HAND-SEWN DS CASE
This is one of my first sewing projects, a little pouch for my DS case that I HAND-SEWED, holy crap, what a pain in the ass. There is a large padded pocket for my DS, a front pocket closed with a tiny piece of elastic shown here holding an iPod, a tiny pocket on the flap that was intended to hold games but doesn’t really do anything, and a zippered pocket on the back to hold the charge cable. It was difficult to make, especially because of the lining, and the zipper and velcro both had me swearing up a storm, but it turned out surprisingly well. Of course, it is now sitting on my shelf with my DS game cases, largely unused.
More pictures can be seen at this Joystiq post, when my case was featured on DS Fanboy. RIP, DS Fanboy!
BLACK GATHERED SKIRT
This is a simple skirt I made a while ago to try out my new ruffler (worn here with my trusty Volatile Mechanic boots, leggings from Target, and a Paramore tee). A ruffler is a special contraption for a sewing machine that pushes fabric underneath itself while you’re sewing to create ruffles or pleats.
To make it, I cut out two trapezoidal pieces of fabric for the hip pieces. Then I cut out two rectangles that were each twice as long as the wide part of the trapezoids, then used the ruffler to gather the fabric and sew each piece on to the bottom of a trapezoid. Then all I had to do was sew the two pieces together up the sides and sew a band around the top.
MISA DRESS REMAKE
So, I said I would remake my Misa Misa dress in black jersey knit and I finally got around to it, so here it is! I used the same pattern as the old one, but slightly smaller because I am using stretchy fabric this time around. Even then I needed to take it in a bit at the top. I also added several inches to the end of each piece, ending up with a slightly longer dress. In addition, I went without the slits and lining/skirt, sort of by accident, but also to make the dress more casual. With those changes and the lack of a zipper, the dress was a LOT easier to make this time around!
The best part is this fabric cost me about $2/yard (and I got 2-3 yards, can’t remember) and I used ribbon that I already had from other projects, so I got this extremely flattering dress for less than $10 and about three hours of my time. Go DIY!
OFF-SHOULDER TOP
I wore this top to see Paramore. It was inspired by Haley Williams’s gray top in the “Decode” video (also worn under a black racerback tank). I normally do not recommend this, but because the striped fabric is SO stretchy, I actually used a stretchy long-sleeved tee to make the pattern for this shirt. It worked well except the sleeves are a bit tighter than I like.
I folded the tee in half and traced it on newspaper, from armpit around to top of the shoulder, then moved the tee and drew the armhole curve. Then I cut out the pattern, adding about an inch seam allowance, but when I got to the top I cut straight across about halfway up the armhole curve. Then I did the same for the sleeve, cutting straight across the pattern halfway up the armhole curve. I cut out two pieces from each pattern from my fabric, then sewed the sides up on the body pieces and sewed the sleeves into tube shapes. Then I attached the sleeves in the usual way, but it was easier since the seam was a U-shape instead of a full oval.
All the hems are finished using bands. As you can see from the link, it’s easy to make a top like this from a shirt you already have—just cut off the top section and add a band!
COSPLAY: SHIKI, THE WORLD ENDS WITH YOU (DS)
I cosplayed Shiki from TWEWY at Otakon 2008. This costume was fairly easy to do since I wimped out on the hat and just grabbed any old brown hat and stuck some pins on it. I was at a complete loss as to how to make a proper hat, that is my excuse!
As for the outfit, the tank tops were both bought on the cheap and cut to the proper length. The skirt was from an army surplus store and similarly modified. I left the edge raw and this caused a bit of unraveling, but it worked fine. The necklace is a pendant and some black cord from the craft section of Wal-Mart; it was surprisingly hard to find a plus-shaped pendant, as opposed to a cross.
The vest was made from a pattern I drafted myself using some quilting cotton that doesn’t stretch even a little—it was way too tight, unfortunately. I had spent so much time on my main costume, Temari from Naruto, that a lot of this one was just slapped together, and I think it shows a bit (I didn’t even dye my hair or get a wig!).
The waist bag was super handy; I made it myself from some brown cotton duck I’d had leftover from a messenger bag I had made. It has a zipper and a velcro fastening around the waist. The boots were also made from leftover cotton duck, with platform flip-flops for soles. They were made from modifying Liz Spain’s Naruto sandal tutorial (since I had already made my Temari sandals using this method), but I added zippers in the back. The zippers were a real pain in the ass to put in, and I ended up not even needing them!
And last but not least, my little Mr. Mew plushie was made the night before Otakon from a pattern from Joann’s, and made out of an old jersey knit shirt and some white felt and thread. He’s not perfect, but he is super soft and cuddly. Even with the problems, this was a super fun costume, and I had a great time with it.
MISA MISA DRESS
This dress was inspired by one that Misa wears in the Death Note manga. Hers is black with pinstripes, but I loved this red pinstriped suit fabric. I drafted my own pattern for this entirely. It is made of four panels, with two trapezoidal panels on the front and back and side panels that are shaped specifically to contour the dress to my curves a bit. The panels are not sewn together near the bottom, creating four slits where the black lining peeks through. It is fully lined with black lining fabric with a pixie skirt undearneath made out of the same material. The straps are black ribbon which criss-cross in the back and there is an invisible zipper in the back and to my left, between two panels.
It was fun to make and not terribly difficult, but it was time-consuming. Unfortunately, the front flap ended up too short because of a measuring error. This was made back in January, and I have since gotten a lot better at sewing; perhaps I’ll try to remake this in a more casual look using some black pinstripe jersey fabric I have lying around!
FOXHOUND TEE RECON
Yet another t-shirt recon, this one from a Metal Gear Solid 4 shirt from Hot Topic, size L. I cut out the front and back in rectangles and added contrast panels out of black knit fabric (protip: if you do a lot of tee recons, buy black t-shirt knit in bulk!). Making it fit properly was a bit tricky since there were four panels instead of two. Then I added a band at the top out of very stretchy fabric to help hold it up; the band was slightly smaller than the top of the shirt.
At this point the shirt was more like a tube dress, and I had to decide whether to keep it as a dress or make it a shirt. I figured I would get more wear out of a shirt, so I cut and hemmed the bottom, then added straps out of black fabric that criss-cross in the back.
Tip for sewing on straps without help: pin the straps to the back of the shirt, then put the shirt on (very carefully!), then pin the straps to the front. Remove the shirt and sew the straps where you pinned them.
BOBA FETT TEE RECON
This recon is a bit more involved than the last. The Boba Fett graphic is from a boy’s t-shirt from Wal-Mart; the rest is some black and red knit fabrics I had. I cut out the graphic from the tee and sewed two rectangles to either side to fill out the bottom half of the front. The back is all one piece, based on a t-shirt pattern (this was a bit of a mistake when making a tank top, which is why the shoulders are far too wide).
The top half of the front was a bit tricky. I cut out two vaguely triangle-ish pieces as in this tutorial, except with wide shoulders that could be sewn on to the back piece, which is the first seam I did. With the back and two bust pieces all attached, I cut out a long strip of red knit fabric, folded it in half lengthwise, and sewed the rough edges to the entire length of the collar, stretching as I went. The collar is quite wide since I cut the triangles a bit too low in front!
With the collar finished, I pinned the two triangles in the proper overlapping position and sewed the bottom panel of the front to the top. After that it was just a matter of sewing up the sides and hemming all the rough edges.
ZELDA TEE RECON
Here is a simple reconstruction of a Zelda tee I found at a comic book store. It’s size XL, and the fabric is super light and soft.
First I turned the shirt inside out, pinned the sides and the bottom of the sleeves how I wanted it to fit, then sewed it up. It is helpful to use a baste stitch first, then a stretch stitch over it once you get it fitting exactly the way you want to. Then I trimmed the excess fabric and turned it right side out again.
I cut out the shirt collar into a rounded v-neck and used this tutorial to finish it with some black jersey knit. With a neckline like this I recommend stretching the band more since it is rounded; on my shirt it ended up being a bit loose.
I wanted to keep it long, so I kept the original shirt hem. For a normal length tee, just cut off the bottom at whatever length you want plus a couple inches, then hem.
