# Finally- My Very First Static Prop!! - Corpse Bride



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

I'm so happy to have a prop I can bump into and say "excuse me" to while I am working away in the cellar. Happy Happy! Thanks to all these talented members I am on my way! I would like to age her gown I got at thrift store for $20 any ideas would be greatly appreciated! The gown can be removed easily if that is of any help. Thanks so much.


----------



## pagan (Sep 9, 2009)

Nice looking prop! Skull and bone has some good ideas for distressing clothing on his web site.


----------



## Jaybo (Mar 2, 2009)

Great looking prop! I especially like the hands. As far as aging the gown, I've heard that tea staining works wonders. Never actually done it myself, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to offer some advice.


----------



## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Nothing like the first prop. Kinda makes you feel like a real haunter. 
I have used tea to age cloth. Both by soaking it and by painting it on. Dirt makes a good tea also. A good swamp black muck is nice.


----------



## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

Welcome to the club!!!


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Thanks all for the support. With the tea, would i just sort of brush it on? Or soak the whole gown in a pail of it? I have checked Skull and Bones, but I know I don't have the patience to bury it for 3 months lol .


----------



## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

I love this prop, very creepy looking. I haven't tried staining clothing with tea, but how about 1st soaking it, then after it dries, brushing it on to darken up a few of the areas, if that makes any sense


----------



## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I really like this...it looks great. 

I've had great luck with tea staining different things. For the gown, I would put it in a spray bottle and squirt it on. Maybe shred it on the bottom and on the sleeves a little. You can also roll it in the dirt to age it. I've picked up 4 wedding gowns for props, all for free. Two of them are stained with brown acrylic paint that has been watered down a little. One of tea stained and one is naturally dirty. For my costume, I took my actual wedding gown, shredded it up, stained it, covered it with moss and flies and mice. I'm the only person I know of that can honestly say I got my money's worth from my dress...lol. I've worn it every year for 10 years!!!


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Great ideas! My Aunt actually gave me a pair of shredding scissors this week-end and had no idea what I would use them for, as we have an electric paper shredder lol. Oh my that gown is in for trouble now! Going to fill some spray bottles now and dirty her up! Thanks


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

My first thought was tea staining also, although you may need a lot of tea bags if you want to soak the whole gown. Trishaanne's suggestion about using a diluted brown paint might be easier and not so wasteful of good tea


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Yes, think I will start with diluted paint in spray bottle to see how that goes. After all I can't wreck it??


----------



## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Great job on your new prop!! I love dyeing, distressing, and doing all sorts of crazy things to fabric, so I have lots of ideas for you. Before you start, think about what the gown would have gone through all those years. What areas it would be worn and aging, what sort of wear would it have. For instance,if your prop has been wandering the grounds at night, the hem would be very tattered and stained. 

Tea staining is a great way to distress fabric, you can also use dyes in light earth tones, coffee works wonders as well. I suggest using a combination of mediums, different shades, intensities, on one garment to get a random, natural, layered look of discoloration and staining. You can use a large pail, your bathtub, any basin you can fill with very hot water. Keep in mind that tea, coffee, and dye can stain the basin. If you want the color to be even, you will need a large enough basin that the gown can move freely and make sure to stir it continuously. If you want an uneven finish (which I prefer in distressing), you can make do with a smaller basin, and won't need to stir as much. Painting on the dye can work for getting a certain effect in right where you want it, but unless you're using fabric reactive dyes (most dyes such as RIT are not), the color will usually be very faint and may need several coats to get what you want. 

If you would also like tears and fraying, that's fun too! I suggest using scissors that are not too sharp, but not completely dull either. You can make small pricks in the fabric by opening the scissors and using one tip. I like to cut slashes of various sizes in the fabric, the use the edge of one the scissor blade to scrape along the edges of the cut to rough it up a bit. Another technique that works well with lightweight fabrics is to make folds in the fabric and cut with the scissors at an angle to make an upside-down "V", you can make a few cuts like this in a vertical row (Maybe 1 to 3). This makes the fabric hang in a really interesting droopy way. I suggest roughing up these cuts with the edge of the scissors blade as well. Just have fun and experiment with different cuts and slashes that you like. Once your finished, you can run the gown through the washing machine (no detergent) to fray up the cuts. You may want to check on it frequently during the wash cycle to make sure the gown doesn't fall apart completely, pull it out when you have your desired effect.

The great thing about distressing clothes for the undead, is that you really can't go wrong, just keep playing until you get the look you want. Have fun!!


----------



## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

She looks gruesome shar! Some aging of the dress would make her look even better. I'd look for something that might give a yellowish tinge to parts of the dress.


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Wow lots of info and advice! Is there a way I can save this post for future referencing? Thanks so much.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

shar said:


> Wow lots of info and advice! Is there a way I can save this post for future referencing? Thanks so much.


You should be able to just save the URL (http address) in your Favorites list on your computer. Also, on your profile page, under Statistics, you can click on" Find All Threads Started by Shar" and locate it that way. Once you have many threads, though, that won't be as efficient as simply bookmarking the thread location on your computer favorites list


----------



## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

That is quite a spooky looking prop. Nice job. Good find on the dress too. A little distressing and maybe some webs would really finish the effect. Now onto your 1st animated prop.


----------



## DeathTouch (Sep 6, 2005)

I think it is awesome. Nice job!


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Thanks all for the nice comments and Roxy on fav tip.


----------



## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Shar really great job on your first prop. It actually looks like you have been prop building for awhile because it looks so good! Age the dress and it will look awesome!


----------



## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

I like it ..very cool


----------



## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

She's great, but her ring is on the wrong hand. After ripping and distressing fabric, I distress with (of all things) spray paint. I start with lightest colros first and go to darker. I LOVE cammo spray paint as it's very muddy looking..especially love the khaki and lite olive(mold) colors. 
I also pound cloth between rocks to shred it nicely. My neighbors certainly think I'm nuts when I pick the 2 big granite rocks out of my rock garden & go to town beating the hell out of fabric..


----------



## The Watcher (Sep 13, 2008)

That is a great looking prop. Hope to see many more from you.


----------



## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

debbie5 said:


> She's great, but her ring is on the wrong hand. After ripping and distressing fabric, I distress with (of all things) spray paint. I start with lightest colros first and go to darker. I LOVE cammo spray paint as it's very muddy looking..especially love the khaki and lite olive(mold) colors.
> I also pound cloth between rocks to shred it nicely. My neighbors certainly think I'm nuts when I pick the 2 big granite rocks out of my rock garden & go to town beating the hell out of fabric..


My Kind of girl.....

Why not just use soil??? I work with the earth.. and My work cloaths look rather deadly. Just grab a hand full or two of your native soil and soak it into your fabric... along with the other suggestions of shredding you can't get a more natural grungy "risen from the dead" Look...

On a side note that makes dressing nice ( and clean) even more special...


----------



## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Yowzah! Nice dusty looking corpse.

Definitely dirty that dress so it matches the face. I won't really matter what you do to it. Start with tea if that is what you are comfortable with, rip it and add layers of aging to it until you like it. You can't in any way screw it up..it is supposed to be screwed-up from age and rot anyway. 

Keep us posted.....me jealous!


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

*Corpse Bride all dirtied up!*

Did check for label but could not find any. Started wtih tea bath, then sprayed with watered down burnt umber. Slapped some diluted glue on with brush and sprinkled with dirt and moss and finally a few squirts of black spray paint. The dress appears much darker and dingier in real life. The family thinks it is awesome!! Thanks so much to all! I love her. Does anyone else talk to their props whilst working on them? lol I think I should at least give her a name. Camilla sound good?


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Could it be I am over a limit to post pictures? It seems as though it did not load?


----------



## tot13 (Jul 25, 2007)

shar said:


> Did check for label but could not find any. Started wtih tea bath, then sprayed with watered down burnt umber. Slapped some diluted glue on with brush and sprinkled with dirt and moss and finally a few squirts of black spray paint. The dress appears much darker and dingier in real life. The family thinks it is awesome!! Thanks so much to all! I love her. Does anyone else talk to their props whilst working on them? lol I think I should at least give her a name. Camilla sound good?


Don't be a tease! Post a pic!


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

I am trying lol.


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Trying to load picture again, it loaded fine on my profile album? Hope it works this time.


----------



## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Looks great Shar! I don't think you exceeded your limit in your photo albums? You only have 15 pictures? Maybe because you posted two threads back to back? The picture looks a little like me on my wedding day! Maybe that is why I'm divorced.


----------



## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

The dress looks great Shar, nice job. Wow, that's a nice big open space you have to work on props


----------



## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

*vbhbgvgj*

It turned out great! Your work area is so BIG and neat. I'll come by and mess it up for ya if you want..lol.


----------



## shar (Jun 19, 2010)

Thanks all for the comments and great advice!!!


----------



## DeadRN (Jun 21, 2010)

Wow, I love her hands! She looks angry haha!


----------



## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

She looks great. Maybe you can have some dead flowers for her to hold, come Halloween.


----------



## jaege (Aug 23, 2009)

A bouquet of black roses. Nice prop.


----------



## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Fantastic job on the distressing, Shar!


----------



## nixie (Sep 17, 2008)

Looks great!! Nice work!


----------



## Bone Dancer (Oct 7, 2005)

Nicely done. 
I can tell your new at this. Your work space is far to clean.


----------



## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Very good job on your first prop. She looks very scary. Wish my basement looked like that, I have dead stuff and monsters every where you look in my basement.


----------



## chud (May 23, 2010)

looks very creepy...yes tea is what you want to stain the dress.you can wad up sections of it, tie it in knots, and use rubber bands in other areas to give it spuratic stained areas.


----------



## smileyface4u23 (Apr 1, 2008)

She looks fantastic - very creepy. I'm jealous of all that space you have to work in!


----------



## scourge999 (May 4, 2008)

How did I miss this! That is one scary Bride! She reminds me of some concept sketches for the Haunted Mansion bride. Excellent job! I would love to have one of those.


----------



## Ghoul Friday (Oct 6, 2007)

Really nice. The hands are awesome.


----------



## PirateLady (Jul 23, 2010)

Great job. I've had luck with the tea staining also... but I agree with Roxy such a waste of good tea...


----------



## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

Now that is a dress befitting a fine, dusty corpse.

Great job.


----------



## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Very VERY nice job on this one!


----------



## samhayne (Jul 3, 2008)

Nice job..really creepy.


----------

