"A river of liver and an ocean of fish!"

[raven]

I give up.
The feathers are so fucking unmanageable - I can't glue them, specially as I want to be able to wear the dress after this! I also can't stick them on with anything else, as nothing appears to stick to them, and I've been trying to sew them the whole morning. You can't sew them, because they won't stay, and there are now feathers everywhere. Including my bronchial tubes. I've been constantly coughing since midday.
So, I don't know what to do. I'm half inclined to rip what's left of the feathers off the dress, get a piece of card, write "Raven - a Taur'ri" on it, and hang it around my neck on a piece of string.
Suggestions, please!
Also - I don't feel so brilliant at present. Perhaps I'm allergic to black acrylic feathers, but that's not the point. I think I might faint - it's happened before - and there's no-one here but me, so no-one will know if I do, and I'm more than a little worried about it.

Comments

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... tricky!
First, try not to be too ill / die / anything like that!

What kind of glue is it? and what kind of feathers? and fabric?

Will have a think

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

The glue is non-existent - I was against the idea of glue, so I don't think there is any.
The feathers are plastic black ones - we ripped up a feather boa!
And the fabric is ordinary cotton, but quite thick, like denim but black.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Have you got a sewing machine? That might do it, but probably wouldn't look incredibly tidy.

I can't see any way of sewing them apart from that or putting a stich through every single... I was going to say stem, but I'm sure it's the wrong word. Bit down the middle of the feather.

There has to be a better way of doing it, though!

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

No sewing machine, unfortunately! It broke about a year ago, and seeing as no-one's needed it in that time, it's just stayed broken.

Putting a stich through every feather is what I've been doing until now, until I gave up in frustration because it's so difficult and the feathers just refuse to stay. I really don't know what to do.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

I'm going to post a query on a community, if it's okay with you, see what they say.

But I think that the answer will be to glue them, with something clear (like superglue) rather than a white glue.

Not sure how secure they'll be, though.

Are you trying to cover the whole dress, or just to do a trim/design?

You can buy feathers already attached to ribbons, but if you've already got the feathers...

Tricky. Let you know what I find out.

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Thanks!
I was trying to cover the whole dress, but I may rethink that.
I'm going to take another look at the dress now... and maybe eat something, as I'm beginning to feel disembodied...

[bekkypk.livejournal.com]

post something every half hour or something until somebody else gets home!
That way *we'll* know!
On the dress thing... hrm. you could thread them on a string - not sure how cause i don't know what they're like - but you could thread them onto a string and then hang it around the dress, sewing at little intervals to keep it up..?
xx

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I hadn't ripped up the feathers yet (they were on a feather boa) I did think of doing that. And I tried it just now - it works to some extent, but they keep dropping off!

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

Eating something is good.

I also think that not-taking-them-off-the-boa is good.

It seems likely to shed whatever you do.
Anyway, this is what people have come up with so far:
the anonymous answer (http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=anonymousclaire&itemid=143929)

Are there *enough* feathers on a boa to completely cover a dress? Or is it a very short, low cut, backless dress?

I'm vaguely trying to think what my boa's like... And I'm vaguely of the impression that it's got a sort of twisted together bit in the middle, that might be several string-ey things with feathers attached, which have then been bunged together in some way - maybe you could un-bung them, thus getting several boa-length strips, with fewer feathers that hopefully all go in the same direction and so lie more flat than otherwise?

Or chicken out of the covering the whole thing thing, and just sew a boa around the hem (with a bit of wire, so it's all sticky out? Or is it just me who likes skirts like that?) and then around the neck?

What're you doing with your hair? if you have boa left, you could tied your heair up with it, or do a circlet-then-hanging-down-bit with boa. Or something.

Damn, I wish I was coming. I like making clothes and getting dressed up!

What're you doing

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Eating something is good.

I also think that not-taking-them-off-the-boa is good.

It seems likely to shed whatever you do.
Anyway, this is what people have come up with so far:
<a href="http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=anonymousclaire&itemid=143929">the anonymous answer</a>

Are there *enough* feathers on a boa to completely cover a dress? Or is it a very short, low cut, backless dress?

I'm vaguely trying to think what my boa's like... And I'm vaguely of the impression that it's got a sort of twisted together bit in the middle, that might be several string-ey things with feathers attached, which have then been bunged together in some way - maybe you could un-bung them, thus getting several boa-length strips, with fewer feathers that hopefully all go in the same direction and so lie more flat than otherwise?

Or chicken out of the covering the whole thing thing, and just sew a boa around the hem (with a bit of wire, so it's all sticky out? Or is it just me who likes skirts like that?) and then around the neck?

What're you doing with your hair? if you have boa left, you could tied your heair up with it, or do a circlet-then-hanging-down-bit with boa. Or something.

Damn, I wish I was coming. I like making clothes and getting dressed up!

What're you doing <a href="http://www.theycameandshavedus.com"next October</a>?

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

The dress is quite long, with no sleeves and a hood. I think I'll go with that suggestion - sewing the feathers around the hem of the dress, and probably around the top of the hood, too.
The feather boa isn't in hundreds of pieces - it's in three pieces, so I think I might just be able to manage without too much carnage...

My hair is going to be loose, I think, and I'll put all the feathers in that have fallen off in transport.

I wish you were coming too, and thanks for all your help...

~Raven