Introduction: Tia Dalma Costume From Pirates of the Carribean

About: I am a Canadian costumer who has been crafting since 2004.

There are many steps and techniques that I used to make this costume, so wish me luck on my first instructable.
I will detail the steps to making each piece of the costume then move to some overall tips.
This tutorial is for people with sewing knowledge who can make their own patterns or modify existing patterns.

Equipment
- Sewing machine
- Paintbrushes
- Jewellery pliers
- Super glue


Skirt
Materials:
- Embroidered beige satin
- Peach cotton
- Brown/Orange Yarn
- Cheesecloth
- Paint: Black, brown, orange
- Sponge and piantbrushes
- Dye: Black, brown, orange, red, blue

1) As a bottom layer of the skirt, I bought a beige satin with subtle embroidery. I painted over the embroidery on the reverse side, because it is less shiny, with deep red fabric paint to get the same effect as in Tia's costume. PIC 4 (If you are lucky and spot beige with red embroidery, got for it!) Weather the fabric by going over it with sandpaper and dabbing it with brown and black paints on a sponge.

2) The second layer of the skirt is peach quilting cotton that I dyed by laying it out on my lawn and dropping batches of red and blue dye randomly over the fabric  (PIC 5)
The whole piece was dip dyed into black dye. The ends were cut with scissors, shredded with an blade and torn by hand for wear and tear. (PIC 6)
Then ends of this skirt layer is also supposed to have aged embroidery which I faked by hand sewing down brown/orange yarn into rough flowers.

3) The top layer is two layers of cheesecloth repeatedly dyed orange and brown. The orange stripes are roughly hand painted with fabric paint.

Assembly: Create a waistband for the skirt using the cotton and attach all the layers of the skirt to that waistband. I used buttons but you can use a zipper to get in and out of the skirt. Gather all the material by your left leg and lift it up to about knee eight and stitch it down to create the gathered look of her skirt.


Corset, Jacket, & Belt
Materials:
- Burnt orange cotton or linen for all 3 items
- Twill
- Brown mesh
- Plastic boning
- Black Eyelets
- Cheesecloth
- Beige lace fabric for jacket overlay
- Peach and pale yellow curtain sheers
- Light beige lace
- Brown/orange yarn
- Brown pom pom balls
- Beige crochet lace trim
- Red cord
- Beads: Sea shells, Teardrop wood beads, round-flat wood beads
- Buckram or flexifirm to stiffen belt


Corset
1) Follow these instructions to generate and create a custom pattern for your corset. Use the burnt orange fabric as your main/visible material and back your corset with a thick material such as twill, to help it keep its shape.
2) Apply the mesh over top of the corset and stitch down  to keep it in place with matching orange thread.
4) Serge the ends with dark thread and keep them exposed for an aged look.
5) I used gold ribbon to lace up my corset. I went over it with brown and black paint to age it.
6) Dye cheese cloth in dark brown, maroon and dirty beige to use as trim for both the corset and jacket. Attach 1.5-2" of maroon and beige cheesecloth trim to the top of the corset.

Jacket
1) You can use a regular jacket pattern with sleeves at elbow length. Be sure to add some extra length to the body to make it a 3/4 length jacket. Use the brunt orange fabric as you base and cut out an equal amount of the beige lace fabric for the overlay. Assemble while also adding the crochet trim at the end of the sleeves.
2) For the tattered look at the end of the sleeves attach, about 5" of the peach and pale yellow curtain sheers, as well as the light beige lace. Age with brown and black fabric paint and tatter with a razor blade.
3) Sew down 1.5-2" of brown and maroon dyed cheesecloth as trim on the jacket.
4) Take the yarn and sew down about 6m in a spiderweb like pattern on the shoulders of the jacket, then attach brown pom poms to the yarn. This is the remnants of a shall.

Belt
1) Using the same orange cotton used in the  corset and jacket cut out a 3.5-4" band for the belt.
2) Reinforce the belt with flexifirm or buckram.
3) Age and attach red cord to all 4 corners of the belt.
4) Glue down sea shells along the centre of the belt and at the ends of the 4 cord pieces
5) On the belt, surround the seashells with round wooden beads. Along the length of the belt, sew down the wooden teardrop beads.


Necklaces
Materials:
- Thin gunmetal chain 21"
- Small gauge wire 28-30"
- Green stones beads 1"
-  Round black volcanic beads 8mm
-  Round gunmetal beads 8mm
- Sculpey/clay
- Aged silver pendants 1.5" long x2
- Lobster clasp and ring
- Jewellery pliers

1) String volcanic beads on the wire, alternating between volcanic and gunmetal beads (5-6 together) at the end of the necklace.
2) String stones on the chain with 1-2 gunmetal beads in between, attach both silver pendants at the end and the lobster clasp and ring on the opposite end.
3) Sculpt a small monkey hand (about 2.5" long), paint it dark brown and attach to the end of the long wire necklace.
You should be able to slip on and off the long necklace without a clasp.


Wig
Materials:
-Black/Brown dreadlock wig
-Extensions: Brown and blonde
-Got2Be Freezing Spray

I bought a deadlock wig that was black and added long "big braid" extensions to give it more life. I had to sew down the extension at the base of the wig, individually wrap them around  the dreads, then set it with freezing spray. Since Tia has sun damaged hair, a few strands of blonde are weaved into the wig as well.

Makeup
Materials:
- Thick black eyeliner pencil (I use NYX)
- Face/body paint: Brown and Black
- Make up sealer
- Bronzer brush
- Smudging brush
- Mehron teeth fx in Black


1) Do a basic makeup to start: moisturizer> primer> concealer for  imperfections> foundation to even skin tone
2) Dap forehead, nose, cheekbones, collarbone, cleavage, arms and hands with the brown facepaint with he bronzer brush. This ages the skin. Darken your fingertips using the same brush and the black facepaint.
3) Using the thick black eyeliner roughly give yourself black eyes and black lips.
4) Smoothen out the edges with the smudging brush, extending the black to the nose and the eyebrows. For the lip, extend the black past the the corners and some off the edges of the lips.
5) Use the eyeliner to make the two rows of spots on her cheeks and the few on her chin.
6) Seal makeup with makeup sealer.
7) As a final touch use Mehron's tooth fx to give yourself black teeth.


Tips
Wash all your fabrics before you start to avoid shrinking.
I serged all my edges with green camo and black thread which already looks aged.
Weather and age everything. Go at it with a blade, sandpaper, and with brown and black paint. Use a drybrushing technique to give the look of dirt.
Wear old brown shoes. Brown flip flops are a good alternative. If your skirt is long enough your feet should not be visible.

To see more photos of me in this costume, check out my website.
You can follow my costumed adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

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