Fox Embroidered Beret

My first project for my millinery class--the project outline gave us a choice of a number of styles of sewn hats. I chose to do a side sloped beret. And since decorating was required and beret tops have such a nice flat surface area I decided to turn this into an embroidery project.

I patterned the hat from scratch. And mocked it up to ensure I liked the style and fit. Then I sketched out my design for the top. Once I was satisfied with that, I moved on to the real hat.

I first cut out all my pieces. I picked a beautiful green wool for the fashion fabric and the lining is leftover silk from my Steampunk Corset.

Then I embroidered the top. I had to finish my embroidery completely before moving on, so that the back of the embroidery stitching could be protected by the lining and interfacing layers. That is the part that obviously took the longest.

I sewed the center back seam on my sidebands--lining and fashion layer.

I constructed the hat in the "pancake" method. The tip (top) of the hat has 3 layers: the outer layer, horse hair canvas interfacing, and the silk lining. I basted the 3 layers together.

Next I made some piping trim. This was stitched onto the top layer, piping to the inside, and seam allowance to the outside of the stitch line.

Then I basted on my outer layer of the side band. This was basted to the top, on top of the piping trim, following the same stitch line. Then I flipped it over and sewed the lining sideband to the bottom side, through all the layers.

The next step was to properly grade and notch my seam allowances to cut down on the bulk. Then I flipped the outside sideband over to the bottom. I carefully pressed it--without crushing the piping trim. Now the top of the hat was completely constructed and lined, and I could move on to the final part--the headband.

I basted my sideband layers together along the bottom seam allowance. Then I sewed one edge of the headband to the outside. I graded and notched my seam allowances before ironing and folding over the headband to the inside. This was pinned and then carefully slip-stitched in place by hand.

Presto! A fabulous beret!

Newsboy Cap

Let's take a look at a school project of mine! I had to make a hat and then distress it. I chose to go for a zombie apocalypse theme! I guess this newsboy met an unfortunate end.

All the distressing was done with a rasp, and all the 'blood' is watered down acrylic paint.

I started by patterning a 8 section hat using my head size measurement. I made sure it had a bit of poof to it, but not enough to make it super floppy.

I cut out all the sections and sewed them together.

I cut out the brim and sewed it right sides together along the outer edge. Within the stitch line I ironed on a piece of fusible interfacing. Then I clipped the excess fabric so it would turn right way out more crisply.

I turned it right way out and ironed it flat.

I created a lining for the hat out of blue fabric. It is sewn in the same way as the outside of the cap.

As part of the project requirements, I made a buckram hoop to put inside the hat band. This is wired so that the hat will hold its shape.

Next I sewed the hat band pieces to the brim.

The edge of the buckram was finished with a bias tape to protect the stitching.

The hat band was attached to the cap on the outside, but left open on the inside. This is so I could insert the buckram.

The inside of the hat band was stitched closed to the lining by hand. The inside of the completed hat can be seen below.

This is what the hat looks like before I wrecked it. Pretty cute!

Forest Guardian - Pants, Shirt & Cape

[Edit: New photos added from Feb 2015 shoot with EleventhPhotograph!]

Welcome to my first look at the Forest Guardian! I thought we should start with the pants, shirt and cape because in terms of the actual build of the costume that's where I started. I think at this point it has been a full year since I started the concept sketches for this costume, wow! This is my first real original design costume and I'm pretty proud of it. 

I wore most of the costume to CostumeCon 32, excluding the embroidered panel, which I was sadly unable to finish in time. The costume was completed for Anime North, and I competed it in the Masquerade. I won an award for my embroidery in the Master Division, which I am super proud of! This was my entry.

I still need to do a photoshoot of this costume, hopefully that will happen sometime in the near future. I have been location scouting in the forest behind my house. :P 

I started the design concept of this last summer. I had bought my badge for CostumeCon 32 at Anime North last year, so I knew I wanted to make something original. There were several different designs leading up to this one, several different versions before I arrived at this one. I developed the design over the course of the summer and got started on the project after returning from Otakon. 

 The hardest part once I had the shapes down was colourizing everything. I knew I wanted the character to have auburn hair and that the shirt was going to be off-white but other than that I wasn't sure. I didn't even know if I wanted to make the mask look like metal or clay & bone. There were several different coloured versions before I settled on this one (there was even one where the animals on the embroidered panel were to be done as silver silhouettes). It ended up being quite colourful in the end, I was sort of going for ceremonial garb when I first started drawing it and ultimately I think the colour suits the design. Even then there have been several changes that developed over the course of the build since I did this "final" sketch. I purposefully designed the under clothing for this costume to be quite simple, as I wanted the focus to be on the embroidered panel and accessories. 

 I started by patterning and mocking up the shirt. The shirt was designed to be a looser fit, with flowy sleeves that would allow easy/unrestricted movement. The shirt itself only has 2 darts at the armhole to the bust, the waist get cinched in by the belt. The sleeve pattern had required some adjustments initially because unlike a regular sleeve this had a slit in the front. So I had to move the seam from the bottom to the front.

 

After doing a mockup, I cut and sewed the pieces. I closed the darts and then sewed the front and back pieces together, leaving a little slit open at the bottom of each side seam. I cut the slit open at the front and finished off the edges with a strip I made out of the same fabric. This would reinforce the fabric when I added the laces later.

I then sewed on the collar and gathered the sleeves. Then I finished/reinforced the edges of the sleeve opening. Originally I had intended for the sleeves to be laced shut, but I decided I really liked the look of them open and left them that way.

 I hemmed the bottom of the shirt.

Then I gathered the edge of the sleeve and added the cuffs to the sleeve. Later I put 3 buttons & buttonholes on each to close them.I also added in the holes on the front closure for the laces. These were done in the same way as the button holes rather than with grommets.

 Once the shirt was done I began work on the cape.

The cape itself had originally been designed to be longer, but after much consideration I felt it would detract from the embroidered panel so I made it a short cape, but still kept the large hood. I am pretty inexperienced patterning hoods, and this was my first cape. It took a few tries to get it to look how I wanted it. The only advice I can give is make a mockup!

The pattern pieces for this look pretty odd!

My main design feature on the hood was the two slots for the antlers to stick through. It was one of the design elements from the initial concept sketch that came all the way through to the end. I had to make a reinforced edge piece that went all the way around the edge of the hood and the hem of the cape. It had to conform to all the odd angles and contours. It is made of the same fabric as the hood lining.

I started by sewing the sides and center seams on the hood, hood-lining and cape pieces. For the hood I attached the trim piece to the lining and bagged it out. Then I slotted the outer fabric under the trim and pinned it in place. I carefully measured and folded under the raw edges then top stitched the trim in place.

For the main part of the cape I bagged out the trim, having stitched it directly to the inside of the outer fabric. I folded it to the outside and finished the raw edges in the same way, top stitching it all in place. This way the raw edges are all hidden inside the trim, leaving for a clean look on the inside and outside!

You can see how the hood collapses in on itself. Which was frustrating as even when worn over the mask the edges of the antler slots just drooped. I later re-opened the seam and added in a wire to the hood, which kept it rigid and held the desired shape perfectly!

The red wrap around the stomach is simply a long strip of fabric that is wider at the ends (narrower in the middle) bagged out to finish the edges. It has velcro to close it, which is hidden by the belt. (The belt pictured here is actually from my Presea costume, which I was using when trying things on until I made the actual one.)

The pants are actually based on a pattern I had modified for a costume I started but never finished. (Jack Frost) I modified my modified pattern to get the pants I made for this costume. Haha

To make the leg wider I opened up the front of each pant leg and added in a pleat on each. I flared each pant leg out more as well. This way, it still fit nicely at the butt, but the legs would pouffe out a bit.

When I was satisfied with the changes to the pattern I cut and sewed the pieces.  I started with the pleats on the front, then the side seams. Then I partially closed the crotch seam and finished the inner seams.

Next I added my waistband. The pants front closure was a bit tricky. I decided I wanted laces rather than doing a fly-front... even though it isn't even visible, I wanted authenticity. hahaha I had to reinforce the edges where I put the holes, and add a modestly panel so you can't see my underwear through the gaps in the lacing. But in the end it worked well.

Lastly I finished the cuffs by cinching them and then adding on a strip of fabric that I had closed to be a circle.

I can definitely say that the base outfit for this costume is very comfortable.

11th Doctor - Jacket - Doctor Who

Lets take a look into how I made my 11th Doctor jacket! It's modeled after the one 11 wears in the anniversary special, except I have tailored it to be a more feminine fit (ex: for a woman. aka: me). This is my take on a female version of 11. Except for the fit at the bust, it's intended to be pretty much the same as the original. (Plus pockets, because seriously: why does this jacket not have pockets??) I have no real plans at the present moment to make the rest of this costume, but I do plan to wear this jacket on a regular basis in fall/winter/spring!

I had to look at many reference pictures before drawing out what I wanted to make. Proportions on Matt Smith would look different on me, particularly in terms of lapel, waistline and length. Accuracy is great, but I wanted the jacket to suit me first and foremost. As for colour/texture, I did my absolute best to match the fabrics on the Doctor's coat. My colour combo is a little less purple than 11's, but pretty close! I used a brown tweed, with a black velvet for the collar accent and a blue kasha lining. 11's lining is technically more of an indigo colour, but I couldn't find that, so I opted for blue.

To be honest, I rather dislike "Fem!Doctor" cosplay in which the Doctor is wearing a miniskirt. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be awesome if the doctor were a woman! Just, in my head-canon if the Doctor were a woman she would dress exactly the same. Meaning very cool and suave, as opposed to sexy. I just don't think miniskirts are very practical for adventuring throughout all of time and space...

Without further ado, lets turn to tailoring! I would describe this as my first official project that has been 100% properly tailored. Tailoring is a long and complicated process that includes a lot of hand stitching, but when done correctly the results are beautiful! I wouldn't pretend to be an expert here, so this will be more of an overview of the process than anything else.

If you are a beginner at sewing, a jacket may be a very difficult project for you to tackle. (I've been sewing for over 5 years now and I still found it a bit of a challenge.) I might suggest first attempting a tailored vest as first tailoring project. My best advice is to take a class (that's what I did). Also, the textbook I had for this course was insanely helpful. Really thorough, very detailed, lots of pictures with step-by-step instructions. It's called Tailoring: The Classic Guide to Sewing the Perfect Jacket. I bought the newest version on amazon for about 15$ CDN (the older edition that is out of print--but the content is exactly the same--is crazy expensive, don't buy that one!). Covers everything from pockets to lining, lapels to cuffs. (Aren't I a good salesperson? Hahaha)
The pattern was quite tricky to make. I drafted it from scratch based off of my measurements after looking at reference of both 11's coat and 19th century frock coat patterns. Pictured left is the final version of the pattern, after much slicing, dicing and re-tracing!

The top part of the coat is in 4 pieces, with a seam a couple inches below the waist connecting to a lower panel. The waist seam actually slants down towards the center front by about 3/4", which looks more flattering that cutting it straight across. The center back panel is where the vent is and actually runs the full length of the jacket uninterrupted.

It took a couple tries to get the pattern together, but once that was done I moved on to the mockup.

Using the mockup helped me to determine any adjustments I needed to make to the fit, and also how the lapel would lie on the body. This enabled me to determine the break line (or roll line.
Based on that I was able to pattern the sleeve, which I mocked up and fit successfully on the first try, no adjustments needed! Woo!

Following the welt pocket instructions in the Classic Guide to Tailoring I made a mockup pocket, ensuring I had the process correct before trying to do one on my garment.
I then patterned and cut out my pocket pieces. My one regret here is that although I made the pockets deep, I didn't make them very wide. If I were to go back and fix one thing on this project, it would definitely be the pockets. The inside of the pockets are made of my lining fabric, which is a kasha lining. Kasha feels like flannel on one side, but looks like a shiny lining fabric on the other. It's a sturdy fabric, warmer than most linings that will last longer.

I also patterned and mocked up my top collar piece, which took a couple tries to get right. I also made a pattern piece for the front facing.

Once I had gotten my mockups and patterned approved I went ahead and cut my pieces out of my fabric. I left myself lots of seam allowance.

For the jacket construction I started by putting the top pieces together. Then I pressed the seams open. One thing I can say about wool: it irons reeeally nicely. ;D
I put the pockets into the lower panels, then attached them to the upper panels. I was not necessary to finish my seams, because I was lining the jacket later.

Then I began to build up the structure within the front of the jacket. This was done with a horse hair canvas. This piece was basted to the inside of each front panel. You can see that it extends from the shoulder, down the armhole to where the princess seam is, and down the center front all the way to the hem. (Mine actually goes down too far into my hem allowance and I had to cut it by 1 1/2" later.) The piece is attached with a long diagonal basting stitch in a contrasting colour thread, which is later removed (it's easier to see it to remove it if it contrasts with the outer fabric.)
Inside the lapel there are rows of permanent diagonal basting stitches that help the lapel to roll and and fold over in the right spot. First I used a twill tape and marked the break line (where the lapel folds over). This was securely basted in (permanent stitch). After I filled in the triangle of the lapel with thee rows of stitching, parallel to the break line. These are all permanent so I used a brown thread that matched my outer fabric. My advantage here is that my tweed was a thick fabric, so it was very easy for me to do my basting stitches so they didn't show through. My one mistake here is that I accidentally overshot into my seam allowance when doing my stitching, which made the next step more challenging.

Then next step of course is to baste the stitch line to mark where the seam allowance is on the outer fabric and trim the hair canvas just short of that. This was a challenge for me because I had basted the two layers together and had to pick out the stitches.

Then I used another twill tape to mark the front edge of the lapel/jacket opening.

Then I bagged out the front edge by attaching the front facing.

The next step was to clip and flip the front facing, pressing it flat. Then basting in place so it wouldn't flap about. Again, more temporary basting stitching. I secured the raw edge with a permanent basting stitch.

Once both lapels were put together, I assembled the back of the jacket. I attached the 2 pieces, stitching down the center back to the vent, which I left open. Then I attached the back panels to the rest of the jacket and checked the fit. All good! :)

I used more hair canvas to reinforce the edge of the back vent. Then I measured and permanently cross stitched the hem up.

I also stitched up the shoulder seams at this time. I made sure the inside of the jacket was ready for the jacket lining.

The jacket lining was made using the same pattern and process as the outer shell, excluding the canvas reinforcement and pockets. I also left the shoulder seams open, so I could add in the shoulder pads later. This was then carefully pinned and basted in place along the vertical seams. One thing I should have done was added in a extra fabric for a pleat at center back, this would have made the jacket have more movement across the shoulders.

I measured the bottom and front edges and then basted them into the finished position before slip-stitching the edges down.

I then worked on the sleeves, which were done similarly to the back vent. First they were reinforced, then I cross-stitched the hem. However, I made the sleeve vents "fake", so at this point I permanently basted them closed and added the buttons. Then I lined up and slip stitched in the lining around the cuff.

Then the sleeves were eased and attached to the garment on the outer shell by machine. Then, I permanently stitched in the shoulder pads along the top of the sleeve and in the ditch of the shoulder sleeve. Then I turned the garment inside out and pinned, basted and slip-stitched the sleeve lining to the rest of the lining. This closed and finished the lining.

Next was the top collar. The collar pieces were all cut on a bias (the 45 degree angle from the grain) so they would stretch around the neck nicely. The under collar matched the rest of the jacket and was done in 2 pieces, the top collar was one piece of velvet to contrast.

There was 2 pieces of collar canvas attached to the under collar, both lined up to the center back, attached with a piece of twill tape. More rows of parallel stitching were done along the collar to help it roll properly too.

After carefully lining it up, I basted the under collar in place. Then I cross stitched it down, this was a permanent stitch, so I made it look nice. Then I removed the basting.

Then I pinned and basted on the velvet top collar. I slip stitched it down around all the edges.

Lastly I had to do the buttons and button holes.

As you can see, in the final stages of this project it was mostly hand stitching, which is what makes tailoring so time-consuming, however the effort pays off in the end! I now have a lovely wool long coat to wear!