"Three weeks and it couldn't be worse..."
Apr. 9th, 2009 02:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofthethreadI really wish all my posts lately weren’t about sewing fiascos. I know I can sew decently but I just feel like a failure these days since I’ve had such problems with everything I’ve tried to work on for about the past month.
After my last post, I continued on the skirt but then sewed one of the pocket slits shut by mistake and decided it was just time to put it aside for a while. Sunday, my father agreed to drive me to JoAnn’s so I picked up some patterns to alter for Ekaterina’s jacket, a bolt of muslin, supplies to work on my samples for the Anime Boston workshop, and some other little things.
Feeling more optimistic, I started altering patterns for Ekaterina’s jacket. I began with a Butterick men’s costume pattern since it was the only jacket pattern I could find with both a standing collar and huge lapels. Plus, I figured it might work better than some women’s patterns because of the way the corset flattens out my figure. Started from the small size and changed the front to be single breasted and have the right lapel shape. Did a mockup and found the back seemed baggy although the front looked good so I took it apart and cut the back pieces down to extra small. Seemed better after that and I added in sleeves from this pattern since they had the shape I needed. The sleeves went in okay and the front looked perfect.
However, the sleeves would pull and cause wrinkles across the back around bust level if I extended my arms in front of me. None of the alterations in the Vogue sewing book seemed to fit this problem and I wasn’t sure what would be the best way to fix it so I asked my mother what she thought. (She worked as a seamstress before I was born but she’s not that fond of my cosplay hobby so I try to avoid bringing costume stuff up with her normally.) She thought I should let it out at the princess seams in the back. I tried that but it still wrinkles in that spot. Next, she suggested enlarging the armhole in the back. I did that and it’s a bit better but the wrinkles still aren’t gone. Then, she thought I should drop the bottom of the armhole and enlarge it some more. I tried it on one side of the mockup and the damn thing still pulls and wrinkles in the back. -_- My mother is still trying to help fix it but I’m really frustrated at this point because it fits everywhere else and it’s just this one issue that keeps me from finishing up the patterning and getting started on the real jacket.
Bah, at this point, I’m not sure if Ekaterina is going to be done for Costume Con. It would be disappointing if it’s not since I wanted to get it judged there versus a regular anime con. Workmanship judging for the historical masquerade works a little differently; they recommend that people bring their costumes to pre-judging rather than wearing them. I’m pretty pleased with my corset and panniers and that would give me a chance to show them off to the judges which I wouldn’t be able to do if I entered it at an anime con. Plus, I actually have an idea for fitting music to use for a walk-on and I think it would be more appreciated at Costume Con.
I don’t really feel like it but I probably have to go fabric shopping in the morning so I can work on stuff over the weekend. I still need a bunch of things and don’t know if places will close this weekend since it’s Easter. Maybe, I’ll jump to working on the phoenix prop to go with 19th Century D for a bit. At least, I can’t really have fitting issues with that. >_>
After my last post, I continued on the skirt but then sewed one of the pocket slits shut by mistake and decided it was just time to put it aside for a while. Sunday, my father agreed to drive me to JoAnn’s so I picked up some patterns to alter for Ekaterina’s jacket, a bolt of muslin, supplies to work on my samples for the Anime Boston workshop, and some other little things.
Feeling more optimistic, I started altering patterns for Ekaterina’s jacket. I began with a Butterick men’s costume pattern since it was the only jacket pattern I could find with both a standing collar and huge lapels. Plus, I figured it might work better than some women’s patterns because of the way the corset flattens out my figure. Started from the small size and changed the front to be single breasted and have the right lapel shape. Did a mockup and found the back seemed baggy although the front looked good so I took it apart and cut the back pieces down to extra small. Seemed better after that and I added in sleeves from this pattern since they had the shape I needed. The sleeves went in okay and the front looked perfect.
However, the sleeves would pull and cause wrinkles across the back around bust level if I extended my arms in front of me. None of the alterations in the Vogue sewing book seemed to fit this problem and I wasn’t sure what would be the best way to fix it so I asked my mother what she thought. (She worked as a seamstress before I was born but she’s not that fond of my cosplay hobby so I try to avoid bringing costume stuff up with her normally.) She thought I should let it out at the princess seams in the back. I tried that but it still wrinkles in that spot. Next, she suggested enlarging the armhole in the back. I did that and it’s a bit better but the wrinkles still aren’t gone. Then, she thought I should drop the bottom of the armhole and enlarge it some more. I tried it on one side of the mockup and the damn thing still pulls and wrinkles in the back. -_- My mother is still trying to help fix it but I’m really frustrated at this point because it fits everywhere else and it’s just this one issue that keeps me from finishing up the patterning and getting started on the real jacket.
Bah, at this point, I’m not sure if Ekaterina is going to be done for Costume Con. It would be disappointing if it’s not since I wanted to get it judged there versus a regular anime con. Workmanship judging for the historical masquerade works a little differently; they recommend that people bring their costumes to pre-judging rather than wearing them. I’m pretty pleased with my corset and panniers and that would give me a chance to show them off to the judges which I wouldn’t be able to do if I entered it at an anime con. Plus, I actually have an idea for fitting music to use for a walk-on and I think it would be more appreciated at Costume Con.
I don’t really feel like it but I probably have to go fabric shopping in the morning so I can work on stuff over the weekend. I still need a bunch of things and don’t know if places will close this weekend since it’s Easter. Maybe, I’ll jump to working on the phoenix prop to go with 19th Century D for a bit. At least, I can’t really have fitting issues with that. >_>
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no subject
Date: 2009-04-10 03:12 pm (UTC)I can send you instructions for custom sleeves and armhole fittings if you want from my book.
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Date: 2009-04-16 05:40 am (UTC)I'll be coming back to the jacket sometime in the next few months but it's postponed for now while I concentrate on my phoenix prop.