In the Shadows

   This is a dress I made for Halloween. I wanted black wings, though I did not want the annoying straps that attach around my arms. My solution was to use a set of inexpensive nylon costume wings and cut off the harness so I could sew them directly onto the dress.
   The dress itself is made in a medieval style with black polyester crepe fabric. You could use a purchased garment, just make sure it opens in the front or back ( for ease of getting into ) and that it is sturdy enough to hold the weight of the wings.
   For the wings I carefully cut the wired sections apart. Do not cut the nylon as you need this for the base of the feathers. I repositioned the top and bottom sections overlapping them to give me a more realistic wing shape and tacked the pieces back together. I then glued black feathers, using tacky glue, to each side starting from the bottom and working my way up. Warning : a lot of feathers and a little patience. After they were dry, I attached them to the dress using a strong tacking stitch through the fabric and around the wire frame. One at the top and one at the bottom.  Since my dress has a zipper down the back, I put one wing to the left side of the zipper and the other wing on the right side, this way I can use the zipper to get in and out of the dress without disturbing the position of the wings.

   All and all, I was pretty happy with how it turned out, The dress was really comfortable to wear and I did not have to worry about the wings slipping off or shifting position. The only hindrance being in washing, in which I had to remove the wings and then reattach them.