Forest Fairy Costume

I made this costume last year for Texas Renaissance festival. We were attending the 1001 Dreams weekend so I wanted to stick with the fantasy theme and create a fairy. I love fantasy and had never made fairy wings before so this was a new challenge for me.

I love to recycle and work on a budget so for this costume I grabbed some old clothes I bought from goodwill and began to chop them up and reconstruct them into a top, skirt and also a belt. I wanted to represent a forest fairy so I stuck with greens and added a little purple in there. I randomly placed fabric until I was satisfied with its placement and then stitched it all together. I wanted it to have a somewhat rough messy look since I found it appropriate for a fairy.
I then finished it with leaves, purple and green flowers, yarn and jewels.
The wings were made by bending wire into shape and using old panty hose stretched over the wire. I then painted with acrylics, burned holes and and decorated with green jewels. I did them a few times before having a pair I was satisfied with. They were so much fun that I look forward to making more in the future!
The shoes were little slip on shoes that I painted green with acrylics and added a flower and ribbon so it could tie up my leg.
Headpiece is a headband attached with flowers, green tulle and old jewelry pieces.
Photos were all taken by my talented boyfriend. :)