Another month has flown by! The end of the year is quickly approaching, which means that my costume list is slowly starting to die down for the year (Don’t worry. I’ve already got big plans for 2016 š ). Here’s what’s been on my craft table this month:
Lulu: 25% complete
I feel like I actually made some real progress on Lulu this month! My main focus with her was the corset, and I’m about 90% complete. If time works in my favor, I’m hoping to put the final touches on it today. Once again, I turned to my trusty TV110 with a few modifications. For Wonder Woman, I raised the height of the bust for modesty. Lulu doesn’t share that concern, so I dropped it back down to the originally drafted pattern. I also modified the bottom front panels of the corset to accommodate the points.
The fashion fabric layer is a cotton/viscose coutil with a lovely floral motif, and the strength layer of the corset is duck cloth. I constructed these two layers using the welt seam approach, and made a floating liner out of some black cotton in my stash.
To create the silver stripes on Lulu’s corset, I cut some satin blanket binding in half, sewed the wrong sides together, pressed them with quilter’s bars, and then topstitched them over the seams of the corset. I used Wundertape to keep the strips from moving around as I sewed. I intend to wear this costume as a competition piece, so I went all out on the boning. Each seam is double-boned with 1/4″ spiral spring steel, and the back has 1/4″ flat steel on each side of the grommets.
This was my first time inserting a busk on a corset. Actually inserting it wasn’t difficult, but accommodating the silver stripes on the front sure was! I had to take precise measurements and stitch everything down prior to inserting the busk.
I also started experimenting with lace dyeing this month. Over the last few months, I’ve purchased lace from several places, and many friends have also donated some lace to my ever-growing stash. Thanks, friends! I’m using this tutorial and Dye-na-flow to create pastel colors for the lace.
All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my progress for this month, but I’m also kind of freaking out about the amount of work I have left to do on this project! Once I get through She-Hulk and Red She-Hulk, expect to see a lot more Lulu progress. You can keep up with my Lulu WIP photos on Instagram by searching for the hashtag #geekysewslulu.
Commissions:
Captain Marvel Race Outfit: This was such a fun request! A client recently asked if I could turn Captain Marvel’s uniform into a racing outfit, and I was happy to help! For the top, I made a raglan sleeve top using McCall’s 7100 as a base. I modified it to fold on the front, cut the sleeves at T-shirt length, modified the collar, and of course added the stripes. Altelier Heidi’s tutorial on inset points was such a fantastic help with this project. These points look way better than the ones on my Captain Marvel!
The pants are McCall’s 6360, though I totally would have used Sewaholic’s Pacific Leggings instead had they been out at the time. Would have made sewing a hidden pocket in these a heck of a lot easier!
Ramona/Thor crossover: Another fun request! This client asked if I could make a spandex dress based off of this Ramona/Thor crossover on DeviantArt. To come up with the pattern, I made a mock-up of Kwik-Sew 3154 (with the skirt) and drew in the princess seam stripes. From there, I cut up all the pieces, added seam allowances, and sewed it all back up. The most challenging part of this commission was the yellow band on the bottom front of the dress. All sorts of inset corners to deal with! I can’t wait to see this on my client at Fan Days š
That’s what’s been on my craft table this month. What are all of you currently working on?
The Geeky Seamstress 