Sophia Forrester Progress Report 1

As of a couple days ago, I now have all the fabric I need for my Sophia cosplay.  I still have to get a few more things like zippers, a bit of thread, and a few other minor items.  Still haven't found her reading glasses yet.  I’m starting to wonder if they even exist outside of the anime.  The fate of her hair clip is hanging in the balance right now.  I’m not sure whether or not to have the hair down like in this picture:

She wore her hair like this in the anime when she told Alex about her going back to the palace.  Her hair was also down when she talked to Claus about her plans.  I can’t give away too much of the plot.  -_^

Anyway, I could also have the hair pulled back into a twisted braidy-like bunish thing.  Like this:

         

This is her most common hair style.  She wore it throughout most of the series. 

I do like how sharp and vice admiral like the second hair style is.  I just have one problem, the hair clip.  How on earth am I going to make, much less find, the darn thing?!  The back one is what I’m most worried about but the two side/front ones pose an equal, if not greater, challenge.  If I do the second hair style, I might not have to buy a wig for this cosplay, but that’s only if my hair grows out in time, which I doesn’t seem like it will.  So either way I’m probably going to have to buy a wig.  Now I just need to find a good, decent, honest wig seller who has high quality wigs at a good price. 

Switching topics, while I was at the store studying this picture:

I discovered that the designs/appliqué on Sophia’s uniform are silver not white.  If you look really closely at her collar, you’ll see that the appliqué gives off a silver hue instead of a white one.  It even looks this way when the picture is printed off.  This was a major break through for me.  I also discovered that her collar is lined with silver fabric.  See below picture:

Both of these discoveries majorly helped explain why the fabric behaved the way it did.  Since the appliqué is silver, it can appear both whitish and silver when exposed to different lighting.  This also explains why the appliqué has a bit of a sheen to it as well.  These pictures help to illustrate my point.

           

Changing topics, I have had the hardest time finding the right fabric shade for the uniform.  The closest I’ve found is a silvery gray color by Kona Cotton.  Since it’s not perfect I might try lining the dress with a darker color fabric to get the desired effect.  I don’t know how well this will work so we’ll see. 

Other that that, I’ve had a relatively easy time fining what I need.  I even found some awesome looking pleather for her boots in the clearance section.  I don’t what I’m going to do for the redish orange soles yet.  I’m still researching that. 

Sorry my post is long and kinda random and jumpy.  There’s been a lot of things happening with this costume that I don’t know where to start or how to transition to my next thought.  My thoughts like to jump around.  I hope you enjoyed reading my post and look forward to the next ones.  My next post should be about Sheeta’s pirate uniform unless another idea pops up.  Thank you for reading and please tune in again to find out what happens next in the exciting adventures of my endeavors as a seamstress.

 

dilemmas

Another New Prom Dress

Darn patterns!  I do not like how much ease is incorporated into ready make prom dress patterns.  It can mess up perfectly wonderful dresses and turn them into alteration nightmares. 

Ok, Joanns Fabrics is having the Own Your Look prom dress contest.  Naturally, I decide to make another new prom dress for it.  Prom was in a couple weeks anyway and a ginormous sale was going on at Joanns.  Casa Collection fabric for 50% off is a huge deal.  I get my fabric and embellishments or as many as I can considering that I went on either the last or the second to last day of the sale.  Everything was pretty much picked over, but I found what I wanted (even though I had to back six times). With that done and taken care of, I finished up school and graduated.  My school’s prom is weird since it’s after school is officially over. 

Anyway, so I start on the dress.  Following the pattern perfectly, I carefully constructed my work of art.  Even though it took me just under a week, I was very happy to finish up the last details.  Or so I thought.  Excitedly, I tried on the dress only to find that it was at least 2 inches too big.  I was very distraught (I still am a bit) and mad at the pattern.  Even though I had followed it perfectly, the dress still turned out too big.  I realized that I forgot about this annoying thing called ease that is included in every store bought pattern.  Boy, is it a hassle sometimes. 

Frustrated, I tried to alter that dress but to no avail.  I was still too upset about the mis-sizing.  So, I put (ok, threw) the dress in my redo corner and focused on the matching shrug instead.  The shrug turned out exactly as the pattern said.  I didn’t even have to alter the pattern for too much ease.  Heartened by the success of the shrug, I began to alter the dress.  At first it didn’t work so well till I prayed and got the idea to put darts in the bodice and an adjustable bow around the waistband.  Both alterations worked really well!  I reduced the bodice to nearly my size (I still have to put in a couple more darts) and made the waistband look like it actually fit me.  I just have to fix the skirt a bit.  Since the dress has a high waist, the skirt makes me look a bit (ok, more than a bit) bottom heavy and slightly pregnant even though I’m neither.  I know that because of the cut there is not much I can do, but I still want to try to slim out the skirt a bit. 

Remorse For Lack of Updates

Sorry I haven’t been posting much.  Life has been crazy.  Finals as well as other school projects have consumed my time for the last two weeks or so.  I recently graduated as well so that ate up the rest of my nonexistent time.  School is finally over now to which I am extremely pleased.  Now I can concentrate on my sewing and various summer activities. 

Prom Dresses

Now that my bout with historical costumes is over, for me anyway, I am switching over to prom dresses.  The epitome of girlyness and fashion.  Why girls make such a big deal over these dresses I will never fully realize.  Nevertheless, they are a blast to make, especially when delighted eyes meet mine as I had over the finished creation. 

As of now, I am working on two prom dresses.  I’m still trying to start the ball gowns for my mom and sister, but their dresses don’t fit into this category.  Still, as I was saying, I have two prom dresses in the making.  One is a just-for-fun project while the other is for the Joann’s “Own Your Look” prom dress contest as well as for my spring dance.  Yes, it’s a bit late in the year, but fun nonetheless.  I really hope I can win, or at least place in the contest.  The college money would be extremely helpful. 

Thoughts for the Sewing Year

I tend to be a bit of an over achiever. So when I heard about a local convention in August I jumped at the thought of more sewing projects. I got out my ever increasing list of projects that I'd like to make and desided on four to five of them just for the convention. Then I heard about another new convention in November and jumped at the thought of more costumes projects. So I got out my list that had grown again and started to go through it. I began to pick out four to five new costumes for the new convention. I then remembered the dresses I had to make for prom this year and a sewing contest. I counted up my projects for the summer and fall. To my astonishment the number was well over ten, that includes the other few costumes my friends asked me to make. It never dawned on me that that my love of sewing would turn into a pile of costumes. Just a story of my learnings as a seamstress. ^_^

More Historical Costumes

Just when I thought I had finished all my historical costumes for the year more show up.  This time they aren’t for me though.  Recently, I found out that the family ball I go to has a theme for this year.  It is the 19th Century.  Naturally, since my Mom and sister are going, they want costumes for the ball.  Fortunately, I already have two 19th century costumes and am not interested in making another for the ball. 

My sister wants hers to be more modern with a historical flair.  This will be easier considering I already have a few patterns and a decent amount of fabric preplanned for a 19th century gown for her.  Unfortunately, she doesn’t totally like the colors or the fabric.  Soooooo, I’ll have to rethink the plan.  Funny thing is, she liked the fabrics when I first got them.  It is interesting how tastes change.

My mom still hasn’t decided on a pattern, color scheme, or style for her costume.   I’m hoping to incorporate some rich, jewel colors in her costume.  Time is running short so I hope she makes her mind up soon! 

Other than that, I have no other historical costumes I’d like to make this year.  Thank goodness!  If I did I wouldn’t be able to make my other cosplay endeavors.  I’m hoping to get to them soon, especially as school comes to a close.

Predicament and Present Success

So I’ve been working on the Giselle commission for the past week.  I’ve nearly finished the bodice and the underskirt is basted together.  Even the overskirt is awaiting attachment.  Everything was going fine till I tried the skirt on the mannequin.  Turns out the skirt is a wee bit too small in the hips.  >_<  Unfortunately, it’s tight enough to look unsightly.  There’s maybe half and inch of seam allowance to play with.  My face literally hit the desk.  I was sooo disappointed I almost cried.  Instead I thought of ways to remedy this dilemma. 

 

I’ve come up with a plan.  I’ll call the client, explain the predicament, and set up a time for her to try on the garment.  Hopefully the skirt will fit right.  I’ll also double check the fit of the bodice at the same time.  If the skirt doesn’t fit, I’ll have to redo the hip seams.  Hopefully that won’t be too hard, and I’ll be able to correct my mistake.  I figure that if I take out at least a quarter to a half an inch on the side and back seams, the skirt should turn out fine.  I just have to make sure that I have enough room to make a double seam on the shear fabric. 

 

Other than the above happening, the dress is coming along beautifully.  Since it is turning out so well, I’ve decided, for the first time, to post progress pictures on my blog.  I really love how the dress is Disney® yet classy, cute yet sophisticated, elegant while charming.  It’s better than I hoped.  Mind you, I just pinned the dress to the mannequin as well as the embellishments.  I haven’t sewn the bodice to the skirt yet, though I hope to soon.