Asuna Kagurazaka (V.2) - Outfit - Negima

As my 3rd costume for Otakon I decided to make an alternate outfit of Asuna's. I already had a wig, and Asuna has many, many outfits in the manga, so I thought I would make one of my favourites.

Special thanks to my mum for doing an impromptu fall photoshoot in the backyard!

I picked this one (pictured left) particularly so I could re-purpose the sheer under skirt I had originally made for her other costume! This outfit is worn during the training arc prior to their trip to Mundus Magicus, for anyone who actually knows the series.

I really like the deep burgundy colour of the blouse (dress?), but I went more saturated with my colour choice.

(There sure are a lot of orange-haired characters in this manga...)

I drafted a basic block, with a princess seam that I extended to be longer and go outward in an a-line style at the sides.

I cut out all my pieces (2 center front panels, 2 center back panels, 2 side front panels). Then I sewed up the darts, then side, back and shoulder seams. 

When this was done I finished the inner seams.

I drafted the sleeve to have a slight pouffe at the shoulder. I cinched the ruffle with a double row of basting stitches (leaving the thread ends long so I could pull on them). 


I made the collar ruffle, which was sandwiched inside the collar pieces and turned right way out. This was then attached to the neckline. 

I made the 2 front ruffles, which I stitched down to the front opening.

Then I attached the placket and finished off the opening edge and armhole seams.

Then I made a bias tape to finish off the sleeve slit, before I attached the cuffs. The sleeve pouffed just a touch at the cuffs as well.

The last thing I did was attach the bottom ruffle and do all the button holes.

Then I made the "corset". Now I say "corset" instead of corset, because this is just designed to look like an underbust corset, but does not have any of the structuring a corst would have (like boning). For all intents and purposes it is a glorified belt. Hahaha
I figured out how long I wanted ti to be, my underbust measurement, my waist measurement and natural waist measurement (where a modern pair of pants would sit). From there I was able to pattern this. Using my widest measurement I could then divide and calculate my darts.

The result was these 10 pieces (pictured left: top row is the back panels, bottom row is the front panels). 

I made a mockup, then a good version.

Then I hammered in the grommets. I couldn't find a hammer, so I used a wrench instead (my shop professor would be crying right now). It is always recommended to have a scrap piece of wood handy when hammering grommets, otherwise you will end up with dents in your table...

The grommets and lacing are just for show though, the actual closure is a row of hook and eye tape. Because it is way more secure.  Lastly I finished up the edges with bias tape! Woo!

I bought the thigh-high socks and ribbons for the costume. All of the bows on the socks were attached with safety pins, so I can use the socks for other things (and real life). The black flats are the same ones from my Alice costume.

Floral Pouffe Dress

I realized that I haven't posted anything sewing related since March! What a failure considering the title of the blog! XD

Also this is my 30th post, and I have gotten over 1000 page views! Thanks everyone! :D Thats 4 digits!!! And even though I'm sure at least 50 of those (if not more!) are mine, thanks for the other 950!

As a reward, you get to see the progress pics of the dress I made for my sister, Alex. Anyone remember this picture from my March update? Yeah, that one.

I finished the dress before I went to Europe, but I still haven't had a chance to do a proper photoshoot. I think I will wait a little bit until the weather is nicer so I can do it outside in a garden, surrounded by flowers. As a floral patterned dress it is quite appropriate for a spring photoshoot!

Here we go!

I started out with a rough of the bodice piece in a black broadcloth,
as I had limited amounts of good fabric to work with.

I was originally going to do a ruffled design with the pink fabric, but that
 got scrapped fairly early on.

I ended up going with a sleeker, simple, fitted bodice.

Don't know why this didn't get rotated, but this is my rough sketch of the
 dress. (And I think the first sketch to get uploaded to this blog. God
 I'm lazy...)

A problem that never managed to get fixed... sigh

Again using broadcloth to create a mock-up of
 pieces of the garment.

Tracing the pieces onto brown fabric.

This is brown, I know you can't tell...

Making sure none of the flowers are in awkward
 positions before proceeding with the cutting is
 always good. :D

I love this fabric. 

Drawing on the darts.

Somehow, at this point I realized my measurements had gotten lost in translation somewhere, and the bodice was too small. DX I had to make it again, but I decided to use the black broadcloth as lining, so it wasn't a total waste...

All sewn together.

Finishing the edges of the gold fabric.

The under skirt.

The pouffe.

Sewing the layers together was pretty confusing... especially in the
 dark. When I get my own work desk, I'm putting in really strong lights...

At this point, I decided to shorten the bodice in
 order to even out the proportions and make it
 look better.

This is where I ran into difficulty. D: Never having done a dress like this
 before, I was unprepared for the sheer amount of layers that ended up in one
 seam thanks to my inexperience. I had a heck of a time sewing through it,
 which led to more problems....

Meaning that I was unable to put in the zipper. DX So I had to call in the
 expert, aka Mum. And even she had difficulty with it. 

hmm... Still not completely satisfied,
 but as my first attempt at anything this
 complicated, I'd say it was pretty good.

Finished shots will come later this spring! Look forward to it!