Samurai! (or how I ended up cosplaying Hinamori Momo)

Back in March, I was contacted by the Worcester Art Museum about finding a cosplayer for the opening of the Samurai! exhibit, which combines real samurai goodies such as armor with current pop culture. Of course this seemed interesting since I used to intern at Higgins Armory (an excuse to look at armor again and make costumes? yes please!).

I spent a while trying to think of a costume that would be fairly recognizable, family friendly, and doable in a couple weeks. It suddenly hit me, Bleach! I used to both read the manga and watch the show so I'm relatively familiar with the early parts of the story (there's a crazy amount of chapters/episodes now). I asked my boyfriend to participate as well, and we agreed on dressing as Momo Hinamori and Renji Abarai. These characters are both lieutenant shinigami, who wear a black and white uniform based on traditional Japanese clothing.

I don't have finished photos yet, but here's a bit of a sneak peak and some construction notes:

I will underestimate the size of my legs forever...

...but at least I can finally make this top consistently!

A few months ago, I made a wearable mock-up of a full body suit/ catsuit. It worked out fairly well so I ordered fabric for the final version. With that, I got a yard of this awesome galaxy print poly/spandex to play with.

I wanted to make some tights using the new fabric and the bodysuit pattern, since the legs on it fit very well. (Can you tell where this is going yet?) The fabric is a lot stretchier than the previous one, so I foolishly took out a bit of length while cutting out the tights. Bad idea. The legs ended up much too short, and I had to chop the feet off to make them at all wearable. At least they still work as leggings!

How are my calves too big for everything?

Every once in a while, I'll find a pair of skinny jeans or pants that I really like and convince myself that they'll totally fit. They pretty much never do because of my calves. I guess no one expects my size waist/hips to actually have thighs and calf muscles.

I received the leggings pattern from So Sew Easy as one of my prizes for winning their "Make it Yours Contest" with my fox clutch. Okay. They're leggings. I've made leggings before, and they fit well enough. I used a self drafted pattern that had 4 pieces, so I wanted to try out this one because it's only 2 (one per leg). It looks like it fits very well for only having two pieces, and it's so much less work.

I also wanted to start using my serger more. It's been sitting in a box for years because I don't really have the space for it or the patience to thread it. But what the hell, I'm going to try using it when appropriate. My sewing table is only big enough for one machine so I literally switch between having the regular machine or serger on the table and the other unusable on the floor. It's kind of annoying, but doable.

This pattern seemed like a great choice for getting the serger working. It's simple, stretchy, and quick to put together. I also had some appropriate fabric conveniently on hand. I bought it because I liked the color and it was so very cheap, but had no plans for what to do with it.

I chose the size and cut out the pattern according to the instruction (woah, what? who am I?), thinking mostly that "hey, this fabric is super stretchy. It'll fit even if my calves are bigger than usual." Ahem. I should know better.

I made one pair of these, tried them on, and well... Good thing I have a friend who is about my size. I had wanted to make her some leggings as a gift anyways so I finished these up. She says they fit, phew.

I made a second pair, adding about an inch to the calves. They're still a little too snug in places but not uncomfortable.

 

I used the serger for all the seams and the bottom hems, though I had to get the other machine for the waistband.

You might notice I didn't use serger thread of all one color. For those who don't know, sergers use 4 spools of thread (or 3 depending on the stitch). I don't really have enough spools in a single color so I decided to do multicolored stitching. I actually really like it. I'll probably do this a lot.

I've decided to start doing tutorials. First up: wtf are culottes anyways?

I mean, this is a tutorial for culottes? a skort? A split-skirt. That's probably most accurate.

According to internet sources (aka Wikipedia) culottes are any women's garment that looks like a skirt but is pants. They used to be a men's garment kind of like knickerbockers. (I just wanted to use the word knickerbockers.) It seems much more accurate to call the women's version a split skirt.

Someone linked me to a pattern for some culottes made to look like a circle skirt a while ago, but I can't justify buying a pattern for something I can easily do, even if I rarely have the motivation to draft these things. I convinced myself this time around by deciding to do a tutorial as I went along, and here it is!

Big bunny pants? Bugs Bunny pants.

A couple months ago some folks asked me why I don't have any phat pants in my Etsy shop. I finally got around to finishing some. Personally I enjoy cartoon characters on my pants, so when I saw this Bugs Bunny fabric in an awesome bright blue I thought it would be great for the project.

I altered a plain men's pants pattern for these. Quick step-by-step: Trace the pattern, add width to the bottom smoothly from the top, add lines for color blocking, cut out the paper pattern and add seam allowance when cutting out of fabric. 

The original pattern called for a zipper fly but since these pants are quite light, I went with velcro. The side pockets also have velcro closures. I added the drawstring at the waist (and leg openings) so they could be more adjustable.

If you look super close you'll notice a short line of stitching  next to the side seam on this leg. This is to hold the drawstring in place so it doesn't pull out, for example if you step on it. The stitches are quite large if you'd like to pull them out and remove the string (twill tape).

 I created this back pocket shape for a different pair of pants long ago (I thought I had posted about them, but apparently not), and reused it here because I think it's quite nice. Most of the seams are top stitched for reinforcement. I think these count as "mock flat-felled" seams.

That's all folks!

How little can pants wrap to still be wrap pants?

I made one more pair of wrap pants after the last time, trying to see how little fabric I could use. This is pretty much the limit here - these barely overlap on the sides. I could have done a little better (the hems are double folded and relatively wide). The fabric I used is also less stretchy than the previous ones.

I added drawstring to the bottom for a different look, and to keep them from constantly flying off and tangling when it's windy or I'm moving a lot.

This pair is available in my Etsy shop.

"Those look like 70s sex party pants"

One of my friends came up with this great name for my pants while I was making them. Seems appropriate.

A couple weeks ago I saw a girl on the train wearing a simple maxi skirt in a cool pattern. When I first spotted her I thought she was wearing loose flowing pants, and thought they were awesome. Even though she wasn't wearing pants, I decided to make some. I used soft knit fabric, so these are super comfortable.

I started out with this tutorial. I've used it before, years ago when I first started sewing, but this time when I followed it the crotch ended up far too low. When I brought it up, of course the pants ended up too short. I didn't have much extra fabric, but managed to cut some bands to add to the bottom. It's really my own fault for not accounting for my added band on the top (and small butt).

I did the waistband a bit differently. Instead of folding over the top of the pants' fabric, I added a wide band on one half of the pants, and a narrow one on the other (so it is more easily hidden under the wrapping).

Gotta show some leg at those 70s sex parties.

Here's that bottom band. as you can see, I didn't have enough fabric to finish the edges properly, like I had on the non-lengthened edges. These pants are just for me though so I'm not too concerned.

I then made another pair, being much more careful about length. I had even less of this fabric to work with (I got both of them as remnants).

Since I had so little fabric I really didn't expect to match the stripes on these, but hey, it worked out!

These pants all look humorously gigantic when not wrapped. They also take way more fabric than you think because of this.

I zig-zagged the "waistbands" on so they would keep their stretch. It worked pretty well, though I do have some skipped stitches here and there.

If you need some super comfy lounge pants I definitely recommend these. They take less than 2 hours to make. Super easy and wearable.

It's Spring, and things are in bloom(ers)

It's that time of year when I wear more skirts and less tights, so bloomers come in handy for windy days. They have that retro cute thing going on too. I made these two pairs as examples of ones I plan to sell, not to wear myself, but I already have a couple.

The first is a smaller, less poofy style:

Isn't this fabric cute? It has little animals on hearts.

The other pair is larger and more full:

(thanks to one of my friends for modeling)

I used a basic shorts pattern to get the curve for the crotch correct, and altered the rest. The waist has two rows of elastic, and the legs have one each. They're quite comfortable if you ask me.

Finally, a reason to finish and wear my disco jumpsuit.

I went to a roller disco themed party the other day. There wasn't really disco music, but that was the theme at least. I learned roller skating is way harder than it looks, but oh well, at least it gave me a reason to finish this jumpsuit that I had started working on a couple years ago. Really, all it needed was hemming... and it just sat in a drawer for years, unfinished, until now, ladies and gentlemen!

I suggest listening to some disco song while reading this post. Here is one to get you started.

Okay, here is my outfit in all its blue polyester glory! (alright, it's pretty plain, shh.)

The fabric is just blue, but the texture is oh so 70s. It's just like some of the vintage clothes I have. The discount fabric store in my area had a bunch of this stuff in lots of colors, and it's super comfortable!

I did use a pattern, but didn't want to do a zipper, so I put shirring in the back, as I usually do. I also added the two skinnier straps in back to keep it up a little better. The pattern was Simplicity 2401. I don't remember if I had any complaints about this pattern - It's been a while, but I think it was pretty straightforward.

Oh no, it's been months!

I said I'd keep this up... I really want to, things have been pretty busy though. To make up for my lack of posts, here are some other costumes from Halloween. This isn't even half of all the ones I wore since I dressed up almost every day for work. I think it came to something like 36 costumes.

I was a couple characters from Alice in Wonderland, Alice being one of them. The dress isn't something I made specifically for Halloween - I've had it for a couple years now. I remember using a pattern, heavily altered though.

I didn't make any of these specifically to use in a clown costume either, but it all worked together pretty well. The no-sew tutu, leggings, and tank top with side gathers are all sewn by me, long sleeve shirt is some tie dye I did.

Funny story on this one - I purposefully didn't do full white clown makeup because I didn't want to scare anyone, and yet there was still a girl at the store I work in (probably around 13 years old) who could not look at me and had to close her eyes whenever I walked by.

Quick tie dye update

If you remember from my last post, I didn't expect this tie dyeing to go very well since I was pretty lazy about it. It's all sort of... meh. Not terrible by any means, but nothing special either. Ah well.
These shorts in the first two photos (front and back respectively) are also something I made. I pretty much wing it on pants like this, copying only the crotch curve from a random pattern. They have two front pockets, two back pockets, and an elastic waist/hems.

A couple more of the better shirts:

What to do with a mock-up that works?

There are a couple ways I handle mock-ups (sometimes I refer to these as "trial runs" so I'm not constantly saying "mock-up"):
- if the pattern had a lot of fitting issues and I made it work, I save the mock up to use as a future pattern
- if it didn't work at all, it goes back in the fabric pile to be cut again as something else
- this one might be a little different than what other people do: if I think the pattern will work with only minor adjustments, I cut it in my lining fabric so I can just use it to line whatever I'm making once it's fitted. I baste the lining together, fit it, rip it apart to use as a pattern for the outside fabric, and put it back together.
- or, if the piece doesn't need a lining, I turn the mock-up into a garment on it's own. This can work since I mostly use plain sheets for my mock-ups. They take dye well if they have some cotton content so once that's done, no one knows the garment was just a trial run or is made from a sheet.

In this case, I went with the last option. When I made the Sims jeans for Eddy, I did a trial run to work out any kinks in my pattern alterations and sizing for his tiny self.

 

 

Of course they have some seams that don't quite make sense when they're not made in two colors, but that's not something most people notice right away.

Pants to dance in

There once was a girl who liked pants called UFO's (really there's lots of girls like that). Unfortunately, these pants were not in the budget of an unemployed college student. So, what's a girl to do? Make her own of course, this is a sewing blog after all (and a project from 2010).

I had seen other people wearing UFO's and got a chance to look at my friend's a bit, but since I didn't own any to even measure I had to make everything up as I went along. I do have some capri pants in a somewhat similar style, and those were definitely helpful for figuring out some of the details like where to attach straps.

These had no pattern and no trial run because they really didn't need it - I just went for it measuring and drawing directly onto some plain white fabric (a sheet to be exact). I'm pretty sure I had traced the crotch curve from a shorts pattern, but that's all. I used my hip measurement plus a couple for the waist (divided by 4 for each half leg piece) and made the pant legs 40" on the bottom (20" per leg piece). 40 inch wide pant legs are amazing by the way. They have drawstring in the waist and legs, lots of pockets, straps, and star buttons (those weren't sewn on yet in the photo above). One of the more interesting details I noticed in pants of this style is the little tucks at the knees - two on each side, so 4 per knee, only in the front. You can see them in the above photo. I believe they give you more knee room so you don't rip your pants doing crazy dance moves.

Why yes, I do things the hard way.

Here's another project from the past year. Although I mostly sew for myself, it's not because I don't like sewing for others. I like doing commissions (hint hint), as long as the person I'm working with is willing to try things on and discuss what is and isn't possible. In this case, my best friend asked for some pants from the Sims 2 game, like these:

 ... and here's my version (plumbob also made by me using a template found online. It's card stock that's been painted and wired to a headband):

I did kind of promise to sew Eddy something for Christmas and he's pretty easy to work with, so I didn't mind taking on a complex project I had never done before. By that I mean I'd never made structured pants, put in a fly front, or worked with denim. I'll say now that I was a little amazed when I finished them and they turned out better than I expected. There were some tough times with how much my machine did not enjoy sewing through 8 layers of denim.