All About That Crown

Been riding quite the wave this week. Got my spoken word workshop green-lighted, received positive responses from exhibit participants, and I’ve even lined up some local celebs to bring flair to my projects! Man, am I a lucky girl. Thanks for delivering, Universe.

On Thursday, my arty cohort and I traversed the local Joann Fabrics and Michaels stores. I needed to brainstorm.  As per usual, I’m taking the most complicated route to satisfy a very simple project; in this case, trying to get my goddess apparel together for my November exhibit.

Still going with the Queen Puabi crown of course. As we perused row after row of notions and beadings and sheets of both paper and cloth, I realized yup! I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.

Here’s sketches of what I’ve designed. Found the “easy” dress pattern and some bamboo cross-stitch hoops to make a crown base. The key is to make the head gear as light as possible.

A simple cross-stitch hoop makes for a crown base

The dress is easy, not me!

The dress? A yummy purple floor-length number with an empire waist. It’s not so much the cloth adornment as is the emphasis on jewelry. This is an elaborate crown, indeed, and so to compliment it, I’ve pulled down accents to the arms. As you’ll see there’s little anise-shaped stars that go along the crown which I’ll also make an armband of. And that elaborate strip of gold foil? I’ll have that carried down the other arm.  At least this is what my ambition is coming up with; hopefully we’ll exceed expectations!

Nice thing about an empire waist is you can expand below and not have to adjust much.

Notice the tyet loop to the front? Inanna was represented by a reed knot gate. A bent reed, then, was a symbol of her royal presence. Since I’m playing her priestess, Enheduanna, I wanted to include this detail.