How I made Rhiannon White's Sexy Jungle Creature costume for Pole Theatre UK 2017

Hello polers! 

We all love to watch Pole Theatre - it's definitely one of the most diverse ones. Divided into Pole Art, Pole Drama, Pole Comedy and Pole Classique, Pole Theatre allows the performer to tell their story and create a master piece on stage. Created by Michelle Shimmy and Maddie Sparkle in Sydney in 2013, and is now in over 20 countries worldwide, and growing.

One of the major parts of the performance is COSTUME. We all love to watch final result but I wanted to show you step by step how this particular one was made. You can use this as an inspiration to create your own costume in the future, or just read it for fun ;)

If you haven't already watched it, click on the image to watch Rhiannon's super sexy performance:

Custom costume: Sway
Photo credit: Cornel Fotocad

You are probably wandering how the heck it holds up? We'll get to that but now lets focus on the costume.

Idea

Here is the image and sketch that Rhiannon sent me as her inspiration for the costume :D I must say it came out much better than I expected!

Tools & Materials

• bra straps (or any other elastic straps that match your costume)
• silky fabric
• pair of thong 
• scissors
• measuring tape
• threads and needles
• mannequin (not obligatory but very useful!)
• pins
• chalk or soap to mark on fabric
• lighter
• iron

Steps

1. Cut two long and two slightly shorter straps. Measure the length on your body. not on mannequin and add few centimetres just in case.
2. Put the thong on mannequin and pin the straps the way you want them. I started with the pinning four straps at the front of the thong (on the seam). The two shorter straps on both sides went around the hips and  back to where they started. The two longer ones went up and criss-crossed on the back and back around to the front. See the picture below:
3. Mark where you will need to cut out the excess thong .
4. Take them off of mannequin and pin them to the thong along the lines. Sew them as they are. You can use the overlock with elastic stitching or sew by hand - I did it by hand as I didn't want to have the seams showing.
5. Pin the shorter bits of elastic and create leaf-like detail. Insert the ends under the elastic above to hide them. It may not be seen from far away but remember if there are professional photographers around you want all the details to look immaculate!
6. Sew them on. Once done cut off the excess of the thong.
7. Fold the ends and sew them together to make nice neat line. Just look at the detail!
8. Now lets move to the boob leaves. Measure approximately how big you want them and cut out a rectangular piece of fabric. Fold it in half and iron the crease. No need to be overly precise with it ;)
9. Cut out leaf shape and use a lighter to finish the edge. It will make the fabric ripple a bit. Be extra careful not to burn yourself or the fabric!
10. Now lets work on the leaf veins. Fold the fabric and iron along the crease. You might want to pin them to surface to you are ironing on to make it easier. 
11. Pin and sew them up to the straps of the outfit.
12. Congratulations! You're almost done! (excuse the crazy wallpaper :D its not my house!)
13. Now use same method you used to make big boob leaves to make small leaves to decorate the costume. Pin them to find out what works best for your costume. Sew them on the way that the threads will not show. Then add some on the back.
14. ...And we are DONE!!!

Here is the final look on the gorgeous Rhiannon White. It was a lot of work to make the outfit but it was also a lot of fun and I love Rhi so it was pleasure and honour to be part of her creative idea!