I NEED GREEN! GREEN, I SAID!
As some of you might have noticed, I had to re-do the Hannibal slavegirl bodice because it had become too small. When expanding the back, I forgot I would also have to expand the rope skirt... I had tons of the red and black ropes used, but none of the green one. I assumed it was a piece of cake to find more of it, as it was basically everywhere when I first bought it some years ago.
Yeah. We've all been there. Materials which was once everywhere have a tendency to be replaced and is nowhere to be found. I visited 20 different fabric, knitting and interior stores in Oslo, without any luck. They had green cord, of course, but they were all brighter, shinier and thicker or thinner than the one I had originally used.
One suggested buying a cream one of the same quality, and dye it green myself. I could, of course. But that would make it more expensive and adding work to the project. If I were to do the work already, I decided I could use what I had and rather paint it green. I had black and green fabric paint, as well as endless supplies of the black cord. So home I went and mixed the right green colour, and painted. And painted. Around 15 meters of black cord was painted green, before cut into various lengths. I tied a knot in one end, and attached it to a string of thread along with black and red cords. This "rope skirt" was then pinned on the inside of the golden belt, in the back, and stitched down.
I made knots to prevent the ends from fraying. I could also have burned the ends or used glue to avoid fraying. But since I used knots for the rest of the skirt, I decided to stick with it. It's a bit bulky, but it's hidden under black fabric and behaves well. I also add knots to the bottom of the skirt to avoid fraying there.
In the end I got the perfect green colour and texture for free, minus materials used and the hours spent.
Transforming black cord into green with some paint
Front and back of the rope skirt, with the "crotch tiara". The front has beads, the back has the newly painted cord.
All I lack now is the tiara, and velvet panties. Looking forward to take some pictures of the new and fitting costume!