Bridesmaid Bodice, Part 1

I patterned all the bodices based on the one from Simplicty 4070. For the design on the far right (the crossover one), I split it at the underbust and then draped the new upper front piece to lay over the existant upper bodice from the original pattern. Here's how I went about constructing them:


The upper bodice interlining before sewing.



The fabric layer of the upper bodice.




Pin each pleat of the upper bodice on the
wrong side and...

 

Stitch! You only need to stitch the
seam allowance plus about an inch.

After stitching, press each pleat towards the side seam and repeat for the other upper bodice piece. Then, onto basting!



Starting at the top, from side seam to center, lay
the left  side over the upper bodice interlining.  Make sure
the wrong side of the bodice is on the right side of the lining.
Repeat for the bottom. Pin in place, then machine baste.

Press under the front edge of the right bodice piece. Using pins, mark your center front and 5/8" down from the top; this is the cross-over point. Lay the bodice piece as you did the left, but only pin along the center front fold. Flip the fabric, right side to right side, and stitch the seam allowance down at 1/8" in from the seam line. This will allow for a nicer fold.



Lay the bodice back over, right side showing and pin and baste as for the left side. This is the end result.

For the lower portion of the front bodice (and for the lower back pieces, as well) there is a pewter sash consisting of an underlayer of pewter satin seamed at the sides, side fronts and side backs (this eliminates darting) and a chiffon piece. The front and side fronts are seamed together and the side backs and backs are also seamed together, leaving side seams and center back unsewn. The chiffon is cut 3x longer than the actual sash piece, with the top and bottom matching the width of the actual piece.


The front sash pieces.

Then just run two gathering stitches on each side (I did one at 5/8" and at 1/2") and start pinning the top and bottom of the chiffon to the satin piece.



Next, pull the gathers to fit at each side seam. Machine baste the sides, top and bottom.



This is the end result. The taughtness that comes when worn creates the random folds in the chiffon.




Back to posting!

Ugh, I had finally lost out to real life for a bit. I'm getting back in the swing of things with my hobbies and will be posting shortly as I go along making a bridal party commission. This is the group of designs I came up with:


The bridesmaids dresses are black with a pewter contrast.



The bride's going away dress.

The posts to follow with cover the bodice/sash contruction as well as constructing the skirt with a built-in petticoat. 

Raphael's Boots

Since Halloween just passed, I thought something with a bat/demon theme would be an appropriate post. This is a quick rundown of how I made Raphael Sorel's boots for my fiance when we did our Soul Calibur IV cosplays this past summer.

I started with a pair of superhero boots and chopped off the tops to create a straight line over which the fabric cuffs would fall. The cuffs themselves are stitched onto the boots with the back left open for the velcro overlap, which matches with the center back zipper.

The boots in their original form.

I then started building the armor. The toe armor is created by building a craft foam base, with each piece hot glued onto plastic styrene sheeting. Because the toe armor curves over the toe of the boot, I made sure to hold the pieces in a slightly curved position while cooling. You then hot glue the two pieces together at the join and you have a toe cap. I overcut a little bit and didn't have a nice edge, so I used PaperClay as a filler. I found that when you get it super moist it works best for filling in cracks; when it dries, you sand it down like wood, but use a super fine sandpaper so you don't damage the plastic. After spray painting (Rust-o-leum metallic works best), the armor is attached to the boot via a mix of E-6000 and hot glue.

Toe armor after adding PaperClay filler.

The instep armour was done the same way with little dots of craft foam attached with E-6000 to mimic mini-bolts. The pieces are attached onto faux-leather to created the strappings. They are also spray painted - but do this after gluing everything together, otherwise the you are only gluing to the layer of spray paint!

The pieces on the right are the instep armor. On the left are pieces for the coat.

 The most challenging part were the little demonic females (with bat wings, of course) that decorate each boot. I cut a layer of craft foam in the shape of the backing and then a second layer that was the border, which I also hot glued a layer of styrene to. Once all was attached together, I had the "frame" for my demons. I made the women and their wings completely out of PaperClay. The clay does harden when exposed to air, so I found when working on this small a scale, dipping your clay tools in a glass of water gave just enough moisture to resoften the clay and keep working. I also recommend a droplet of water right onto joins to help smooth them together, which in the end adds to stability. I built the body separate from the wings and attached them all to the "frame" with E-6000.

The torso. The arms are made as little snakes and then attached at the shoulders. Because of how small they are, the hands are left as artistic lines. The dimples on the hips are attachement points for the legs and the flatness above the head is for the hair.

The completed figure. Each layer of the hair is attached separately and then moistened together for strength. Hints of facial features are also added.

 

Each wing is made separately then placed onto the frame to dry and harden. This ensures that they maintain the curvature needed to prevent breaking.



The completed demon, pre-painting. The oval at the bottom is made of Model Magic. The foot required some re-moistening to sit within the frame at the right angle.

  

The demons after spray painting and being attached to the boots. The background texture was created by soaking the foam with the paint. Demons are attached to the boot in two ways: the top portion is hand tacked to the boot just under the raised border and the lower portion is glued to the strap which is then stitched along both sides of the zipper at back. This allows freedom of momevement which prevents cracking and any other form of damage from movement.



The completed boots.



Sorry it's been so long since I posted - work and commissions have been keeping me busy busy busy!! I will be posting some more soon!!

To the Fashion House!

This was another piece for The Women, when Sylvia accompanies Mary to the couture fashion house. This was such a fun piece to make because it was challenging and I felt like I was making something out of a Dior collection with the bow on this! While shopping in NY, Jaime fell in love with a purple striped fabric and decided to have me incorporate it into the back of the standing collar. With a little persuasion, he let me add a hint of it onto the bow, hat (which I also worked on) and the little shoe bows. Enjoy!

Jaime Samson's design:

A note on the collar: Jaime's inspiration on this was not only couture, but also dinosaur related - I was to mimic the dilophosaurus from Jurassic Park when making this.

Some mock-up images:

This is what the bodice looks like before the collar goes on. You can also see the fitted sleeves with the slightly exaggerated sleeve caps.



The underside of the collar, showing the layer of fusible tailor's canvas I put in before stitching on the boning channels. I found this added a lot of the stability I needed to make this thing stand up right.



The black lines are drawn onto this photo to show the placement lines for the boning. The boning channels have to continue part-way into the dress to maintain the upright position while wearing.


 The finished dress:

The crispness of the purple silk holds the bow shape beautifully. :)



A nice simple back with a wow factor on top.



A close-up of the sunburst collar. Has a very Art Deco feel in this pattern, doesn't it?



Here you can see some of the seam placement I did to create the sunburst design.



This altered square shape is what I used to create this bow. Each corner is pulled to the center and then "pinched" to the inside. You end up with little poufs which can then be arranged and tacked in place. The striped "knot" is just a strip that is tacked to the back of the bow and then looped and tacked to the inside of the pouf, where the square points are.



And of course, the complete ensemble on stage: 

Sylvia with Mary at the Fashion House. She does steal the stage, doesn't she?



Sylvia's Entrance

During the spring of 2010, I draped and constructed three ensembles for Sylvia in The Women. Our designer, Jaime Samson, placed it in the 1950s, with Sylvia being at the height of haute couture fashion. For this suit, I draped a basic A-line skirt with a left side closure. The asymmetrical bodice is a kimono-sleeved wrap style, the closures being on the left hand side from bust to waist. For a more close-fitting silhouette, the additional overskirt piece is seamed on at the waist.

Here is Jaime's design:

 Here are a few shots from it's mock-up form:

Bodice close-up showing the French darts and the underarm guesset of the kimono sleeve. The idea of adding the gusset came from reviewing vintage 50s patterns.

This is the collar pattern, showing how the grainlines are working to create the proper lapels. Note the extreme size differential between the two.

A close-up of the collar back. The center seaming allows for easier adjustements and ease of working with the asymmetrical collar pieces. This also gives a nice view of the stand-up collar that quickly turns into the roll-line for the lapels. Here the collar is hand-basted on - always do this for mock-ups! The collar line is notorious for needing fitting adjustments.

And the best part of all, the completed garment:



Full front view - my camera did not give the fabrics justice in this one.

The completed collar. The fabric has a snakeskin-like texture to it, so working with the grain was crucial.  



Detail shot of the left side closure. The overskirt is lined to match the contrast, with the "snakeskin" being only on the part that laps over. The buttons are purely decoration on the overskirt. We did later swtich out the overskirt buttons to match the dress fabric, since the bodice buttons were contrasting.



Back view, showing the continuation of the asymmetrical overskirt, back darts and the stand portion of the collar. 

 And of course, a complete shot of Ms. Sylvia from the show:


Nicole Hamilton as Sylvia.



Beginnings...

I finally decided to break down and start a blog. The purpose of this blog is to follow my sewing creations and various vintage finds, including fabric, patterns and garments (to include photos for research, etc). I often have people ask me "How did you do that?" so I'm hoping that next time, I can send them here and it will be a better answer than me just tring to verbalize it. This blog will not be just for my vintage/retro loves, but also for my cosplay creations since they are often the more tasking of my creations. :)