Post the Eleventh: Bits and Bows

 

  Alright, this time is a whole bunch of things so let's just jump right into it.

 THE SHIRT

  Cripes, this is way too big on me. It'd be nice to fix the collar as well. It's also too big, but since it's a button-down style I'm not sure how to fix it that isn't just "redo the collar completely." And there really isn't time for that right now. So let's just focus on bringing in the seam and slimming this up a bit.

 

  Why even do this? It's not easy to see in the photo, but this shirt fits me like a boat sail. There's at least two inches of shirt hanging off the armpit alone. That's only slightly annoying by itself, but becomes a problem the second you put the vest and jacket on. Then everything's puffy and doesn't lay well.

  Course, there's always the option of just taking this to a tailor and, to be honest, if this were an actual work shirt I'd suck it up and do that. I've yet be employed somewhere where people didn't get catty the second they got downwind of "homemade" clothes. And when it comes to this I just don't have the skill level to get around that.

 

  But this isn't that! So let's muck it up. 

 

  First, pinning and finding out what fits me better. Then temporarily marking it with some thread.

 

  The seams here are actually glued together, so I don't have any choice but to cut them out (THIS FEELS SO GROSS). Anyway, pin together the new seams. Folding the edges over and top stitching with a twin needle to attempt to make it look like the original shirt.

 

  The seam under the armpit is seriously stiff and thick. Handle it the best you can, lol.

 

I keep getting myself into these situations.

 

  Decently top stitched. Vaguely professional.

  Now just finish up the cuffs. Taking a total short cut here and just reattaching them without adjusting the length. Cheap, I know, but once it's buttoned up no one will notice. Again, if this was a work shirt under no circumstances would you do something this lazy. But this is cosplay and last I checked no judge is going to take apart your outfit to see your process. Laze away!

  Ayyy. For a first shot at ever doing something this complicated, it didn't turn out half-bad. More importantly, it'll fit world's better now when I put on the vest. SPEAKING OF...

THE VEST

  So, the vest. Dapper, western-style vest. It fits really well, so mercifully I don't need to go in and rip lining, side seams, etc. Which is a relief after that shirt. But still there are one or two cosmetic tweaks that would help this out a bit.

 

  For reasons beyond my feeble ken, the pattern opts to secure this vest with a series of tiny hook and eye clasps. ELEVEN of the blasted things. Look, I don't want to whine, but that was some unpleasant sewing. And for what? A bunch of fiddly hooks that will STILL start to pop off after a few uses? There has to be a better solution.

  Hidden zipper to the rescue! 

  To be honest, I'm not sure why this wasn't in the instructions to begin with. Yes, the pattern was labeled as beginner-friendly and, yes, throwing a zipper in there is a hair more complex. But you don't HAVE to use a zipper foot to sew a zipper and holey moley you can't convince me sewing ELEVENTY GOT DANGED eye and hook clasps is somehow easier. Get out of here.

Hot diggity. Thread pickin'.

 

  Okay, so peel off all the clasps. Also, remove all the buttons so it's easier to feed through the machine. Or rather, so that you even CAN feed this through a machine. 

  There! Much cleaner. Marked the undersides with fabric pencil. Hopefully it won't wear off and it'll be easier to tell where to put the buttons back on.

 

  While we're here, I decided to double check the fit and it looks like that I don't have to adjust anything. Thank flip. Looks like it really was just the shirt causing problems here. Don't mind me as I do a little jig because undoing the trim and lining would've been exhausting.

  Turn vest inside out and pin right side of the zipper to the wrong side of the trim (as best as I could, lol. This is very stiff.) Use the zipper foot to get as close as possible and zip up both sides. Boom. There you go.

  Instead of re-sewing the old buttons, look at the shiny nonsense I found to replace it! Much fancier. These are also shank buttons, so sewing them on is no different. And thanks to the marks from earlier there's no stressing over whether they're spaced correctly or not.

  While we're here, I wanted to shorten the chains dangling from the buttons. As is, they're getting too close to the buttons below and it looks rather sloppy. No biggie. This is easy enough to with some pliers and a touch of patience.

 

  Additionally, if you were wondering, the chains are held in place with tiny clear hairbands that have been sewn on. Tacky? Maybe. But they're dirt cheap and it works.

There's an argument to be made that maybe not every button should have a chain, but also this is a Final Fantasy character. So I'm just going to patently ignore it.

 

 There! That looks so much cleaner and nicer. And it'll be so much less of a hassle to get in an out of. Because when you're done cosplaying for the day, you are DONE COSPLAYING FOR THE DAY.

You put something down for two seconds...

THE GLOVES

 

  Next up on this assembly line are the gloves!

 

  Making a jabot and cuffs is not hard. Basically, sew lace ruffles to a strip of fabric and you're mostly done. The real trick is finding nice lace. Which is not something I've ever had luck with. I admit it, it's a blind spot. It's extremely difficult for me to see how the starting cloth will look as the finished product. 

  Again--as always--no shame in buying. Especially when the other person can just make a better product than you.

  

  Anyway, the gloves as they are right now. These are actually really nice and comfortable! The lace trim was a cheap add on, but it did the job nicely. But we can do better, yeah? Yeah! Let's zhuzh this up a bit.

 

 

  So first step is--you guessed it--more stitch picking. Have to be careful not to damage the super-soft gloves, but it's do-able and now it's clean and ready to go. 

  Tack sewing the edges since these cuffs will technically worm upside-down. This way they'll more or less retain their shape and not completely flump down the second they're put on. Wearing them upside-down will probably give some historical reenactor-type a fit, but hey. They get through that hat without apoplexy, then they can kvetch about the cuffs a bit. As a little treat.

 

  Also want to redo the edge of the gloves and give them a more severe angle. These are actual leather (goat, if you were wondering), so, according to the internet, sewing it is a little different than standard fabrics. It's best to have a roller foot (if you're keeping score, we're up to 3 types of machine foot so far) to keep the leather from sticking to the machine. Nylon or poly thread, as the tannin in cotton thread can damage the leather over time (and if you're using leather, you're in it for the long haul). Lastly, needles specially designed for leather to help minimize the damage caused by repeated puncturing.

  Oh, yes. And tape. Tape those seams shut with double sided tape instead of pinning. The fewer holes we make in this, the better.

 

Don't be stupid. Of course I flicked that roller foot like a matchbox car.

 

 

 

  Got all that? Despite having to gather up a bunch of stuff, the rest is remarkably straightforward. Since this leather is nice and light, the tape does a great job of holding things in place. Both the needle and roller foot did their jobs amazingly, so I have to do the super-annoying thing of recommending you buy these instead of just using a workaround. 

 

  All that remains is to tack sew the cuffs to the gloves. And there you go! A pair of extremely dapper fencing gloves!

 

Someone is feeling incredibly needy lately.

 

 THE NECK AND RIBBONS

   Earlier I mentioned a jabot. You know, the fancy lacy thing around the neck Victorians were fond of wearing. The sad thing pictured above is all I had at the time. Yeah, like a bunch of other things in this costume there wasn't any time to do any better the first time around. Surely, though, there's something better this time. Right?

I tried really hard not to get my reflection in that shot. I really did.

  First thing it needs is a proper pendant. This one is something I found at a local vintage shop back in their junk costume jewelry section. Nice filigree and the plastic jewel is oddly translucent. Just removed that top loop and it's good to go.
 

  

 

  This is the matching jabot to the cuffs from earlier. Although that's probably fairly obvious.

   Technically this jabot is twice as long as what's pictured above, but because I don't want it blocking the entire front of the vest I've folded it in half and sewn it up. This also makes it a smidge fluffier, which, honestly, is a bonus.

 

  I'm just going to say it. The ribbon used last time was just awful. Cheap and awful. So I found this replacement. Like that cutey double bow? Instead of telling you how to tie it, I'm just going to suggest you watch this video. It's quick and frankly they do a better job explaining than I ever would.

 

 

  Because I'm slightly neurotic, I tack stitched the knot once or twice so I wouldn't have to worry about the bow somehow coming undone. While here, I'm also going to go ahead and make three more bows. For reasons that will become abundantly clear in a minute. 

 

  To finish it off, I trimmed the edges as above and sealed them with Fray Check to stop it from, um, fraying. It looks like a mess going on, but it dries clear and is mostly invisible so just don't glob it on and it's fine.

  Incidentally, if you're like me and always wondered what Fray Check (and other such fray-stopping liquids) were made of it's basically nylon dissolved in alcohol. Plastics! What a concept!

  With everything dry all that remains is to make like the Avengers and assemble! A little tack sewing here and there and it's done. So much better, yes?

  While we're here, might as well update the ribbon on the back of the jacket. Previously used was a very simple, straightforward black ribbon tied in a granny knot. Obviously replacing this with the new ribbon and one of the freshly made bows, but let's add just a little more to this.

  Let's add some tulle.

  Why? Because tulle is awesome, that's why! And it's shocklingly easy to work with for something that looks so delicate. So, let's add a little tulle ruffle puff to this.

  Use the bow as guide and cut the tulle just a smidge below where the bow falls. I'm cutting two more strips for reasons that (again) will become clearer here in a minute.

  So. Making a tulle ruffle is easy. Just use a regular presser foot and set the stitch length as long as it will go. Then just stitch the length of the fabric.

  Once you're done with that go to one end, grab one of the tail threads, and gently pull. Adjust as you go and keep gently pulling until it's as ruffle-y as you like. Tie it off and sew the bow into place.  Voilà!

 

  Do this two more times and now the pants have a cute bit of decoration. For the moment everything is being held in place with a safety pins, especially on the jacket. Unsurprisingly that's getting remade to match the new fabric and once that's done I'll go back and attach things more permanently.

 

  Okay, that was legitimately a LOT for one update. But everything looks nicer and fits a bit better so it's worth it. 

  Next time: Kind of tipped my hat already on this, but it's the jacket. Redoing the whole thing! That'll be fun! Totally not exhausting!

Material Directory

Gloves: Etsy (Glovecityleather)
Ribbon, Buttons, Zipper, Tulle: Mood Fabrics
Pendant: Local vintage shop
Leather Needles, Roller Foot, Fray Check: Local sewing shop but most online vendors should have this in stock
Jabot and Cuffs: Etsy (LittleBunga)

Current background music:  Allie X. "Weird World." Girl With No Face.

Time until deadline:  27 days (nervous sweating)