Obi Pictures

I finally get to put some pictures up.

 

 

Another Costume

I have decided to make Aerith's costume from Advent Children. She has been a favorite character of mine for a while, and I've always liked her outfit. Since my other costumes are almost completed I am starting on this new one as soon as my dress form comes in and school permits time.

Reference pictures:

So far I have all the fabric and most of the notions I need. 

Fabric and notions

I'm really looking forward to making this costume.  Especially since I won't be using a pattern for the pink dress.  I'll also be modifying a pattern quite a bit for the bolero, as well.  It'll be a first time for both.  Excited and nervous is how I feel.  '~'   It's going to be great!!!  *^_^*

Extreeeme Excitement

It's come. Finally. The moment I've been waiting for my entire sewing life. My future dress form is on its way!!!!!!!!! *^_^* I should have it by mid next week, approximately. I'm soooo very excited. It's an early graduation present from my mom and myself. (We both paid for half the cost.) *sigh* Now I only have to muster up the patience to wait that long. It shall be worth it; I just know it. Let the lip gnawing begin. '~'

Finished

I finished my traditional Gypsy/minstrel costume. I love the way it turned out, especially with the modifications. *^_^* The drape is perfect, the color just right, and the whole costume is better than I expected. Another mission accomplished, quest completed. Off to another assignment: science homework and the completion of my Yuna costume. -'_'-

Yuna Costume

I'm almost done!!!! So far this costume has taken me almost a year, much longer than I expected. I wasn't working on it the whole time, though, because school became way too busy. Meanwhile my costume suffered for it and was put on hold for about four months. But it's back and nearing completion, finally. All I have left to do is 1) paint the skirt, 2) dye the sleeves, 3) attach the sleeve ties, 4) finish the hibiscus' beads, 5) find or make the earing, and 6) maybe make the staff. Then I shall take pictures and enter it in a costume contest. *^_^* Also I might buy a wig, but I'm not sure about that yet.

Obi Update

*^_^* I finished painting the obi!!!! It looks great, if I do say so myself. I'm really happy with the way the colors and design turned out. I even got it done ahead of schedule! *^_^* Now all I have to do is attach the cording and the obi will be done!!!

Update

Yet another Christmas has come and gone. Now is the time to continue my sewing as Christmas break quickly crashes to a halt. I finally started drawing the pattern onto my Yuna obi. It looks so pretty!!!! So far I only have half of it drawn but I should be able to finish the rest by Sunday. I hope to be painting the designs by Monday and finished with the obi by Tuesday. I'm really trying to get this costume finished before the break, but who knows. As tomorrow is the day after Christmas sale, I will be looking for, and hopefully purchasing, the fabric for Aerith's Advent Children outfit and Yuna's boots. I hope to find fabric for some of my other costume ideas as well (see "costumes I'd like to make" list at left). Anyway, I'm stoked about my Yuna costume progress and will be picking up on my traditional Gypsy/ minstrel costume with in the next week. I plan on having that one done by Janurary, hopefully. I did make a bit of progress on it. I finished a self-designed hat. All I have left to do is finish the shirt! *^_^* I know I should probubly take one thing at a time, but where's the fun in that? I wonder what other projects I could work on.

Traditional Gypsy/Minstrel Costume Update

Well I finished the skirt a couple days ago and almost finished the shirt. I tried the skirt on and fell in love with it. It's so pretty and comfortable. So I began to work on the shirt. I had everything just about completed when I realized that I ran out of bias tape for the neck edge. So I tried the shirt on and found that I like the way it looked and hung without the neckline bias tape and elastic. That being said, I am redoing my original design to compensate for the new drape of the shirt. So, it's going to take me a bit longer to finish the outfit but I like the outcome better.

New costume

Today I officially started working on my traditional gypsy/minstrel costume. By traditional I mean that the skirt will go to my ankles at least, the colors are ones that were/are favored by gypsies, the shirt will NOT go over my shoulders and will NOT show cleavage, and there will be no head scarf because I am not married or engaged. That said, I have almost finished the skirt and hope to have that done by tomorrow. My progress is small because I keep jumping from the Yuna costume to this and back. I hope to have the gypsy costume, Yuna costume, and Aerith's costume from Advent Children done or near completion by the end of Christmas break. I've got a lot of sewing to do! *^_^*

Progress

Hurrah!!! I finally got the obi to stay up without drooping!!! Boy, that took a lot. Anywhoo, I'm almost done with my Yuna costume from Final Fantasy X. All I have left is to paint the obi and skirt designs, dye the sleeves, and finish the hibiscus and all the beads that go with it. (Will include pictures of what I'm talking about.) Then I just have to make a few finishing touches and find a pair of black boots. I'm soooo excited!!!! This will be my first costume constructed entirely without a pattern. So far I love the way it's turning out. *^_^* Well, back to costuming!

How to Make Yuna's Skirt

Cut the fabric to desired length. Length must be 3x your waist measurement.
Sew the back seam. [Optional] Leave enough space to insert a 7" zipper. [It is best to make the skirt with an elastic waistband.]
Hem the fabric with an upturned 5/8" hem.
Pleat the skirt. All pleats, except for the middle front and two middle back pleats, are knife pleats. See pleating reference below.



Seam iron the pleats in place.


[Optional] Edge stitch the pleats working from the hem upwards.
Cut out the waistband.

If you're making a skirt with a zipper, inter face the waistband first. Next pin the waistband to the skirt, right sides together. Adjust the pleats. Sew a 5/8" seam. Fold the band in half, right sides together, and sew a 1/2" sew on both ends of the band. Clip corners and turn right side out. Fold up a 5/8" sew on the band. Hand sew the band to the skirt making sure to cover previous waistband seam. Insert zipper and apply waistband hook and eye to waistband.

If you're making a skirt with an elastic waistband, sew the back waistband seam before attaching the waistband to the skirt. [The waistband must be your hip measurement+ 1-1 1/4" seam allowance.] Pin the waistband to the skirt, right sides together. Adjust pleats if needed. Sew the waistband to the skirt with a 5/8" seam. Cut the elastic to your waist measurement. Fold up a 5/8" seam on waistband's unfinished side. Hand sew over the previous seam, leaving a space big enough to insert the elastic. Insert elastic. Hand sew the elastic insertion hole closed.

Paint the design on with pleats together first. Fill in the rest of the design after the paint has dried.

Vwola! The skirt is done. I hope that made sense. If not let me know and I will happily clarify.

Yuna's Obi

I have finally gathered all the materials I need for the obi, including acrylic paint for the designs.
I found this wonderful post that included all I need to know about making the obi and bow.
(http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=7093&page=2 - 9th post down) It even has pictures! [Last two links in the post.]

Yuna Top

YAY!!! The top is completed! So far that was the most difficult piece of the outfit. I bought a pre-made spaghetti top shirt(which I modified) and attached a homemade stole type piece of fabric to the top. The hard part was trying to pin the stole to the shirt, especially since I didn't have a dress form. Surprisingly it worked out better than I thought and the shirt was tacked without much effort.

Yuna Skirt

Well the skirt is coming along. I had some "technical difficulties" like making it too long. So I'm in the process of trying to shorten it with out ruining it. It's working so far but I haven't got to cutting it yet. Here I go!

Yuna Costume

As a challenge, I am in the process of making Yuna's costume from Final Fantasy X.

So far I have almost all of the materials gathered and am work, simultaneously, on the skirt, top and sleeves.

Renaissance Costume

Last month I successfully completed my first Renaissance outfit. It is composed of a chemise, skirt, bodice, and armbands. The chemise is a lightish gray-blue. The skirt is purple with lined designs. As for the bodice the front and back bottom are light purple while the back top and sides are the same material as the skirt. It laces up the front with brown ribbon. The armbands are reversible, one side being the light purple and the opposite side is the same purple as the skirt and part of the bodice. It too laces up with brown ribbon. Pictures are coming soon.

First Post

My first post on my first blog. =D This is a place where I discuss and report my various costuming endevors, progress, and (hopefully) success!