blog

The Marriage of Figaro Costume

May 31, 2017 By Chie

I’ve had some interesting assignments recently…making costumes! I haven’t had much chance to make costumes except for my failed attempt to sew a past Halloween costume, so when I was asked to make Cherubino’s costume for the Marriage of Figaro, I jumped on it. The fabric was provided by the client (bright green satin with dragon print!) and I bought the triming. The buttons are from Zakzak and ribbon is from Tomato, both in Nippori. Zakzak has some fun trims, like crazy belt buckles. Worth checking in whenever you are in Nippori.Ive made men’s vests, tuxs and pants in the past (here and here) so I modified it a bit to fit this project. Added a mock pocket flap. One good thing about making costumes is that the clothes don’t necessarily have to be functional. Here are some close up photos of the pants. I used men’s trouser patterns, shorten the length and added some cuffs. Tada! Ridiculously shinny vest and jacket set. I’m sure you can spot Cherubino from the miles away. I also made a costume for a customer who wants to do cosplay as a character from a video game, Parasite Eve. I don’t play video games and have no idea about Parasite Eve, but the quick google search taught me it’s “a 1998 survival horror action role-playing video game”. I was to make a dress for Melissa Pearce, and here you can see the character I based the dress for.It was simple to make but ended up very heavy because the fabric used was velvet. I used closed to three meters.

コスチュームを作るお仕事をしました。
一番上はオペラ、フィガロの結婚のウルビーノ伯爵の衣装。
ベスト、ハーフパンツ、ジャケットの3点セットです。

2つ目はパラサイトイブというゲームに出てくるキャラクターのコスプレ様ドレス。
たっぷりのベルベットで作りました。
Find me elsewhere:

Embroidered Jeans

May 6, 2017 By Chie

After finishing up my last knitting project, I needed another portable project for when I watch TV or travel. Because the season is heading toward Summer, I took a break from knitting and decided to transform my boyfriend denim. It was already refashioned once from thrifted mom jeans to tapered boyfriend fit but I wanted to incorporate the embroidery trend (You can see my mood board on Pinterest). I had a lot of embroidery threads left over from my previous projects (here and here) so I had everything I needed to tackle this project right away. I used this Japanese book, titled “可愛いハンガリー刺しゅう：はじめてでも楽しめる伝統ある手仕事” and followed the patterns. I used an erasable pen to draw patterns on the jeans. Ｍost things are done using satin stitches and lines are done by stem stitches (useful article on 10 hand embroidery stitches). The trick is to first do the running stitches around the border and then fill the canvas with satin stitches. This way the embroider has more 3D effect. Here are some progress photos – from left, 3/23/2017, 3/9/2017 and 4/19/2017. It took a couple of months to finish. I’m glad that they are done before the embroidery trend is over. After I finish all the embroidery, I had to take in 12cm total of waist. I followed this youtube tutorial. 12cm was a lot to take in, so you can see the side seams are not in true side anymore. Sorry for the many butt photos! But I needed to show off the months of handy work:)

昔サンキューマートで買った古着のジーンズをリメイクしました。
右後ろポッケとサイド、前股あたりにハンガリー風刺繍を。
海外ドラマを見ながらと、旅行中の飛行機の中でちくちく刺していきました。
刺繍トレンドが終わる前に出来上がって良かった！

ウエストが大きかったので、１２㎝つめました。

Find me elsewhere:

Tips on Sewing Tulle Dress

April 24, 2017 By Chie

Three easy-to-follow sewing tips on how to sew tulle for wedding dress

I recently refashioned a tulle wedding dress to a tulle skirt. The inspiration was Olivia Palermo’s two-piece wedding dress. It was interesting to take the dress apart which was made by someone else to make it into something different, and I picked up a few tips on working with tulle fabric along the way.

1. Don’t serge the seam allowances.

Because tulle is see-through, if you overlock the edges, it will be visible from the right side of the fabric. I found overlocking the tulle edges is unnecessary since tulle does not fray. Instead, use a wide seam allowances like 3 cm and press the allowances to one side without zigzag or serging. From trial and error, this turned out to be the easiest and least noticable way to finish tulle seam allowances.

2. Be careful with the iron temperature.

If you are using nylon tulle, don’t use the high temperature setting as it might melt the fabric! I’ve done it myself. I would start with the low temperature on a scrap fabric first and then gradually raise the temperature.

3. When hemming, hem on the dress form first then use rotary cutter to finish the uneven edges.

First place the dress on a dress form or hang it from the ceiling. I use dress form and place it on a chair so it is easier to work. Then use a tape measure to measure the length and start marking the fabric with using pins. Then I cut the dress and take it to a mat so I can make the hem edges pretty using rotary cutter and ruler. Dress before refashion above.I used the original dress’s lining fabric to make the waist band. It’s gathered on the side just like the one of Olivia Palermo’s.