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Pattern Review: McCalls 7718
Pattern Description:Close fitting lined dresses have princess seams and strap variations. A: Contrast overlay. C, D: Uneven hemline, wrong side of fabric will show. Includes separate pattern pieces for A/B, C, and D cups. Pattern Sizing:6-22 with A/B, C, D cup sizing Fabric Used:The pattern fabric is quilting cotton from Spoonflower (I’m recreating a design so I needed exact fabric) and the overlay is poly voile from Fabric Wholesale Direct. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?Yes, but with the alterations I made, it does have a different feel. Were the instructions easy to follow?I read through the instructions, and…
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Pattern Review: Vogue 9285
Pattern Description:Loose fitting top has back hook and eye closure and sleeve variations. Pattern Sizing:6-14 or 14-22; I cut an 18. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?I made a number of alterations, but the bones of the shirt matched that of the picture. Were the instructions easy to follow?The instructions for the bishop sleeve were easy. Reading through the flared sleeve instructions were slightly confusing. The shirt comes together quickly though. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?The sleeve cuffs are dreadful, they are supposed to be one piece (I made them two to insert the…
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Elevating Eilonwy
Let’s talk about fabric choices, details, and why we pick the fabrics we do. I touched upon this briefly when I talked about making Arwen, but that was a project where I was working to achieve a close recreation of a particular look, while sourcing materials that didn’t break the bank. This time around, let’s look at an original redesign of a character who has a rather basic costume: Eilonwy from the 1980’s Disney cult classic, The Black Cauldron. All the materials were gotten from two places: Fabric.com and Amazon. That’s it, no crazy sourcing from overseas! First we look at the color blocking of the costume: blue bodice with…
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Pattern Review: Truly Victorian 428 (1880 Jacket Bodice)
Pattern Description:This style is particularly suited to 1878 – 1882, and is perfect for daytime events. This jacket has a roll down collar with lapels, and is cut away at the center front below the waist. The bodice hem can be made in two styles, either with two points and shaped over the hips, or long on both sides and back. The side back seams open up into pleats below the hip for added fullness. The fitted sleeve is in 2 pieces, and can be made either full length with a cuff, or 3/4 length. The bodice is drafted based on a tailoring method actually used in the 1870’s. Each…
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Science of Sewing: Creating Custom Striped Fabric
I fell in love with this fashion plate and knew I had to make it into Captain America. But the problem was the striped skirt, I didn’t want the stripes falling into the seamlines and creating chevrons. Instead I decided to make my own stripes and sew them on to recreate the look. This was my process for getting crisp, clean, and even stripes all around the skirt. Step One: Tear taffeta into 2″ strips. Yes, tear. Silk taffeta tears evenly on grain, creating perfect strips of fabric that you didn’t have to cut meticulously. It takes near zero time to do in comparison to cutting. Step Two: Grab handy…
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Science of Sewing: Cutting Implements
Let’s talk about all the scissors you might want or actually need for cosplay creation! There are quite a few, so I’ve broken them down here with their uses and place in the cutting world: Types of Shears and Scissors Dressmaking Shears Embroidery Scissors/ Thread Snips Pinking Shears Tailor’s Shears Rotary Cutters Hair Cutting Shears Thinning scissors Hair Razors Dressmaking Shears Dressmaking Shears come in two distinct varieties: Knife-edge and Serated-edge. Both styles coming in sharp tip and blunt tip. There are also spring loaded versions to take some of the work off your hands. These are the mainstay of your scissor collection. They are meant to cut through fabrics…
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Fabric Selection 101
Beyond a doubt, fabric selection is the most crucial part of sewing – it literally is the costume. When I was a starting seamstress, my fabric choices were ALL over the place, especially for skirts, I used lining fabric, charmeuse, silky solids, and a myriad of completely inappropriate fabrics for the styles I was making. Best part? They fell apart. Not just because I didn’t finish my seams, but because the fabric was quite literally, wrong. You can learn from my mistakes! Save yourself some coin to spend on the appropriate fabrics for a project. I’m going to talk all about wovens today and save knits for another. If you…
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A Rose Petal Skirt
Taking inspiration from Dior and the 19th Century (specifically the mid 1860’s) I designed a skirt with petals that are short in the front and lengthen as they get to the back. These petals are more intricate than they appear, in fact, there are four layers of fabric to them: two types of organza, glitter tulle, and silk gauze. Each petal is made from a base of gold organza with a second layer of the iridescent organza. These bases were cut to the shape of the final petal. I sewed them together around the edge, but then added three rows of stitching from the top to the bottom spaced out.…
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Let’s Talk Research
An upcoming project of mine is Arwen’s “Red Dress” from the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. So how does one go about actually making a cosplay that is fairly screen accurate? Read on and I’ll tell you all about research for this relatively simple costume. The first step is to break everything down into parts, so we have the following categories: Fabric, Sewing Pattern(s), Trims, Embellishments, Wig, Accessories, Shoes. In the case of Arwen, we are only using a few of these categories: Fabric, Sewing Pattern, Trim, and Wig. To figure out the fabric, multiple reference images are generally needed, in the case of Arwen, one or…
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Making Fire
My 18th Century (specifically 1770’s) Charmander, aptly named “Le Feu du Charmander,” required a non-historical trim to create a flame effect. During the time period, fabric trims were, for the most part, various types of gathered strips of fabric or bows sewn onto the dress in artful, mirrored ways. No way would this work for the ombre look I was wanting to achieve – let alone match the texture I desired. The solution: nearly 200 individual ‘flames.’ I simultaneously regret and love this decision. I’m often quite conflicted when it comes to costuming and time-consuming techniques, this was no exception. Materials: Five 1-yard cuts of flame colored fabric 2 packs…
