Start simple be hanged

The year my school friends and I turned 16 provided many opportunities for dressing up. At the time I was making a hobby of sewing decorative throw cushions (we still have more than anyone knows what to do with). I had been exploring the costuming part of the internet and thought I would like to do that too and I made a couple of very simple costumes with help from my mum.

My best friend had a Disney themed birthday party. I chose to go as Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean. This choice brought lots of new experiences: making a corset, making patterns from scratch, researching and attempting screen accuracy, and accumulating supplies. It also later introduced the concepts of redoing things after wearing, and wearing an outfit only once.

While not necessarily obvious at a first glance Tia Dalma’s costume is based on 18th century styles, being comprised of a mantua over stays and skirts.

Stays
I used McCall's 4861 for the corset, changing the shape slightly to be more accurate to the movie. I made my corset with 5 layers. There are two inner layers, which are used for the boning channels, a lining, the fashion fabric and a net overlay. The linings and the outer layer were sewn together around three edges and slipped over the inner layers, a bit like putting a pillowcase on a pillow. The lower edge is bound with trim over the netting layer which started life as a reusable shopping bag. I didn’t shape the netting at all, just stretched it over the top of the corset. Having made other corsets now, I do not think much of this method of construction – all the separate layers never quite match up.

I chose not to include the damage that can be discerned on Tia Dalma’s corset in the movie – I couldn’t work out how to do it and it isn’t very noticeable.

To my great frustration I was never able to find an image of the back of the actual corset. I searched the internet and freeze-framed the movie but was unable to find a clear reference. Mine laces up the back, with a sort of loop tape because I was too lazy to do eyelets. When I first wore it I had to lace it up myself, which is possible but not fun.

Mantua
I worked with my mum to draw the pattern for the mantua (making sure it had all the right pieces and seam placement) over a shirt pattern. I found a lovely pink brocade at Spotlight for the mantua but there wasn’t a lot of it. I cut and sewed up the bodice and draped the remainder of the fabric as the skirt. And by draped, I mean I put it on and pinned the skirt to the bodice behind me, then took it off and handsewed where the pins were. The tail of the bodice is lined, up to the point where the skirt is joined in.

At first I made the bodice with shoulder seams and inset sleeves, expecting just to push them off-shoulder but this didn’t sit properly so we just cut the neckline round at off-the-shoulder level. The result is that I can’t raise my arms in this costume, but I have come to regard arm-movement as an unnecessary luxury in a costume, so I was (and am) not much bothered by this.

The sleeve frills are made with a circle of crinkled red and yellow tie-dyed fabric which I tea-stained to age; a circle of lace and a few extra strips of lace. I have never managed to find trim for the sleeve at all like that used in the film. I have replaced it since the party but I am still not happy with it.

The mantua attaches to the bodice with hooks and eyes. I had to add extra eyes to the bodice when I put it on since I kept losing them in the futz at the top of the stays.


To be continued...





Pirates of the Caribbean belongs to Disney

Equipment upgrade

I've finished the buckle for my Assassin's Creed II costume. (Part 1 – making the cast – is here.)

The first step after taking it out of the mould was to trim off the flash and sand the rough edges. The resin sanded quite easily.

 

Then I engraved the patterns on the arms. I hadn't done these patterns on the clay sculpt because I wasn't sure how to do it without disrupting the shape of the arms. I could do the designs on the 'badge' in the clay because they were very fine but I thought the lines on the arm would displace too much clay to be done nicely. I had tested engraving on my practice piece and it looked promising but I'm not sure that it actually worked that well on the final article. I found the engraving was inconsistent along the lines in regard to how wide or deep it was. In the end result the lines are still a bit too shallow to show up clearly under the paint and didn't catch the black wash as they should have.

This is the pattern I engraved. I cleverly forgot to take a picture of the engraving itself.

After the engraving I needed to prime the surface. I used one part sealant, one part acrylic. I had tested painting resin with spray paint but found that in the weeks it was kicking around my sewing table a lot of the paint had come off. So I went with a different approach for the final article in hopes of a more permanent finish.

Next came two coats of silver acrylic and then a black wash (watered down acrylic).

I thought it looked pretty good at this stage, if a bit darkly smudged in places.

Lastly I did a coat of pewter rub'n'buff. I'm not 100% sold on this – it didn't get as shiny as I'd hoped (it's pretty hard to buff in those small crevices) and a bit too much of the black wash got covered over. That said, it's still eminently usable. 

To make the belt I used a (very cut down) corset pattern. I put the mini-corset inside a tube of red fabric. The seam on the tube is open behind where the buckle goes. I then screwed the buckle to the fabric.

I made sure the fabric beneath the buckle was loose enough to look draped.

The corset laces at the side and one end of the red tube tucks inside the other one. The overlap is covered by a thinner sash (not pictured).

Assassin’s Creed belongs to Ubisoft.

Dyes, dyed, will dye

I am working on Elizabeth’s first outfit from Bioshock Infinite – my post about the shirt is here.

To make Elizabeth’s skirt I modified Simplicity 2442 which has a six-gore skirt with a high waistline. I must have got something mixed up in the mock up stages because nothing that was meant to be symmetrical really is and pattern gores that were meant to be the same size aren’t and I’ve got no idea what’s going on with it anymore except that it fits and hangs really nicely. So I didn’t try to fix it.

I decided to use pintucks instead of large pleats because free pleats made of fabric just don’t look like the controlled pixels of the garment in the game. I added the pleats to the pattern by inserting lots of folded strips and then opening them out.

The fabric I’m using was labelled as gabardine and sold as denim. I’m not sure which it is or if it’s something else entirely. It has a lovely texture, both tactiley and visually. I didn’t find a darker fabric that matched so I decided to paint the dark border. I also thought painting would make the whole process easier and neater as it meant not having to line up all those seams. The fabric paint I usually use either doesn’t come in dark blue or no-one feels the need to stock it – so, based on the advice of the sales assistant at the craft store, I bought screen printing ink. That sales assistant will have my eternal gratitude – the ink is exactly the right colour, easy to use and easy to fix mistakes.

I had a minor disaster when I decided to give a second coat to part of the border that had come out a bit patchy. When it dried it was a lot darker than the panel next to it (and had started looking more purple), had some shiny splodges and had a very distinct line where the second coat had stopped. Luckily, before the dye has been heat set, it sponges off well and I was able to repaint the problematic portion. There is still a little shadowing at the edges but it’s not something you would notice if not looking for it. Phew.

The hem has a white ruffle, sewn in with twin needling along the border line.  The skirt closes with clips. I dyed some more fabric for the tabs over the pleats.

Bioshock Infinite belongs to Take-Two Interactive Software

Sews, sewed, will sew

When I played Bioshock Infinite I was quite taken by the character of Elizabeth, so I started looking into making her first outfit. While the basic design is the white shirt and six-gore skirt that was popular during the Edwardian era, the silhouette is very different – much more fitted. In fact, it was fitted in a way that only animated fabric can be. After deciding that neither I nor my mother knew how to create an appropriate pattern I booked some private lessons at Needlewitch.

At those lessons I learnt various techniques for adjusting patterns to fit my figure, how to add pintucks, and that a real fabric blouse couldn’t have the right fit without a bust dart. The fabric I used was stretch poplin which, while not historically accurate (the game is set in 1912), behaves and looks like the fabric in the game. And really, I don’t need to be too worried about historical or technological accuracy in a game where they have invented flying cities and Elizabeth can open portals through time.

After several mock-ups (with the guidance of my sewing teacher) I got a satisfactory pattern.

 I never want to sew pintucks again, but they did turn out lovely.

The technique I found very helpful was to sew a straight line down where the inside crease will be and then iron all the pleats using the stitching as a guide for the folds. The stitching makes everything very sturdy and holds it all in place. The pleats are then topstitched down (’cause they look weird if they are allowed to accordion around by themselves.) I used a blind stitch foot for the topstitching, which is wrong, but allows for a very smooth line just close enough to the edge.

Finding a suitable bias binding turned out to be difficult. No shops in Canberra seem to think you might need that colour in wide. The one I ended up getting was not as opaque as I would have liked.

I had to learn how to do a sleeve placket for the cuffs. This instructional video was very useful. Mine are not completely neat but are fine for a beginner.

In the game, the sleeves of Elizabeth’s outfit change length depending on whether she has the cuffs done up or turned back. I am going for the turned back look so have three-quarter sleeves and will leave off the buttons.
I haven’t done the buttons on the front yet because buttonholes are scary and there will be lots of them.

Also missing is something to secure the back pleats at the waist but that needs to be done after the buttons.

The outfit will be worn over my Edwardian corset. I really ought to make a new petticoat – I don’t have anything in Edwardian style – but I haven’t put a lot of thought into that and I have earlier ones that will work fine for the moment.

I referred to Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques while making this outfit. While the outfit is not very historical, I did find a few historical techniques in the book that I could use: I used French seams and swapped my normal hemming stitch for the one described in the book. The new stitch is so much neater than what I always did before that I think I will keep on using it.




Bioshock Infinite belongs to Take-Two Interactive Software

2016 Review

Real Clothes
This year I made a lot of normal, relatively plain everyday clothes.  I reused patterns with only minor (or no) variations. And because of the simplicity of the construction I was able to finish some garments in a single sitting. Relevant posts here.

Firstly I made six shirts from Vogue 8328. I’d wanted to make this pattern for years but hadn’t had appropriate fabric. I made two versions of each view after which I decided that I didn’t like the fit very much. I have got a lot of wear out of the light grey one particularly.

I made two skirts from McCalls 6608 which I love. I got fabric at Christmas which will be a third skirt. These nicely replace my standard long skirts that were discontinued last year (just before mine all wore out). I wore mid-length skirts for a while but found that I really wanted to be a long-skirt person.

I developed a maxi-dress pattern which is very comfortable and pretty so I made three of them and, when the weather changed, I adapted the pattern to be a summer dress. I don’t think it works quite as well short as it doesn’t have the weight in the skirt to make everything sit right (although this might just be me being a long-skirt person). Blog posts for the first two here and here.

I made a couple of coats: a gold cardigan to go with one of the maxi-dresses and a fleecy McCalls 7025 to wear around the house when it’s cold.

Also from the McCalls range (which did very well out of me this year) was this dress, McCalls 7091.Posts here and here. While I do really like it I found that the pattern will need a fair bit of adjusting to fit nicely and comfortably. And I don’t think I want to spend the effort, not when making the dress itself is also a lot of effort – so many seams to be sewn and pressed and neatened... The skirt could be longer too.

I made another 40s dress, this time for cooler weather. It’s still in that phase where I am too aware of its problems to be sure I like it but I expect I will warm to it. I have more 40s dresses planned for next year. They have become the staple of my summer wardrobe.

For years people have been introducing me with “she sews all her own clothes” after which I’ve had to clarify that "actually I mostly make costumes and didn’t make anything I’m wearing". But now those introducers will be right.

Lessons
I continued to have sewing lessons this year. Lots of sewing lessons. In April I had a class for every day of every weekend except for one Saturday – and I made up for that by having one lesson on a Friday.

The stretch sewing course I did is largely responsible for my foray into making everyday knit garments. In the performance-wear class I made swimming togs and afterwards used that pattern as the starting point for my maxi-dress pattern.

In two garment making courses, in which I made a skirt and a pattern for a shirt, I learnt lots of finishing techniques and how to adjust patterns for my personal fitting issues. I also learnt that I have a lot of fitting issues – which explains why I have trouble buying clothes. (The reason I always wear skirts is that no-one, including me, makes pants that fit me).

I did an overlocker class because I won an overlocker and had several private patternmaking lessons for a costuming project.

Costumes
I didn’t finish any costumes this year. I am somewhat bewildered by this. I did, however, make a significant amount of progress on a couple of projects.

I started making Elizabeth’s first outfit from BioShock Infinite. I had patternmaking lessons to make the shirt pattern. Still to do are buttons and buttonholes, skirt hems, and accessories.

I continued working on my Assassin’s Creed costume, making a resin cast for the belt buckle. I didn’t expect to be good at sculpting but it worked well, so that was pleasing. I am still discovering how to proceed with the resin but I think it’s all going to turn out fine. I have also worked on the fabric component of the belt.

I did finish one costume-related item: a bag to go with my Misery outfit.

Events
At this year’s Canberra Show I won two first places and three seconds. My Eowyn costume won overall champion of the sewing section. The prize was a sewing machine (which has found a good home) and an overlocker.

In September I had an exhibit of my costumes at GAMMA.CON and entered the costume competition.

My church youth group occasionally holds ‘get to know you’ evenings where people present their interests to the group. It was my turn recently so I put up a display in the lounge room and told them about costuming.

My cousins came to visit at the end of the year and now both of them are sewing costumes! Having had lessons myself I’m more comfortable being a mentor as I now know some ‘right’ things I can tell them. I was pleased to be able to pass on the importance of seam allowances.

Miscellaneous
My favourite new sewing thing of this year has been my electric scissors. I was given them last Christmas and I love them so much. Now cutting out happens really quickly and my hand doesn’t get sore and the edges of the fabric are neater. However –  if you rush out to buy a pair make sure you give them a test drive first as some people find them hard to control and uncomfortable. But I think they’re wonderful!

I have continued to make glacial progress on my Bayeux Tapestry dress.