a minute.... The bead plan was coated with a layer of double sided tape, and it was time to pop on some background podcasts and start laying out beads! With all the beads in place, Ben and Alicia approved the pictures I sent, which meant the real brain ache had to start - how to string the necklace. That copy of my bead plan I'd made? I used that to map out how I could start a thread at one end and come out at the other, having gone along, through, over, loop... nope, this needs two threads doesn't it? Ok, thread one will start here, loop, cross thread two here... Oh, wait, that only works if thread two loops there first... Does, this need a separate thread here?... Finally I had a complex diagram like electric wiring plans, for multiple strands of beading thread. That painstaking groundwork meant I could crack on with the beading, confident that nothing would need undoing along the way. One threaded, it was both exciting and a bit nerve-wracking to lift the necklace from the tape to try it on. Had I missed any beads? Would the loops sit right? would the beads sit right? When worn, one loop was too "open" so that was a simple fix with an additional thread, to create an extra loop on that loop. (It meant a whole extra line of beading thread, just for one loop!) Out of my hands, onto "Sarah"After I took lots of pictures, cleaned the earring studs, and wrapped everything, it went off to Ben and Alicia, and I think it's fair to say from Ben's messages and Alicia's unboxing video, they were very happy! On their vlog you can see the unboxing here and then, amazingly, Alicia's dress arrived soon after so she could try on everything together! You can see her looking sparkly and dreamlike here. I'm really looking forward to some time later in the year, seeing when everything is adjusted and polished, and Ben is rocking his Jareth look too! Would I make this set of jewellery again? Most of the joy was in the figuring out of the process. Following the process was actually a bit tedious, lots of thready thready beads! There's also an issue that quite a few of the odd shaped and coloured beads I used came from my existing stash, or the clear crystals are now discontinued Swarovski beads, so to repeat the designs I'd have to shop around a lot to source similar beads.
Safe to say I'm in no rush to make Sarah's masquerade jewellery a regular part of my offer, but, as Ben found out, you never know what I might make for you until you ask! If you want to discuss my avilability for commissioning your own necklace, drop an email to [email protected]
2 Comments
Leanne
8/3/2021 10:07:02 am
Oh my is this like something litte me dreamed about and bigger me still dreams about! I'd want to wear those earrings everywhere to just feel like a freaking princess all day everyday!
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Lisa
10/3/2021 09:03:24 am
The earrings are surprisingly light too, very nice and easy to wear! Perhaps we should all just allow ourselves princess days when we feel like it, and rock our best bling because we can.
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