Recent projects

I've been away recently, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working.
Over the past year I have been working on and completed (or nearly so) the following costumes.
Director of Intelligence Isard from Star Wars (Expanded Universe)
Mara Jade: Green Jedi outfit
Various Steampunk pieces for myself and my husband
Steampunk/Gaslight Belldandy as inspired by the Oh! My Goddess Colors reprint of the first manga
Young Ben Skywalker for my son (also from Star Wars Expanded Universe).
I'll get into details on each of these over the next few days, as well as discuss some upcoming projects. But for now... Here's a picture!

Lando... or why I shouldn't drink sweet tea after 5pm.

Ok so I don't often do sewing for people outside of my family. The demands of a costuming couple and child are typically high in terms of time, and I am easily distracted. However, when someone mentions Lando Calrissian, my first thought is OMG YES HOW CAN I HELP!?!?!? Because, let's face it, the world needs more Lando.

Well, the guy is getting help with pretty much everything and claims to not be good at sewing, so I offerent to help as well. I'm likely doing the cape. Perhaps a few alterations to the shirt, but that's not the fun part. Look at that cape! It's so sleek around the shoulders and SO full along the bottom!

Now, I did something I usually don't do last night, and that is have a VERY large glass of sweet tea with a late dinner (The hubby went to Raisin Cane's for dinner at around 8pm, and they have some darn delicious sweet tea!). So what does this have to do with Lando? It means that I went to bed around 1am after sewing and reading for a few hours, and then when my son crawled in bed with me at nearly 4am, I couldn't go back to sleep. What do I do when I can't sleep? Work on problems that have been bothering me me. Tonight it was Lando's Cape of Glory (which I am totally calling this now).

So this fabric was found for the lining of the cape. Nice fabric and the guy likes it, which is of course the most important part. I just wish it that the contrast was a little bigger and that the gold was a little more antique like the original. The problem is the fabric is 44 inches wide and I'd have to make that OMG HUGE cape with it. So tonight I got to preliminary drafting.

Here is my thought process.
A cape is basically part of a circle. Starting with a large circle of fabric, you could cut out a smaller circle for the neck area and then you're left with a donut shape the width of the donut would be a little larger than the total length of the cape. If you leave it as a full circle, you've got a skirt, which is not what we want. So, cut the circle in half. That will allow the fabric to drape over the shoulders and meet in the middle and be at least somewhat more like a cape.
Problem #1: just cutting a half circle of fabric won't take into account the way the shoulders curve, which would make the hem shorter at the shoulders than at the back and front.
Problem #2: 44 inch fabric is too short to use a half circle of the length needed for the Cape of Glory.

Problem #3: A half circle doesn't begin to give the cape the fullness seen in the reference image. Seriously, look at that volume of fabric! I know that how the fabric drapes has some to do with it, but it also needs volume!

Solution: make small scale prototypes illustrating the differences to guide pattern making and employ MATH! dundunDUN...

The cape should be broken down into at least 4 sections, each of which should be shapped like a curved trapezoid. To start adding that extra volume to the cape, the bottom width of the trapezoid piece should be as wide as I can get it. Since the fabric above only comes in a 44 inch width, I'll say make the bottom width 43 inches (I always end up cutting wonky and too big, so I'd rather err on the side of giving me a little space to cut the angles right). The top width should be based on the shoulder width. I'm thinking of the following formula to figure out the top width: [shoulder *2 -(chest/2 -6)] / 4 +2, where shoulder is the back shoulder measurement, chest is the around the chest measurement (hence the divide by 2), and there is an added 1 inch seam allowance to each side of the piece. This is a general formula that will likely need revision, but I'm hoping that it gives me enough fabric to work with on the initial prototype. The length of the trapezoid should be the desired length of the cape + 6 inches, to accomidate the hem, which can be straightened after the drape over the shoulders is accounted for and finalized.

Now, this may very well give enough fullness at the bottom of the cape to replicate the reference picture, but if not, the next step would be to add goddets or gores or whatever the hell those little triangle pieces that are added to make things flare out more are called. This is essentiall a smaller and shorter trapezoid, almost triangle that gets inserted into the seam. If these get added, there will need to be at most three, one for each seam. The gore can be made wider or narrower, depending on how much fullness is needed. I would not suggest taking the seam all the way to the top of the cape however; two-thirds should be sufficient to get the fullness at the bottom, but not affect the fit over the shoulders or complicate it too much. Since, in sewing, one can always take away, but not add, I would start with a prototype having a gore bottom width no more than half the main trapezoid width. Adding too much fabric in a gore becomes tricky and doesn't look too good. If more bottom width is needed over that, then it would just be better to add an additional trapezoid piece and adjust the top measurements. The length of the gore would be 2/3 the total length of the trapezoid piece and the top width would be 2 inches. The gore should disappear into the seam allowences.

The total bottom length of the cape would be (with maximum gore width) 43 + 43 +43 + 43 + 21+21 +21 =235 inches. That would be significantly larger than a half circle (albeit, the circumfrence would be based on how large the circle was) and using the trapezoids/triangles would allow the pieces to be cut from fabric that is shorter than the total length.

Essentially the pieces would look like this, but the bottoms of both would be curved and the top of the first would be curved as well. I used 'x' to represent that long formula from before. Please excuse my poor Paint skills.

I did the math based on the actual fabric size, but I will be scaling back for some smaller initial prototypes to see if I am indeed on the right track. I also didn't address the collar there, as I'll deal with that once I've got the general shape of the cape figured out. I will also be encouraging the use of 60 inch fabric for the outer part of the cape, so I can hopefully not have to put the gores in the outer cape. I can't find any good pictures of the back of the cape so I can't see the seaming there. As a result, I would rather err on the side of fewer visible seams if I can swing it.

practical costuming

For anyone planning a new costume or even just planning to start making costumes in general, the ladies at Pink Ray Gun have some important tips to remember.

Practical Points for Costumes

Next up

It's been busy lately, but mostly because my husband keeps getting me to try new video games that I then get hooked on playing. For instance, I have Europa 1400--The Guild running in the background as I type this.

Anyway, I finished the 50's dress and am waiting on some decent pictures of it. The dress came out pretty well, though I wish we had found a print for it that would have looked appropriate. I have seen some pictures of the dress on the commissioner, and the fit looked pretty good at the end.

Next up is a double play in preparation for Mechacon. First up is JooDee from Avatar: The Last Airbender. I am planning to have this finished for the opening of The Last Airbender movie, but I am also using various fabric that I already have so I am not sure how authentic it will end up looking. I've cut out the material for the robe, but have yet to find a decent full body picture for the outfit. As such, I'm unsure what the bottom (or pants) look like.

Second is Jeane from Suikoden--that is the first Suikoden video game. My goal is to complete the outfit at least by the convention. As I am a bit strapped for cash right now, I will not be able to get the wig or contacts needed to complete this character. I am finished with the basic dress and only need to finish the "armory" jewelry pieces and the shoes. If time and funds permit, I may make her staff as well as her earrings. I'm working on the first one.

So that's what's coming up. In addition, I am working on some "on-going" Star Wars costumes, namely Mara Jade stuff and Ysanne Isard.

Alterations

I'm wrapping up on the 50's dress and it is coming out rather well. However, as with most things, there were some minor alterations that needed to be done so the dress fit well. Things like shortening the waist were done during construction, but after the fitting, we found that the waist was now too wide. Also the shoulders were too high, or rather there was too much fabric between the bust point and the shoulders, so the shoulders needed to be lifted.

In general, I don't mind doing alterations, but I prefer having several fittings as I go so I can get them taken care of before I have done a bunch of hand sewing to give the garment a finished look. Most of the time, to do the alterations correctly, you have to go back under that which you had just sealed via hand sewing. And since I hate hand sewing, it just bothers me to have to do that. Whenever I go back to seal it up by hand the second time, the stitches are no where near as pretty as they were the first time around. I'm also of the mind that it's better to do it right the first time. Unfortunately, that is nigh impossible to do with sewing. In fact, I would say if you made something and got a perfect fit straight off of the machine and pattern then you are either one of the lucky few with the "ideal" body shape (ideal as defined by the pattern company anyway), or  you just had some dumb luck.
When making clothes and costumes for oneself, it is easier to get lucky because you can use a body double or a sloper that matches your shape. It's not so easy when making something for someone else and you don't have those things. Maybe next time I make something for someone, I'll make a sloper first for them so I can better alter the pattern before hand, rather than make changes after the fact.

Making changes after the fact is precisely why I do not alter ready to wear garments. It's too much hassle that I, personally do not have the patience for. I'd rather pay someone to do it for me. Silly considering I could do it myself, but if it would take the fun out of the hobby for me, I'd rather not. Which further solidifies the saintliness of my mother in my mind. She did not just do alterations, but she altered beaded gowns.

So... Alterations: necessary evil, but easier with multiple fittings and/or body double/sloper.

costume possibilities

just updated my pics of possible or in progress costumes. This list is far from comprehensive.

Hand stitching

Let me first say that I hate hand sewing. And I don't just dislike it... I loathe it with a passion I cannot express. With the minor exception of embroidery, which I occasionally get the urge to do from time to time. I do understand that it is an important part of sewing, but if I think I can get something done on a machine, I will. At least until recently.

I've had a couple of teachers hand stitching teachers in the past (namely my mom) who have tried to get me to see the light, but now I'm trying to teach myself. I would really like to raise the quality of my costuming work, and that is going to mean the employ of more hand sewing. It could be either through basting pieces together, using thread tracing to make patterns, or just finishing the finer details that I would normally do in a machine. Some of the costumes I have planned right now actually cannot have any topstitching visible, so, things will have to be finished by stitching in the ditch or attaching to seam allowances... by hand. God help us all. Hopefully I'll have a couple of wonderful people to help keep me sane when this starts driving me nuts. And I hate to admit it, but... I've been practicing on my sis-in-law's dress and... well, I find this somewhat therapeutic. Except that it kills my back and fingers.

So, important hand stitches to know:
Running stitch, backstitch, blanket stitch, overcast stitch, blind hem stitch. I only know the first two really well and am still learning the hem stitch. Wish me luck!