Today I was back at Hemmingstad theatre to finish the BIG octopus. Or the kraken, if you´d prefer. The costume will be worn  by an actor naturally. But at one point in the show, a giant octopus-arm will come in on the stage. It´s about 4 meters long.
We´d already printed the pattern on the purple fabric in June (with a self-made stamp). Today I got the bottom-half of the fabric, and sew down the tentacles between two layers of the fabric. The shape itself was made in foam by a furniture-carpenter. Two meters into the arm there is a long plastic pole, so one can operate the arm. But I have to admit, it´s a bit heavy.
After the pieces were sewn together, I spray-painted the underside, to even out the borders and to make it more 3D. Looking at the before and after pictures, I am sure you can agree there is a certain improvement in “jelly-ness”.
Back at home, my niece and nephew visited for the daily summer-holiday-craft-workshop. Tonight we made wine-cork mirror-frames. The frames are from IKEA in raw wood. This was originally my nephew´s wish to make. He started collecting corks half a year ago, and had 11. For a frame this size they needed about 30 corks. Good thing I still have a collection.
I think they were both surprised at how much muscle-work it is to cut the corks in half. They were also a bit nervous about the very sharp knives. Wise kids. And the glue-gun. They aren´t allowed to use it in school because it´s so dangerous. But they handled it perfectly and didn´t get burned once. (Which is more than I can say for myself)
Two happy kids with new mirror-frames. Coming back tomorrow for a new project.
So much talent in one person! Janne, your octopus arm is amazing!