Floral Cream Underbust Corset

Hey all! I made another corset this past winter. This is not an obsession I swear... This one is an underbust corset that is going to act as a waist cincher/posture modifier, to be worn under my Phoenix costume (which is currently on hiatus). I also made it with another future steampunk outfit in mind... 

Showcasing here the new pistol prop I bought in Austria last month. Also worn with my Long Pleated Skirt.

I like how the shape of this one turned out much better than my black corset. Instead of using a fashion fabric on the outside, I just used the coutil. Except this time my coutil has a cool floral pattern on it! I picked up this fabric from the Farthingales booth at CostumeCon32 last year. It's super strong and super pretty.

 First I used twill tape to mark out my seam lines on my judy. Then I draped muslin over those sections to get my pattern piece shapes. I used a pen to draw the shapes on the fabric, unpinned the pieces and then cut along the lines I drew.

The pattern I ended up with looked like this. I numbered my pieces from 1-7 (center front to center back).

After making a mockup and tweaking the pattern to reflect the changes I made, I reduced the pattern so that it would have a 2" gap at the back. This means that I divided 2" into 7 parts and shaved off that amount from every seam. I shaved off just slightly more at the waist so that part could cinch even tighter. 

Then I cut my pieces out of my coutil. Remember you need 4 of every piece, a pair for each side.

For the center back panels I first sewed the pairs right sides together along the CB edge, then turned them right way out and pressed them. I flat basted all my pairs together (excluding the center front panels) and top stitched all the boning channels. The 14 panels looked like this.

I added in the busk to the center front, then flat basted it and added the last boning channels. If you want a tutorial on how to insert a busk, go here!

Then I began to sew the panels together. This is done very carefully, lining up the flat basted lines and the waist line. Accuracy is your friend.

Then I cut my spiral bones to length and inserted them.

I made my own piping trim from leftover fabric from my Steampunk Corset. If you want a tutorial on how I make piping trim, go here!

I attached the piping, then hand stitched down all the seams on the inside. Then I put the eyelets/grommets in the center back and added some cord to lace it.

Presto! Another corset! ;D

Adjustable Marimekko Floral Skirt

Taking a break from cosplay projects to post some of my original work from this summer! This is a fun summer skirt I designed, using the beautiful Marimekko my sister got me for Christmas. I really love the large floral print and it was a challenge to design something suitable to show it off. But I think I nailed it. ;D My favourite part of the skirt is the two large pockets on the side.

First thing I did was make a broadcloth mockup of my garment, to make sure that the pleats had enough volume, and that the pockets would hang the way I wanted. Since this is expensive designer fabric I didn't want to waste any by making easily preventable mistakes. After some minor adjustments to my pattern I was ready to move ahead.

The pattern is made mostly of rectangles. When cutting I had to be very conscious of the floral print ensuring that there weren't too many noticeable gaps in the pattern, and that the print wasn't upside-down on any of the panels.

The two back pieces were stitched together first, then the zipper was inserted.

Then I added in the pleats on the front and back panels. These were only stitched a few inches down at the top.

Calculating for pleats is not too hard, but requires some math. I purposefully did not make all my pleats even (but they were still symmetrical).

The side panel pocket detail was constructed before being attached to the rest of the skirt. For this I chose a nice contrasting orange/brown fabric.

I first sewed the two curved top edges together and flipped the pocket to the inside. This left me with a nice finished edge which I ironed and top-stitched.

To create the loose hanging pocket edge the wide angled inner pocket piece is attached to a narrower rectangular piece that would be attached to the waistband later.  (This piece is the visible piece on the hip of the skirt.)

I finished up my inner seams then attached the side panels (now with pockets) to my front and back panels. Then I added a waist band, which closes with a hook above the zipper. Then the skirt was hemmed to the desired length.

The last step was making the skirt adjustable so it could be worn in 3 different styles. I added in 2 button holes and a button that allows you to pin up the side of the skirt to form the second style (see left). Also there are two strips on the inside that can gather up the sides for the third style which reveals more leg. ;D

I wore this skirt to my cousin's engagement party. :)

Simple Pencil Case

So here's a quick tutorial of how to make a simple pencil case! I made this for a friend for Christmas, for our Secret Santa gift exchange. I used some of the leftover fabric from my Echino Dress.

To start, cut 2 rectangles of fabric that are the same size. One will be the outside, the other will be the lining. You can line it with the same fabric as the outside if you want, I simply chose a contrasting colour for style points. ;D Remember to choose a heavier weight fabric for this project, as it will need to stand up to everyday wear and tear.

The size of the rectangle pattern should be as follows: 1/2" wider than your longest pencil and 2.5 times your desired finished height (this will wrap around to be the front, back and flap). To each of those numbers add 1", which will translate to a 1/2" seam allowance on all sides.  So for example if your finished width is 8 and your finished height is 5" (x2.5 which will be then 12 1/2"), cut a rectangle that is 9"x13 1/2".

Then with the fabric right sides together sew along the bottom edge and the top part that will become the flap. You can see in my picture above the faint stitch line. Then clip the top corners and turn it right way out. Press flat.

Then face the outsides together and align the finished edge with the base of the flap. Sew up the 2 side seams and finish the raw edge with a zig-zag stitch (or your own preferred method of finishing stitches). Turn it right way out and iron it again.

Mark and add in some dome fasteners, or velcro.

And voila! ;D

This pattern is easy to modify to fit your needs, you can make it as big or small as you want. You can also change it around to have the flap on the short end rather than the wide side simply change around the measurements accordingly!

If anyone uses this tutorial, be sure to send me a finished pic! ;D

Alice in Wonderland - Apron & Accessories

Here's the last post on my Alice in Wonderland costume! ;D

...Which I thought was a perfectly recognizable character, but one or two people asked me if I was some character from an obscure anime's alternate outfit from another dimension... No. I really wish I knew what character and anime they were referring to that I so uncannily resemble. Really.

But making Alice was a good learning experience, and a joy to wear! 

If you want to know how I made the dress go here. If you want to see how I made the petticoats go here.

 Once again, you can see the whole photoshoot here!

The apron was by far the easiest piece to construct for this whole costume.

I started with the front panel: a piece of fabric that I double layered--because it was a tad see-through. I attached the the 2 pieces at the top and folded it over to get a nice finished edge. I attached a piece of lace trim to the top edge. I used a zig-zag stitch to finish off the remaining edges.

Then I made 2 straps that would go over the shoulders on a slight angle. These were tubes that were then turned right way out and pressed flat. I had to make sure they would be long enough to go all the way from the waistband at the front to attach to the waistband at the back.

I sewed the straps to the front panel, and then attached a lace trim to the straps.

I made another really long tube and flattened it. This was the waistband  that would tie at the back. I wanted the bow to be nice and long.

This was attached to the front panel first, then I measured and made sure the straps were even before attaching them at the back.

Then I finished off the ends of the bow.

Once the top part was done I set about making the bottom. The bottom piece is 2 rectangles sewed together and turned inside out to finish the edge, to which I attached more lace trim. The top edge of the rectangle was left open to do this. I gathered the top with a basting stitch to create a ruffle effect and sewed it to the waistband.

Pockets were added last. They were just rectangles with the edges finished and turned over that were superficially attached to the bottom of the apron. And of course: more lace trim. ;D

Now let's talk accessories! These are of course the last thing on the priority list when making a costume, but help to really complete the overall effect. As you may know, I have an unhealthy obsession with pocket watches, so naturally I equipped my Alice with one from my collection. I picked up the 'drink me' bottle at Otakon. So cute! :D

For the ribbons, worn in the hair and at the collar, I chose to go with a dark brown as opposed to black, because I thought it gave a softer, more natural look than a harsh black. I picked those up at Sussman's Bridal Accessories on Queen, which is my favourite place to buy lace trim, ribbon and feathers because they have such a good selection.

The shoes were a last minute purchase. Shoes are always the most difficult part of cosplay. Decent shoes can be pricey, and the perfect shoes can be near impossible to find. I decided to pick up a pair of plain black flats at Ardene. Are they comfortable? No. Are they good quality? Hell no. But do they do their job? Yes.

Ardene has a really good selection of cheap women's shoes (flats, lace-ups, etc.), and if you are looking for something for cosplay that you are either going to destroy, modify or only wear for the weekend it makes sense to your wallet to buy something cheap. If you want something that will last a long time, these probably won't be the best for the job. (Unless you buy multiple back-ups on a two-fer deal). The best location I know of in Toronto is the one on Queen as it has the largest selection of their shoes I've seen, in pretty much every colour.

The tights were also pick up for cheap downtown. But I really need to invest in some better quality ones as I totally put a hole in them on the first wear... :/

The last touch is the wig. After much deliberation I picked this colour of blonde, although it was not my first choice (which was sold out). I also decided on curly as opposed to straight hair because I decided it would look best.

This wig is actually exactly the same as the one I wore for my Steampunk Lolita, the only difference is the colour.

The reason they look different is the styling. I brushed the bangs to the opposite side, and took sections of the hair from the front and pinned them back before tying the ribbon. This made it look like there were more curls higher up at the sides.

Thanks for reading my Alice posts! Overall this costume was fun to make and fun to wear. It was refreshing to do my own take on Alice. I received many compliments. I would say this costume was best received at Otakuthon. ;D Much obliged Quebec! Thanks again to Mike for the awesome photoshoot, you guys should definitely check out his cosplay gallery, the pictures--and of course the costumes--are awesome!

Alice will probably make a few more con appearances next season. ;D

Echino Dress

Here's a look at how I made my Echino Dress. 'Echino' is the name of one of the lines of fabrics on Super Buzzy, which is where this fabulous print comes from. Super Buzzy is a Japanese fabric and crafts site. They have some really nice prints. Although they can be on the expensive side... This particular fabric was given to me by my sister Alex for my birthday, and I finally got around to using it!

This is an original design that I made just for this fabric. Here is my design sketch, with the colour mock-up.

This dress was designed and made to wear to my cousin's wedding. Pictures of that should be up on Photo Escapes soon...

I started by taking my measurements, and then I constructed pattern pieces based on that and my design. (+ seam allowance)

I made a broadcloth mock-up of the top before I went to the good fabric.

I cut 2 pieces of the front and 4 of the back piece. Each pair was sewn to itself at the neck and armholes, then turned inside out. This finished the neck and armholes nicely.

I finished the mock-up, made note of the adjustments on the pattern pieces and went to work making the good version.

This dress was designed with the pattern in specific places, so I had to be careful when I was cutting that the patterns were in the correct places. This makes fabric conservation a tad more difficult...

I cut 1 front piece and 2 back pieces in my nice fabric and the same quantities for my lining.

I sewed the pairs to themselves. (Right sides together.)

The tricky part was the scalloped detail on the neckline. This had to be drawn out on the fabric and then traced with the stitch.

Then I carefully clipped the excess and turned it right way out.

I stitched my seams together at the shoulders and the sides. Then I tried it on Molly.

There was a bit of a gape at the armhole, so I solved it by putting in darts. Darts were put in the front and back. They had to be done carefully so I didn't decapitate any birds... Hahaha

Having then measured under my bust, I gathered the fabric to that measurement and sewed on a band.

Then I made a tube of my accent fabric, that would be flattened and later be sewn onto the band as a tie at the back.

I cut my pieces for the skirt, and sinched them up with a basting stitch, making sure the patterns would line up.

This was then sewn to the band.

Then I finished the inner seams and closed up my back seam, so I could put in the zipper.

Zipper in!

The next step was to attach the tie to the band. It was made so it would be tied over the zipper.

After hemming the dress was done!

The back is a little off, and I am not 100% satisfied with the fall of the skirt, but it was an excellent exercise in dress-making!

Here is the little photoshoot my mum and I did at the wedding. :D