Anthy epaulet walkthrough
Warning: long, pedantic description ahead.
Balls:
The most annoying part for me, but then, I don't like painting much.
They're ping pong balls. (Took the idea off some website.) I used orange ones.
First, I cut a hole in each with a utility knife, about the diameter of a pen. I then impaled them (on that hole) on a sacrificial pen and spray-painted them. They do not take paint well. I had to do a bunch of light layers, and had to spin the balls during and after the painting to avoid drip marks. [Update ~June 2007: Actually, it's not that bad. Just have to paint when it's not windy. Which means at night, where we live.]
The result is pretty good, but smudges easily (especially at first), so careful handing them. Until I put the tassels in, I used a cloth to hold them, so as not to leave fingerprints. (After the tassels are on, you can hold them by the tassels.)
Tassels:
Easy if you can avoid tangles.
String bought at Joann's (brighter seems to work better). I took a piece of cardboard, cut it to a width matching the desired length of tassel, then wound the string about the cardboard (careful to avoid tangling it). Then I cut the strings at one end of the cardboard width, tied a loop around the strings at the other end, and had a (thin) tassel. At this point, Saffy dipped the ends in fray check, which is probably a good idea.
I took two such bundles and tied them perpendicular to one another, then tied another string around the circumference of the tassel at the top, to form a sort of ball/bulge where everything comes together. This knot area is what got inserted into the ping pong ball.
You can comb the tassel out with a wide-toothed comb pretty easily, and probably should, at least after applying fray check.
Attaching tassels to balls:
Somewhat annoying, but not too bad.
I used a cloth to hold the balls, to keep the paint finish smooth.
I made the holes (the ones used to impale them) more pliable by adding short cuts radially extending from the center with the utility knife. This allows the tassel to be pushed inside, but once the knot of the tassel is in, the opening clamps down and holds steady.
I used a chopstick to push the knot of the tassels in, very carefully. The hole doesn't have to be very large for this, because the knot is fairly pliable. Patience helps.
After this is done, you can hold the ball by the tassel pretty handily.
Epaulets:
Easy.
Thick foamie (1/4"), cut out with a ruler & utility knife (4.25" x 1.75").
Sprayed with plastidip (it's the only primer-type thing we could find that's flexible), then a couple of layers of spray paint. You may want to attach the eyes before painting (see next step).
I'm not entirely happy with the paint coat, because it does still crinkle some if the foam flexes. We tried other things, and they came out worse, though.
Attaching balls to epaulets:
Slightly annoying.
On the ball side, I heated up a nail on a candle flame and burned two small holes in each ball, about 3/4" apart. Two notes:
1) The holes should not be diametrically opposite the tassel hole, because you want the tassels to go down, not out. About a 135° (.75 π radians, if you prefer that) angle between the tassel hole and the attachment holes seems to work well.
2) It's best to burn the holes in the direction of each other, rather than straight into the ball, to make it easier to get the needle through.
On the epaulet side, I superglued two eyes, so I'd have something to attach thread to (sewing through foamie doesn't work well - it tears). Superglue eats right through spray paint, so you may want to attach the eyes before painting. But this area shouldn't show anyway, since it's on the underside.
I then bent a needle and threaded a nylon string through one eye, then through the ball, then the other eye. I guess you could do multiple loops, but for me, it was hard enough to get one to stay put.
Attaching epaulets to shoulders:
Most fun (for me).
Magnets. Two on the underside of the epaulets, attached with superglue, then two matching ones inside the dress. The ones inside the dress don't need to be attached to anything, but it helps to tape them to some paper, just for the sake of easy alignment / removal, and so you don't have magnets falling down into your dress when you pull the epaulets off.
I used DC01 magnets on the underside of the epaulets, and DC1 inside the dress, but that ended up just a bit too weak. DC1 on both the top and bottom would probably be better. DC01 is thinner, so has a lower profile, but I don't think a DC1 would show, either. I'm probably going to replace the DC01s with DC1s next time I make an order to the magnet store.
Two notes:
1) It's best to have the magnets reversed - one with the north pole up, one with the south. That way, if the epaulet gets shifted, the magnets can't lock on in the wrong position (the inner magnet of the epaulet won't lock on to the outer magnet of the dress, nor vice versa). I didn't do this, and it got thus misaligned a few times.
2) Avoid having to paint the underside of the epaulet magnets, as the paint will rub off on the dress. First paint, then attach magnet. I didn't do this, and it's been happening.
Attaching rope:
This is the easiest (and arguably most satisfying) part, thanks to the magnets already used by the epaulets.
I just taped (with masking tape, no less) a magnet to the end (R822, I believe) and then the rope snaps into place under the right epaulet (inside the dress), attaching to the outer attachment magnet. Since the end of the rope goes into the armhole, the masking tape & magnet aren't visible, and it makes for a very satisfying connection.
Only caveat is to make sure you lay the rope out and figure out how to orient the magnet, else you may end up with a slightly twisted-up rope.
Balls:
The most annoying part for me, but then, I don't like painting much.
They're ping pong balls. (Took the idea off some website.) I used orange ones.
First, I cut a hole in each with a utility knife, about the diameter of a pen. I then impaled them (on that hole) on a sacrificial pen and spray-painted them. They do not take paint well. I had to do a bunch of light layers, and had to spin the balls during and after the painting to avoid drip marks. [Update ~June 2007: Actually, it's not that bad. Just have to paint when it's not windy. Which means at night, where we live.]
The result is pretty good, but smudges easily (especially at first), so careful handing them. Until I put the tassels in, I used a cloth to hold them, so as not to leave fingerprints. (After the tassels are on, you can hold them by the tassels.)
Tassels:
Easy if you can avoid tangles.
String bought at Joann's (brighter seems to work better). I took a piece of cardboard, cut it to a width matching the desired length of tassel, then wound the string about the cardboard (careful to avoid tangling it). Then I cut the strings at one end of the cardboard width, tied a loop around the strings at the other end, and had a (thin) tassel. At this point, Saffy dipped the ends in fray check, which is probably a good idea.
I took two such bundles and tied them perpendicular to one another, then tied another string around the circumference of the tassel at the top, to form a sort of ball/bulge where everything comes together. This knot area is what got inserted into the ping pong ball.
You can comb the tassel out with a wide-toothed comb pretty easily, and probably should, at least after applying fray check.
Attaching tassels to balls:
Somewhat annoying, but not too bad.
I used a cloth to hold the balls, to keep the paint finish smooth.
I made the holes (the ones used to impale them) more pliable by adding short cuts radially extending from the center with the utility knife. This allows the tassel to be pushed inside, but once the knot of the tassel is in, the opening clamps down and holds steady.
I used a chopstick to push the knot of the tassels in, very carefully. The hole doesn't have to be very large for this, because the knot is fairly pliable. Patience helps.
After this is done, you can hold the ball by the tassel pretty handily.
Epaulets:
Easy.
Thick foamie (1/4"), cut out with a ruler & utility knife (4.25" x 1.75").
Sprayed with plastidip (it's the only primer-type thing we could find that's flexible), then a couple of layers of spray paint. You may want to attach the eyes before painting (see next step).
I'm not entirely happy with the paint coat, because it does still crinkle some if the foam flexes. We tried other things, and they came out worse, though.
Attaching balls to epaulets:
Slightly annoying.
On the ball side, I heated up a nail on a candle flame and burned two small holes in each ball, about 3/4" apart. Two notes:
1) The holes should not be diametrically opposite the tassel hole, because you want the tassels to go down, not out. About a 135° (.75 π radians, if you prefer that) angle between the tassel hole and the attachment holes seems to work well.
2) It's best to burn the holes in the direction of each other, rather than straight into the ball, to make it easier to get the needle through.
On the epaulet side, I superglued two eyes, so I'd have something to attach thread to (sewing through foamie doesn't work well - it tears). Superglue eats right through spray paint, so you may want to attach the eyes before painting. But this area shouldn't show anyway, since it's on the underside.
I then bent a needle and threaded a nylon string through one eye, then through the ball, then the other eye. I guess you could do multiple loops, but for me, it was hard enough to get one to stay put.
Attaching epaulets to shoulders:
Most fun (for me).
Magnets. Two on the underside of the epaulets, attached with superglue, then two matching ones inside the dress. The ones inside the dress don't need to be attached to anything, but it helps to tape them to some paper, just for the sake of easy alignment / removal, and so you don't have magnets falling down into your dress when you pull the epaulets off.
I used DC01 magnets on the underside of the epaulets, and DC1 inside the dress, but that ended up just a bit too weak. DC1 on both the top and bottom would probably be better. DC01 is thinner, so has a lower profile, but I don't think a DC1 would show, either. I'm probably going to replace the DC01s with DC1s next time I make an order to the magnet store.
Two notes:
1) It's best to have the magnets reversed - one with the north pole up, one with the south. That way, if the epaulet gets shifted, the magnets can't lock on in the wrong position (the inner magnet of the epaulet won't lock on to the outer magnet of the dress, nor vice versa). I didn't do this, and it got thus misaligned a few times.
2) Avoid having to paint the underside of the epaulet magnets, as the paint will rub off on the dress. First paint, then attach magnet. I didn't do this, and it's been happening.
Attaching rope:
This is the easiest (and arguably most satisfying) part, thanks to the magnets already used by the epaulets.
I just taped (with masking tape, no less) a magnet to the end (R822, I believe) and then the rope snaps into place under the right epaulet (inside the dress), attaching to the outer attachment magnet. Since the end of the rope goes into the armhole, the masking tape & magnet aren't visible, and it makes for a very satisfying connection.
Only caveat is to make sure you lay the rope out and figure out how to orient the magnet, else you may end up with a slightly twisted-up rope.