Thread: Help with burning witch costume

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Hi everyone,
I'm new here, found this forum while looking for a way to make a decent Medusa headpiece. Needless to say, there are so many informative posts and posters, I joined!
So here's my question: I've been toying with the idea of making a witch burning at the stake costume for several years. Now, with advent of portable lights and foggers, I'm really getting serious. I may not have enough time to get it done for this year, but it would be kick butt for next year!
My thoughts include making a flexible foam appliance for the wooden stake, tied with ropes to my body. (The foam would allow me to walk, sit down, etc.) I'm thinking a long dress with satin flames sewn in, rising from the bottom. Perhaps a hula hoop sewn in the hem to keep it round like a fire is surrounding me. I saw an ad where they have hand held fog machines that recharge, so I could use that for smoke. (Or just a lined handbag with dry ice!) I'd love to find some lights to outline the flames, or put underneath the skirt and then just add a gray netting over it for a smoky effect. I count comfort as an important part of costumes, since I enjoy dancing, drinking, etc. at the parties.
Does anyone have any suggestions for the lights? Or the smoke? Or getting this assembled so it's not an unholy pain while I'm wearing it? I've never constructed this complicated of a costume, so before I dig in, I'd appreciate any hints. Thanks.

Holy crap that's a great idea! I don't think theres any way you're going to be able to make this "comfortable" but it can all be done.
You might want to consider pool noodles for the core of the stake, like 3 tied together and painted brown (covering with brown mat'l prob better option) I don't think you should perm. attach the stake to your dress if you ever plan to sit down, maybe just make some velcro attachments for when you are standing/posing for pics.....and they will take pics.
The flames would look great in red and yellow satin, I am drawing a blank for making them do anything more than "lick" up your dress (yes, I just said that)

What a unique costume idea! Instead of the hula hoop why not affix some interfacing to the satin flames so they stand up and have some of them go further up the dress so you look like you're on fire. The portable fogger is a great idea and the smoke will add to the flame illusion. I agree with COSG about not making the stake a permanent attachment. You could attach a real rope to the stake with some type of clasp that you can put around your dress - that way it is part of your bindings but easy to undo. If you pull this off please please post pics!

Smokin idea. My mind is frazzeled with my own project how to do......so I don't have anything other than...yes, you will want to be able to sit. And pool noodles are the best for the stakes.
Other than that......I WANT TO SEE THIS, if you get r done. And make sure you take pics and write the how to for it. Cause you know its going to be required. LOL ! Wow! That would be such a cool costume. Good Luck !

You could also get one of those battery powered blowers from an air blown costume, and make some ducting at the bottom of the dress. Then use the blower to make the fake flames move. Then get some orange flickering lights to give it a glow.

I've been toying with this for so long, since it's something I've never seen done. I figure throw on some burn appliances and smoky-looking makeup, and that should do it.

I probably will make the stake removable, and the pool noodles are great idea! Any thoughts on what would be best to paint them, or perhaps the cloth would be best and then paint that to look like wood.

I'd still like to find some lightweight battery operated lights for under the flames - probably poke around the web and see what I can find.

Keep the suggestions coming, and when I get it all together, I will post pics, no problem.

Thanks everyone!

What a cool idea!

Hmmm... I'm thinking something charred would add to the charm of the costume. Maybe a shawl that's been burned at the edges (or dyed/painted to look burned)?

As for the flames, I like the idea of using flowy fabrics like chiffon or poly-silks as an underskirt (just peeking out from the beneath the dress) or as trim to give them some movement. (See attachment for fabric idea.)

For the stake, I would use mattress type foam. I would cut a 6 inch square piece that is as long as you are tall, maybe a little longer. You might have to glue a couple layers together. I would give this a coat of latex (carpet adhesive works well), then when dry paint it brown and "wood grain" it. There's a tool you can get for this in the painting department of most hardware stores. I still think that the silk flames with the small fan is the way to go, here is a couple of links on making fake flames;

Backyard Imagineering - Pirates of the Caribbean Fire

Minions Web - Projects - Faux Flame Urns - All the fire and none of the burn

The only trick would be making the flames go around you. Also, you should have some wood stacked up around you, strips of foam, or the pool noodles would work for this. Then you could attach the flames to this, and hide the fans underneath. Three or four orange and red colored light sets with flasher bulbs in them so that the all flashed at different times would give the flames their glow. There was a tutorial on the site here that showed the author making some pretty sick looking skin with latex and oatmeal, colored the right ways it could look like burned skin. How burned do you want to look? When on fire, the hair and clothing would be the first to go, so if you wanted to get really grotesque, you could go with a bald cap, really distress the dress, and coat any exposed areas of you with the latex and oatmeal to look really burned.

I just checked the decoration department at Fred Meyer, and they didn't have any battery powered mini lights. How ever they did have a battery powered strobe light.. Perhaps you could place one under some colored cellophane to get the look of flames.

For the material going over the noodles, take a look at Jo-Ann's (or the equivalent where you live) I would not be suprised at all if they had a wood pattern material, then you could just paint some char at the bottom.
I found some battery op LED mini-lights (string of 18 multi-color, 4 AA batt's) at Target, they work perfect for my daughers Slot Machine.... you might have to black out a few to get the right effect.
I would shy away from the fan idea, all battery powered fans I have seen that will actually move air sound like a vacuum cleaner....except those ones kids hang around their necks at Disney and such....but you would need like 4 strapped to your legs (hot, lol)

I found some DC LED strings with color choices HERE

Wow, found the motherload HERE