Wearables Sewing Project: Science Fiction/Fantasy/Cosplay [ Round 144 ]

@mydaffer , your cinderella outfit turned out amazing, close to the inspiration picture and it suits your girl perfectly. I especially love the artistically torn skirt.
@Thymeseer, nice work with the adjustments, the shirt looks interesting already, I'm looking forward to seeing how you finish this outfit.
@vulpes , love the designs, mushrooms are a great inspiration!

This week was corset (corsage? stays? bodice?) and, so far, one sleeve:
Princess dress - bodice front by helgie, on Flickr
Princess dress - bodice back by helgie, on Flickr
Figuring out the sleeve pattern somehow took longer than the one for the corset. That, I mostly free-slyled with a thick paper mock-up and last-minute adjustments to the back: at first the back of the neckline was too low, the shoulder straps kept sliding off the shoulders. I'm mostly happy with the resulting fit.
The outside of the bodice is the same silk taffeta as the skirt, inside are 2 layers of thin cotton with bones made of plastic ties between them; the front is all bones, in the back there are only 2 on aech side - along the lacing and diagonal from center-bottom to the armpit. The lacing is done with a 4 mm wide silk ribbon.
The silk velvet for the sleeves is very pretty, a nightmare to sew, and came in small scraps, so I had to do some piecing. There is also the taffeta and some thin silky lining. Here is the second sleeve (some assembly required) and the inside of the bodice:
Princess dress - corset and sleeve by helgie, on Flickr
I need to finish the bottom of the first sleeve, sew the second one, attach straps to the front of the bodice and figure out how to attach the sleeves (they are sewn as separate parts of the costume) - probably lacing, but I may just sew the tops to the bodice.
Next are more (/fore-) sleeves, a partlet and a headdress - these I want to decorate with embroidery, so they may take some time.

 

@helgie I love the tiny lacing on the corset

 

It's looking lovely

Teddy

 

I got their outfits done. I think I did an okay job of pulling off 'urban vampire' I would be a little intimidated by them. lol
I made most of the patterns myself, but I did end up using a lot of the hoodie pattern from Missy's Imagining's. https://missysimaginings.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/bjd-sd-hoodie.pdf I want to give her credit for that. I wouldn't have been able to make such an awesome hoodie pattern on my own!

I'm am still making more shirts for them, but these were the outfits I originally wanted to make them. I wanted it kind of ratty and torn looking a little bit post apocalyptic. I'm happy with how it turned out.

100_3551 by Rabbid Bunnies, on Flickr

 

Thank you so much for the compliment on my Cinderella outfit!

The outfit you’re making is so amazing, to do such intricate work and the details are way more then I could dream to do. It’s turning out so well, I love every detail, beautiful work! ❤️

All the dolls and outfits look so perfect, you definitely achieve the look you were aiming for! What a well dressed crew! ❤️

 

Thank you so much!! I cut out some light coloured shirts for them as well that I need to work on. I hope to get those finished by the end of this month, but at least I can take my time with those.

 

This looks so pretty!! Those sleeves seem so difficult to make at this scale too!

They looks great! and very comfy!

 

that’s sounds nice, looking forward to seeing them!

Thank you, they were, I cut out a piece of rectangle material and somehow made it work lol. I really don’t think I could make them again! I normally avoid sleeves.

 

@helgie Wonderful progress! Thank you for sharing, this looks like it's going to be epic.


@RabbidBunnies They look great!

For my own project, it's slow going, but I have made a shirt pattern for Konstantin and I've cut the pieces. I'm about to fray-check the edges now, but I don't think I'll sew it tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Thank you!!

I was working really slow this month as well. It sound's like you are making some good progress though. I'm looking forward to seeing your finished look!

 

Progress for the hoodie: got the base for the main jacket portion of the hoodie as well as the hoodie itself sewn up, if not yet fully assembled. I'm using a free pattern from Lomi's Playground, modified slightly, as I decided to add a jersey lining to the inside of the hood as well as the pockets. Currently I'm focusing on adding all the decoration to these two parts and once I'm satisfied with that, then I'll sew up the shoulders and attach the hoodie. Thinking that the arms will be what I tackle last.

IMG_6620 by Cryptic Cryptid, on Flickr

 

They certainly look the part to me - Well done!

Good luck getting the rest of the shirts done.

That hood-lining looks great!

Teddy

 

@quilleth Thank you! They are very soft to the touch, it makes the dolls more snuggable!

@Cryptid I am loving the way that your hoodie is coming along! That galaxy pattern is magical!

@PoeticSoul Thank you so much! I was so tired of them wearing business suits. lol

 

That looks really good, love the material! ❤️

 

Alrighty! I'm back, belatedly, with photos. Hoo boy March has been busy! I'm kind of impressed I've had time to work on projects like this but I'm very pleased with what I've got so far!

My model for this round is Yukiko, my AngellStudio Kana. Here she is checking in from NYC Dollcon, where we attended workshops and activities and had really just the best time ever hanging out with so many doll people in one place
Round 144 model/victim, Yukiko by Jules B, on Flickr

Here we go with the latest sewing saga!:

Spoiler: Beefy Spoiler full of progress pics

Round 144 Cosplay by Jules B, on Flickr
So here's what I left the Mythic Provisions "circle skirt and more" workshop with! I got my skirt sized, cut, had enough for a small beret to cut out as well, and then I started sewing pieces together. If I remember correctly the skirt was intended to have a gathered elastic hem but my fabric wasn't quite large enough to pull that off so I opted for a skirt with a band instead to keep it from being a very plaid inner tube around her waist lol!

Round 144 Cosplay by Jules B, on Flickr
Basic construction done, here she is modeling. I wanted the beret to be on the smaller side but still look believable as an accessory (not a mini hat, lol), I think I did a good job of that!

Round 144 Cosplay by Jules B, on Flickr
I had this premade bow lying around that I pulled off of some packaging for a Molinta blind box figure. The match isn't perfect, but it's close enough that I sewed it on for some cheer.
...And then I felt like it was still missing something, so I made a little puffball kinda like a pompom for it. I considered making an actual yarn pompom, but in the end it boiled down to CBA, too much yarn storage to dig through finding the right red lol.
Round 144 Cosplay by Jules B, on Flickr

Round 144 skirt progress! by Jules B, on Flickr
This past Saturday my local comm had a little meet, and I took advantage of the comfy doll time to get some bias tape pinned to the skirt! I got the sewing a little more than half done. Originally I had thought about lace edging instead, but I couldn't source any from my absolutely decimated local Joanns (curse you, private equity). I can't remember the last time I worked with bias tape (possibly 2004???? holy moly), so it's been fun to do something I haven't done in ages!

My next steps are to finish the bias tape hem sewing and attach some little alligator clips to the beret so I can make sure it stays where I want it to! From there I think I'll take a look at the scraps that remain and see if I have enough to wring out a vest or kerchief or something out of it.

 

Ahh what wonderful progress folks are making! So fun to go through and see all the pictures!

I've been working on something for this round and I think it needs another element, but I'm not sure what. I was working on a Ren Faire-y outfit for Nawra and got a dress and a lace overskirt made, but I'm stumped on what's next. I'd pulled out a beige fabric to go with it, but I dunno if it'll work as a blouse, or if it should be a ruffled underskirt, or what. Here's what I got so far:


(Link just in case)

So, I suspect that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the month - trying to decide what next.

 

That'll make for a nice finish for the edge - pulling out the blue from the pattern but a nice contrast as a plain coloured band.

A chemise to go under the dress, perhaps?

The damask you used for the dress looks nice. I don't often see any that's fine enough to use for doll scale

Teddy

 

What a pretty outfit, love the material and style! The beret is the icing on the cake! Now I know what to do with all the bias tape I have, so that’s how you put it on, you tape it first. You make that look so easy, I put that on rompers for off topic dolls and it wasn’t easy. Note to self, pin pin pin! LoL ❤️

Your doll is so cute! The dress is perfect, I’m looking forward to your completion, I’m sure whatever you chose it will be nice. ❤️

 

@mydaffer Thank you! It took me a few hours haha, I was having good dolly conversation so I wasn't in any hurry. Plenty of time to fix it and adjust it every time lol! I didn't do myself any favors putting it on a curved edge, but it looks alright so far. The pinning in place helped tremendously for the sewing part, I could adjust little bits as I went without the whole thing shifting around. I'm hand sewing so it's no trouble to make sure I'm sewing through both layers of tape encasing the skirt fabric, if I were machine sewing I'd need to have given myself a much bigger seam allowance to make sure I didn't miss the inside edges.

 

I’m looking forward to seeing it complete and I’m definitely going to try hand sewing it. I have so many colors of bias tape, I find it second hand a lot and never opened! I have some from the 70’s can’t wait to use it for a 70’s outfit, the colors are so cool.

 

Many years ago, a friend bought what she thought was several small boxes of 100% cotton bias tape for her sewing stash, second hand online. When they arrived it was several LARGE packing-crates (one of them up to my shoulder and I'm nearly 6ft tall) of large rolls of bias tape in a range of colours and widths, so she shared them around her costume-making friends. I have a couple of plastic stacking crates full of them (no basic black or white though there was some but they were the first colours that got used up). I've sused several of the colours on doll rojects over the years, but mostly they get used on fll size costume projects

Teddy

 

Your doll is so cute! I love that plaid material! The hat looks like it would be difficult to make. I love the was this is looking!

She looks so sweet! I love that blue brocade fabric. The lace is very pretty!

It sounds as if she is set for life on biased tape! lol

When my Grandmother passed away my eldest aunt had ended up with her sewing stuff, but then my aunt passed away a few years ago, not one else sews in the family, so I ended up with all the spools of thread they had collected over the years. It's crazy how the thread is still good on these old spools, a lot of them are wooden, some of the spools are this weird hard styrofoam stuff that I had never seen before.

I normally use black or white thread but this is all different colours of threads. I should try using the different coloured threads more, but I don't want to waste it on the bobbins when I change the thread, and I don't have enough bobbins to keep changing thread.

 

@RabbidBunnies thank you! The hat was pretty easy actually! Just a circle and a circle with a hole in the middle, sewed right sides together around the outside edge. Then flipped right side out through the hole, and i folded a rectangular strip of the same fabric to make the band and sewed it to the open circle! The rest is just deciding what details you want on it

 

I've run into a bit of a conundrum with my sewing project. The "short pants" pattern I'm using, when sewn with knit fabric as recommended, is so large it won't even stay up on my girl's hips.
I had to double-check the pattern was mini-sized and not SD10-sized. While I now have a pattern I can use for SD10/13 bike shorts, this is not what I planned, so I'n experimenting with alterations.
Volks, what on earth...

 

Perhaps the knit fabric you have is too stretchy? Or it is actually an SD10 pattern but was mislableeled as MSD...?

Who knows, but it's a pain for you.

Can you just narrow each piece by folding he pattern pieces down the middle to take out some width before cutting more fabric?

Teddy

 

I'm going to stop lurking and join this round extremely late, as I have a project that's perfect for this round, except the doll only just arrived! Meet Sartoriaj 51Ath Oscar, who has apparently been sculpted to look EXACTLY like Lestat (as played by Tom Cruise) in the 1994 movie of Interview With The Vampire:


Okay that's not the best picture but that's the fabric I'm using, as I'm going to recreate his amazing blue velvet/brocade and gold trim 1790s court suit in the movie - the minute I saw the doll I just had to get him, I was absolutely obsessed with the movie and it's costumes as a teen, so I am living for the nostalgia here!!! The SD version you could buy beautiful clothes for that were based on the movie, but not the MSD version - and I like to sew my own clothes anyway!
Here's a link to pictures of the suit I'm making (along with a whole lot of other pictures I have saved for that movie reference, I may just have plans for Louis and Claudia too...)https://au.pinterest.com/pin/354588170680554202/

I will be mainly using Antique Lilac's wonderful Outlander pattern for FID, here: Outlander Creative Journey - Tutorials
However, I'll be changing it a fair bit as Outlander is set in the 1740's but the style had changed by the 1790's when IWTV is set -- the line was a lot slimmer, plus I'll be doing a fancy court suit rather than the more practical Outlander outfit! Happily, I'd already made that pattern before for my FID Model boy so I could try it on the Sartoriaj boy and it fit just fine - so I don't have to worry about sizing, just the style.

Here's my plan:
Shirt: I actually got a fair amount of this done yesterday! The actual movie shirts have a ruffle down the front and pull over the head with a split at the centre front, but I decided to ignore that as I thought it would be bumpy under the vest and you wouldn't see it once he's fully dressed anyway, so the extra pattern drafting required seemed a bit of wasted effort. So instead I'm making the shirt as is, just with extra overlap at the front to be the button stand (I'm not sure if I'm interpreting the pattern wrong but it doesn't seem to have one as is?), and making the sleeves 1cm longer so I can eliminate the cuffs, sew lace to the sleeve hem and do an elastic cuff instead.

Cravat: not actually sure how to make it yet, but naturally he needs one! I'll probably cheat and close it with a press stud instead of doing one that actually ties, I think it won't sit right otherwise at that scale.

Pants: I'm actually thinking of using the underwear pattern instead (that he's wearing) but adding a waistband and extending to under the knee, as I have some stretch velvet I can use for the pants - and the main pants pattern is non stretch. I'll see how that goes. I have some blue taffeta I can use if it's a disaster.

Vest: I need to make it shorter and have two points at the front rather than being straight across, if that makes sense. Fit is fine though. Also I had to order fabric for this, not sure when it will arrive.

Coat: I will have to completely redraft it to make it 1790's style I think. I plan to use the blue velvet and lining above, and gold lace.

...Also I wish I had a different wig for him, but I'm having trouble finding one that looks right.

Okay, so that's my plan!!! Sorry, giant wall of text there, but since cosplay is one of the themes this month, I really want to try and get it made now he's here!!!

 

This is going to be so nice! I am excited to see the outcome of your sewing project! I love that movie!

 

That sounds fun!! He's a handsome doll (i love his rainbow boxers xD)

 

Thank you so much!!! Glad it’s not just me that still loves the movie too!!!

Thank you!!!! I made the boxers for my FID boy when he arrived, now it’s his turn to wear them so he’s not naked for photos!

 

Wow, that’s a lot of excitement even for me, I can’t wait to see this altogether! Love the materials, lace, and the entire inspiration!

 

Wow!

Teddy

 

@Mamo She looks amazing!

@JaxxCapta Pretty! I think a blouse would look good with that. Generally I am all for layered skirts, but the lace over lay doesn't look as if it would allow for another skirt, it already strain a bit over the blue layer, so perhaps an under skirt would be too much.

@morganatron Oh, what a fun project! He is going to look so good.

For my own project:
I have finished the shirt for Konstantin and I am working on a basic pattern for pants.

This is what I've got so far.

I am a bit torn on what style of pants to aim for.
The outfit is going to be loosely inspired by historical clothes, but I am looking at rural southern Sweden in a vague sort of "long ago" era... Not only that, but the "fashion" (or lack there of, in many cases) didn't move very fast and there were certain relics of much earlier fashions hanging on quite late, making some outfits quite anachronistic. So I could go with anything from knee breeches to long pants, cotton, linen, wool or leather, baggy or fitted, fall fronts or side closures, contemporary front fly or even draw string and still be within the realm of plausibility.
AND I promised myself I would allow this project to take liberties with the historical aspects. So I can't just do the recreation thing and go with whatever seems to have been most typical and not having to make any decisions myself.

And I'm not very good at pants to begin with...
So... I am basically just running around in circles right now.

 

Nice shirt, looks really well made and the pants look great so far! Your doll is so cute! ❤️

Nice seeing your progress

 

Thank you!
I love these little dolls. They are not the best posers, but they are cute.
The pants he is wearing in the picture is mock-up number two out of three so far. Still some work to do, but once the basic pattern is done, I should be able to adapt it to make any kind of pants I want with very little trouble, so it's well worth it.

 

The shirt is lovely - best of luck trying to decide on the trouser details!

Teddy

 

The shirt looks lovely! What kind of fabric you're using for it? It lays so nicely!

If it helps to get other people's suggestions for the pants, I'd vote knee breeches xD But i can relate to the running around in circles feeling about trying to make decisions.

 

Thank you! It's a thin plain woven cotton. Voile, or similar, I believe. The cuffs and collar is a 7mm cotton ribbon folded over the edge. Simple, cheap and effective.

Thanks for the input. I am leaning towards knee breeches as well right now, so I'll take that as confirmation that I am thinking in the right direction.
I've said it before; fantasy is only simpler than historical if it is used as an excuse. Properly done you kind of need to know the history first and only then deviate from it, in intentional ways that makes sense for what you are trying to achieve. It's easily double the work.

 

@Lillith if this cutie needs a wardrobe refresh maybe this pair could be one of a few different styles! It seems like the mixing of historical fashions might appear in an individual wardrobe too, at a smaller scale than the whole rural community. I think knee breeches would be perfect, serviceable and comfortable!

 

That's a good point!
The best thing about small dolls is that they can have massive wardrobes without taking up a lot of space.

 

@Lillith I love his outfit so far!!! That tiny shirt is so lovely!!! I'm very impressed - particularly as I've been struggling with the shirt I just made!

Okay, so here is his shirt and also the test run (in scrap fabric) for his breeches - I'm making them in stretch fabric so I felt I should do a test run first. The pants are adapted from the underwear pattern and the shirt is a slightly altered shirt pattern from Antique Lilac's Outlander pattern:


So I put the lace and elastic on the cuffs, but I must admit now I've done it I'm kind of regretting not making the ruffles at the neck opening too, to make it more accurate to the movie. And more fun. Never mind. I can always make a new shirt in future if I still feel like that when the rest of the outfit is done, but for now I've run out of shirt fabric so it will have to do!

Next is sewing the pants - in stretch velvet, which I have never successfully sewn before, on a new(ish) sewing machine with a walking foot I've never tried before. (I've just spent ten minutes working out how it actually attaches to the sewing machine.) So this could be interesting! Wish me luck!!!

 

Y

You can always add them later. My husband added ruffles to a plain shirt he wore for a historical ball last year.

Teddy

 

@RabbidBunnies , great work! I like that the outfits have a certain vibe and while each character has an individual look, it is clear that they come from the same place.
@Cryptid , looks comfy! I like the color combination and the trim around the pockets.
@Mamo I love the outfit, and especially the beret.
@JaxxCapta , nice dress, this shade of blue suits your girl very well. If it's not too late to offer a suggestion, I'd try making an application out of elements of the lace. That would be a lot of hand sewing, but just as an option...
@morganatron , best of luck with your grand vampire project. The materials selection is beautiful. The shirt looks nice, I like the buttons. Hope the velvet doesn't give you too much trouble - I barely manage to sew it by hand, but there's probably a way to tame it with a sewing machine.
@Lillith , that shirt looks so neat And I would like to add my voice in favor of knee breeches.

As to Amadis' (not actually a) princess dress, at the beginning of the week I finished the sleeves and bodice, and then spent a lot of time embroidering foresleeves:
Princess dress - foresleeves embroidery progress by helgie, on Flickr
Princess dress - foresleeves embroidery by helgie, on Flickr
Each took about 6 hours of work, which seems unreasonable for covering so little surface. I used cotton mouline and acrilic "silver" floss.I think this is the smallest I could do with 1-strand mouline and with a coherent result; I could go smaller with silk thread (and probably a magnifying glass), but didn't have the needed colors. In the bottom picture there are also embroidered elements for the collar of the partlet.
Next is finishing the foresleeves with some beads, finishing the pattern and sewing the partlet, and the headdress.

 

@helgie Whoa! That's some wonderful embroidery.

 

@helgie I love the embroidery! I am so excited to see this outfit put together!

 

@helgie that embroidery is so beautiful!!! I can't wait to see the completed outfit! I love the colours and the design - all so harmonious and wonderful!

As for me, I've forged ahead, and OMG I love the new walking foot for my sewing machine SO MUCH!!!! It just sewed the velvet with no problems at all and I didn't even have to baste it first?! Amazing! This is definitely a game changer - suddenly I am contemplating so many velvet outfits in my future!!!



So the pattern worked out very nicely! I used the underwear pattern, extended it to below the knees and added a cuff, and made the top a bit longer so I could fold it over to sew a waistband. It worked so well!!!

Next up should be the vest, but the fabric hasn't arrived yet, so I think I will work on the coat instead. Also it was such a struggle to get the walking foot on to the machine I may as well sew the coat too since it's velvet, then I only have to take it off once it's done rather than swapping between the two, which will be a pain!

Not quite sure how I will do the coat pattern, probably a sort of mash up between the vest and coat pattern, as the vest has the right lines I need - long and slim? We'll see how it goes!

 

That looks so pretty!!

Those are coming along nicely! And walking feet can be so handy, can't they!

 

Some progress on the hoodie: started playing with puff paint like it's the 90s to get the sort of roboty, cybernetic type look I wanted. I was pleased with how it turned out with the purple paint, but when I tried black paint on the purple chest pieces, it was way too thick and looked terrible. So: seam ripped it off, playing with using embroidery thread to add in accent colors.

IMG_6624 by Cryptic Cryptid, on Flickr

 

SQUEE...! Lovey work !

Yay! What a good result!

Interesting approach. I wouldn't have thought of trying that.

Teddy

 

I managed to take off the tip of my index finger at work, so my progress has halted until that heals up. But I added little cap sleeves, a collar that I want to add a cute button/bead closure to, and a very simple set of pants. Just a little bit of cheeky tummy is visible. I will make her some green accessories like a belt and maybe some jewelry to make her a little less monochromatic.

There is no good place for photos in my tiny apartment.

IMG_20250324_181354146 by Thymeseer, on Flickr

 

what a perfect outfit! I love it, the pants, top, and the material colors are eye pleasing to me! This is so perfect for her and looks to fit well, love the photo, she’s adorable! ❤️

 

It looks cute so far!! I hope your finger heals quickly--that sounds painful!

 

Aw... Can't believe I forgot to join this round! My bard needs clothes!

Everyone's stuff looks incredibly, though

 

Yeek! I hope it heals fast.

Nice.

There's a few more days before the end of the month....

Teddy

 

Wow the pants are wonderful and look amazing! ❤️

What a clever idea! Looks great! ❤️

 

Absolutely beautiful hand work, and the colors all blend beautifully! ❤️