Midori #4

the template on the parasol

The Spiral Parasol

As this cosplay is to be worn mostly in the Spring or Summer, I wanted to add the parasol as a prop. I also love the spiral parasol she has in a few manga pictures, and it should be an easy make.

I bought a white paper parasol at my local Chinese bazar, as they didn't have any in fabric. It's more fragile, but more accurate, even if the source one is a bit larger.

I measured the open parasol's diameter, and, in Affinity Design, I traced a three twist spiral, inside a circle with the parasol's diameter. Then I duplicated the spiral, rotated it to make the spiral surface, and finally tweaked it a bit by hand.

I exported the line drawing to a high-res PDF, and had it printed in large format at Zoom Cópia. At home, I cut out the spiral, and taped it to the parasol, with painter's tape. I then traced the spiral, and took the template off.

I considered using Ecoline paints to paint the spiral, but then I decided to look for a cheaper permanent marker, as Ecoline costs even more and isn't waterproof. At former Imaginação das Cores, now one more Ponto das Artes shop, I found two wide Sakura permanent markers in red. They didn't have any more, not even in black... I rooted for two to be enough...

I opened the parasol, put the top centre part out of the way, and started to carefully paint, first three sections at a time, later, as they got wider, two sections at a time, by tracing the edges first, and then filling them. The 1st marker started to fail at about two thirds of the spiral, so, as it wouldn't bleed as much as the new one, I traced the edges with the first marker, and filled the sections with the 2nd marker. Because it's a wide marker, I wasn't able to make very straight lines, but it's not noticeable one meter away. And the paper had a few glue stains, where the red got a bit blotched. Overall, it's very flat and homogeneous, and exactly the right red shade of red.

the painted parasol, the markers and the backup shoes

The top part was a bit large, so I carefully trimmed it with small scissors.

+ It was easier to make, it took me about two hours, than I expected. Still, I wish I was skilled enough to hand paint it with one brush stroke, like I once saw an old Japanese guy do in a video.

- I wanted the spiral to have nicer edges, and it is a bit wonky, but it's not immediately noticeable, and I'm not in the mood to spend more money to make a new one, or use wax as a resist.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Make a sleeve to transport the parasol. Make the skirt.

Candy W. Ardlay - Uniform St. Paul's #11

THE WHITE DRESS

the finished white dress, without the bow and the belt

The original plan was to make both dresses simultaneously, but I was running out of time and made the executive decision of making the white dress first, and then the black dress, mostly because it's more recognizable as Candy, she wears it much more often than the black one.

Because of the blue velvet trim, which I got in three widths: thin for the belt and bow knot, medium for the cuffs, bib and bow, and wide for the hem, I needed to change the sewing order, that would be: torso > sleeves > skirt > belt, and started with the cuffs.

all the dress pieces

The cuffs & sleeves

the three ribbon widths and the cuffs

The cuffs are made of two pieces each, plus interfacing. I first heat glued the interfacing to one of the cuff pieces, sewed each conical piece closed, and then sewed them to each other, the interfaced and non interfaced parts, on the top and wider parts. I trimmed the sewing allowances, turned them over, thoroughly ironed them, and started sewing the ribbon on.

I first sewed the medium width royal blue ribbon, with tiny running stitches on the ribbon's selvedge, to the top seam of the cuffs. Then, pinning the royal blue ribbon, perpendicular to the top seam to the cuff, and placing the sky blue ribbon underneath the royal blue ribbon, I started sewing both ribbons to each other, with a tiny running stitch on the selvedge, but this time easing in the royal blue ribbon, to match the conical curve of the cuffs. The final step was sewing the sky blue ribbon to the cuff, while easing in the sky blue ribbon, much like I did before, for the royal blue ribbon. As velvet ribbon doesn't stretch at all, this results in a small rouching of the ribbon, but sewing it with same size stitches and loads of patience, makes it look very pretty and nothing like velvet to make the plain old cotton twill look fancy!

pockets sewn with french seams

I also changed how I sew the inset pockets. Usually, I add the pocket pieces to the skirt (or other garment) first, and then, while I sew the skirt side seams, I also sew the pockets, turning them in, and pressing. This time I decided I wanted to sew the pockets with French seams, for extra resistance, so I had to sew both pieces together first. It was also the second piece of the dress I sewed together.

my poor pierced finger...

...saved by a suede thimble!

Meanwhile, the velvet ribbon is also very stiff, so I was starting to poke a hole in my right middle finger... I usually don't like sewing with a metal thimble, as I tend to snap the thread with those, but I really needed something to protect my poor finger, or I wouldn't be able to finish sewing the trim without hurting myself. Then I remembered that at some point, Bernadette Banner made and was using a leather thimble, maybe that would work! So I grabbed a suede scrap I got for something else, and cut a thimble shape, and sewed it with thick polyester thread. The leather thimble turned out a little bit too small, but it would fit enough on top of my finger to prevent poking a hole in it. Crisis averted!

the gathered sleeve

Next, I sewed the sleeves shut, and let them stay for a while. A few days later, when I had finished sewing the velvet ribbon to the cuffs, I sewed the sleeves to the cuffs, first by machine to the front part, and then closed the cuffs shut by hand, using a slip stitch. Only later, after I had finished the bodice, I gathered the sleeves with tiny stitches and attached them to the bodice.

The Bodice

the voile bib pieces sewn to the twill bodice

felled voile seam

As the bib is white in both dresses, I decided to make it in voile, not the thicker twill, to mimick the period dresses (around 1910). Also, as the dresses don't have any visible closures, I decided to add an invisible zipper to the side, but my head wouldn't fit in the fitted collar. So, also inspired by real historical dresses of the period, I added a side opening to the bib part, which closes with four snaps, two on the shoulder, and two on the collar. Voile is also very soft, so, to make a clean attachment to the twill, I needed to first hand baste it, and then machine sewed both together. After sewing the bib to the front and the back, I sewed the shoulders together, leaving the left part of the bib open. In order to have a clean finish, I trimmed and scored the twill seam allowance to about 5mm, folded the voile on top of it, and, with tiny running stitches, felled the voile outwards, on top of the twill.

easing in the sky blue ribbon

bib ribbon trim sewn! + the horsehair ribbon

Then I started sewing the medium width ribbon to the twill part of the bib, using the same method, but this time starting with the sky blue, and then sewing the royal blue on top. As this time the easing was reversed, this edge is concave, not convex, like the cuffs or skirt hem, I eased in the sky blue ribbon to the edge of the twill, eased in the royal blue ribbon on top of the sky blue ribbon, and finally sewed the royal blue ribbon to the twill.

basted the horsehair ribbon to the collar's seam allowance

I wanted to keep the voile's transparency, but the collar needed to stand up, so it needed some interfacing. Early on in the project I did buy a few meters of horsehair ribbon, thinking about the hem, but abandoned the idea. I decided, even the horsehair ribbon being a bit wider than the collar, to use it as interfacing. First I finished the shoulder opening on the bib, by folding the allowance twice, to the inside. The front bib overlaps the back bib by about one centimeter, for the closure. Then I sewed both the outer and inner collar pieces together, on thw side and top seams. Then I hand tacked the horsehair ribbon to the side and top seam allowances, and turned the collar.

I cut a 5cm piece of grosgrain ribbon, to reinforce the front bow attachment. I melted the ends with a candle, and pinned the ribbon to the inside center front collar opening, sandwiching it between the opening and the collar. The bow is quite heavy, with all the interfacing, so, by pinning the bow throught the fragile voile, on the grosgrain ribbon, it helps support it and not damage the voile too much.

I machine sewed the outer bottom seam of the collar to the collar opening. Stretching and manipulating the horsehair braid, I hand tacked it to the bottom collar seam allowance. I sewed the collar closed, with slip stitches, encasing the horsehair ribbon inside. I added the snaps, two to the collar, and two to the shoulder, and the top part of the bodice was finished.

finished bib

To finish the bopdice, I sewed the bust darts first, and then the right side of the back and front together. I only sewed the left side from the top until the dart, leaving the zipper part open for now. Pressed all the seams open, and then attached the sleeves. Put it on, to check if everything was fitting well and In the right places, and put it on a hanger.

The Skirt

hanging skirt

The skirt is a slightly gathered half circle skirt, in two pieces - front and back. I first introduced the measurements (waist opening and length) to the Mood Circle Skirt Calculator Online, to determine the radius, and made a paper negative mold, like Hazariel Atelier usually patterns her circle skirts. The skirt was the first pattern piece that was cut, as it takes the most fabric. I placed the negative pattern in a corner of the fabric, traced the curve, and added the desired length. I added a few extra centimeters for the back, to balance the extra volume of my bum, but unfortunately I miscalculated it - more on that below. I left the skirt pieces hanging for about one week, before cutting the hem, and sewed the sides together, leaving the pocket openings and the zipper opening. A friend of mine came over, so I asked her to mark the hem from the floor up, and I was missing about three centimeters at some point. I gained weight, it all goes to my bum, so the length difference between front and back has been aggravated by a few centimeters.

Fortunately, I remembered that the bottom trim would be about 5cm wide, so I could add a strip of fabric, to make the skirt the correct length. With the skirt flat on the floor, I pinned a long strip of fabric under the hem of the skirt, and then zigzagged both together. I trimmed the excess, mostly on the stip, and then trimmed the whole hem, the correct length. I folded the hem twice, ironing it, and top stitched it closed.

sewing the hem trim

Only then I started sewing the wider velvet ribbon on, using the same method as for the cuffs, starting with the royal blue. This was when I realised that sewing the hem was taking much longer than I calculated, and that I wouldn't have the dress finished on time of the Cosplay Photoshoot, a few days after my 30th Cosplay Anniversary, on February 19th. It was also becoming a bit fastidious, even though I was having fun the whole time. I started intercalating different parts of sewing, to make it less boring.

Then I added the pockets to the skirt. The left pocket, where the zipper will be, was only sewn to the front skirt half.

Finally, I slightly gathered the waist, pinned it to the bodice, and machine sewed both together. I pressed everything, and finally hand basted the zipper to its opening, and hand sewed it to the dress on the invisible zipper's groove. Everything was vell pressed, and the dress was hung, waiting for the belt.

The Belt & Bow

the belt and back bow pieces

While I was adding the skirt's trim, I started making the belt. First I measured how long it should be, adding a bit of ease, I didn't want it too tight and be uncomfortable. Then I cut two pieces out of stiff curtain ribbon, one for each dress, I got really cheap at Feira dos Tecidos, and marked the end curves. I cut them with a soldering iron, on top of a baking tray. Then I marked where I wanted to add the boning, in six spots, and cut the plastic boning with wire cutters. I rounded and smooth the boning ends with a file, and cut boning channels from scraps of the twill, sewing them to the spots, on the more textured side of the ribbon, with a slip stitch, inserting the boning, and closing them.

boned ribbon interfacing

Meanwhile, I traced the curtain ribbon onto the twill, and also cut the bow pieces. I folded the twill in half (lengthwise), and sewed it, leaving an opening in the centre. I inserted the boned ribbon inside the twill, and started sewing the thinnest ribbon to the edge of the belt, starting in one corner, taking care to sew it to the flattest side, with the boning facing the inside.

I also sewed the bow pieces, and cut and sewed the attachment piece in white twill. This was when I realised I didn't have enough medium width ribbon for the bow. I tried to order more, but it was out of stock at the AliExpress shop where I usually buy my velvet ribbon. I found another shop, where I bought it, to realise, after it arrived, that the royal blue was a midnight blue, much darker than the ribbon I already had. Fortunately, the sky blue ribbon matched the previous one. I looked in my usual AliExpress shop again a few days later, and they had replenished their stock, so I bought one more roll of royal blue medium ribbon.

Another executive decision had to be made, AniAki was coming, and I really wanted to go and wear Candy there, as I had already missed the Cosplay Photoshoot. I had enough ribbon for the bow part, so I trimmed it, this time it was quicker, as it's straight, and temporarily sewed the bow, to be worn at the event.

the belt closes with buttons, passing through the belt knot

I had to make two attachment pieces, as I misplaced the button holes in the first one. I usually make button holes by hand, although I really hate it, but this time I made them with the machine, and they turned out fine. I sewed the buttons in place, and tested it with the bow knot.

the almost finished belt and bow

Before AniAki, although I had time, I didn't have the patience to zigzag the dress seam allowances, nor to tack the belt or add some snaps to attach the back of the belt to the dress, and I haven't done it until now, as I need to get more snaps, and I need to go to Baixa to buy them.

As predicted, the remaining royal blue ribbon arrived after AniAki, but I sewed it to the bow flaps right away, and finished the belt.

white dress - front

white dress - back

+ The making of the dress went really smoothly, I didn't need to adjust anything.

- Sewing the trim took much much longer than expected, and it was VERY BORING at times... There are a few seams needing a bit of care, but nothing a good pressing doesn't correct, for the most part. And I completely botched the hem, although it's not noticeable on the outside.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Finish the seams, and tack the belt to the dress (it's only pinned for now). Make the black dress.

Midori #3

the raw wig, Yoji, in Darkest Blue

The Wig

As usual, I ordered the wig from Coscraft, a Yoji in Darkest Blue. I decided not to order it in black, although Midori's hair is black, or a very dark brown, because I thought a midnight blue would match the other cosplay colours better, namely, the bow tie.

This is a long bobbed straight wig, and the plan it to cut it into a short blunt bob.

First I put the wig on, and roughly cut the fringe, right above my eyebrows. Then I cut a piece of the sides, to mark the length.

On the wig head, I trimmed the fringe to be bluntly straight.

Then I cut a piece on the back, to know how far up I could get away with. Then I cut the excess hair, and proceeded to straghten it, leaving a few wefts on the nape of the neck, to layer, to hide the wig structure.

the bobbed wig

I may or may not curl the fringe, mostly to match Midori's 1920's/30's hairdo, but I like it like it is right now, and it's a rush to stroke it with my fingers! It doesn't tangle at all!

+ It was an easy cut/styling, and I have years of experience cutting my own hair into a bob.

- I would like it to have Midori's hairdo, but short bobs on wigs are a bit risky, because of the cap, and I don't want to risk ruining it's beautiful texture with heat... Also, the tiny flyaway hairs are much more annoying in synthetic hair than in natural hair...

THE CUNNING PLAN

Curl the fringe? Make the skirt.

Midori #2

most materials: the basket, the polka dot cotton + yellow poplin
and yellow fabric dye; the red patent mary-janes, the midnight blue satin,
the white poplin and eyelet lace, and the fabrics for the origami cammelias.

Ever since I decided to make Midori, I gathered most materials needed, except for a few bits & bobs.

First I found a white cotton with decently large red polka dots at Ouro Têxteis, and even though I bought the remaining fabric, and  maybe half a metre short of a workable length, it wasn't very expensive, so I decided to go for it. As the polka dot fabric is a bit transparent, I also bought some yellow poplin, tu use as backing, lining and pockets. Besides the usual inset side pockets, I'll be adding an inner pocket to the bib part of the skirt, for the phone, bus pass, and so on.

On the same trip to Baixa, I bought a midnight blue silk satin, at Feira dos Tecidos, for the bow tie. I'll use some dark blue grosgrain ribbon for the strap, like I did for Ame Warashi. Just need to go buy the clasp, also at Ouro Têxteis. At Drogaria Central, I bought the last two packs of Sunflower Yellow Dylon Hand Dye, let's hope they're enough (I don't think so).

the (wonky) basket

A few weeks later, I ordered the basket from Vinted, (it's a tad too big, but cheaper and much better than the tiny ones I was finding elsewhere), 16 yards of eyelet lace (for several projects, this one included) and the red mary-janes from AliExpress. I usually buy more than one item per order from AliExpress, that time I ordered four or six items, a few days later everything was shipped but the shoes, and, because those were my second choice, I cancelled that order, when the ones I really wanted became available again.

the pretty (snug) patent mary-janes

On two other trips to Baixa, I got white poplin, to make short bloomers, and an inner blouse (mostly for Candy, to cover my colourful modern bras), red, light yellow and green cambric, for the fabric origami tsubaki, all from Ouro Têxteis, and red cotton twill, from Feira dos Tecidos (it was sold out at Ouro Têxteis) for a kinchaku, to attach to the basket. I also got green and red paper to make the origami cammelias. Unfortunately Papelaria Fernandes doesn't sell papel de lustro in large individual sheets anymore, all the origami paper at AliExpress is sold in multicolour packs and has the same colour on both sides, so I ended up buying two sheets (green and red) of much darker kraft paper, for the Cammelias. I will keep searching for papel de lustro in large sheets.

I also got a white paper parasol at my local Chinese bazar. I wanted it to be fabric, but they only had paper ones in white.

Missing were the wig, which I only ordered recently from Coscraft, about three weeks ago, the longer white socks (can't find any at the usual shops and don't want to order those), yellow thread (I already got), a yellow zipper, some kind of ink to paint the parasol, and the belt, which I'll have custom made at Domingos & Nogueira.

Because the pretty patent mary-janes are a bit snug (it was their larger size, or I would have sized up), although comfortable, but not for many hours, I decided to order a back-up velvet pair of Chinese style mary-janes (I used to wear them a lot in the 1980's, until I couldn't find them for sale any more - I had them in many jewel colours), but unfortunately, besides being much more expensive, what arrived, although has a nice quality, doesn't match the photos and description. They are a faux suede, instead of velvet, the toes are less square and more oval, not even the buckle matches (the Chinese style m-js have a hook buckle, this one is classical) and although I sized up, the shoes that arrived are very snug...

+ I gathered most materials and can start working right away.

- It's a pity what happened with the shoes, but both are quite wearable, and I'll keep breaking them at home.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Dye the fabric once I have my washing machine sorted (it needs to be connected to the water supply), and start working on the other parts of the costume.

Candy W. Ardlay - Uniform St. Paul's #10

This costume was unfortunately delayed due to a life event, and I didn't manage to finish the first dress on time for either my 30th Cosplay Anniversary, nor the Cosplay Photoshoot. I've been marathoning so much on this one, I didn't even had the time to make posts about it.

the wig waiting for it's debut

I knew I wanted to make a helmet wig, but my experience in wig styling, except for cutting  them - I've been cutting my own hair for ages, so it's a technique I'm comfortable with, has not been the most pleasant. In the last few years I watched many, many, many tutorials, from many cosplayers like Kuukii-san, Kinpatsu Cosplay, Sarah Spaceman or, more recently, the Portuguese Shuu, Maribluk, and also talked to Merle at Amadora BD, about products and tools to use. So I finally bought a decent tail comb, UHU Pen water soluble glue, hair styling clips, and large rolls for Candy's large curls.

new wig styling tools: large hair rolls, UHU Pen glue, tail comb,
spray bottle, hair clips, and a small funnel and doser

THE BASE WIG

After hand sewing the felt cap, and trimming it where needed, I was planning on making it stiff with wood glue, but then I saw a WIP by Portuguese cosplayer Maribluk, where she used a metal tape, a construction material, to build a structure on a soft cap. I'm now glad I followed her idea, wood glue would make an already hot wig cap non-breathable, including the possibility of it melting with my sweat, as wood glue is water soluble.

the structural metal headband

sewn into place with thick polyester thread

Using thick polyester thread, I cut a piece of the perforated metal ribbon, and sewed it on top of the cap, much like a headband. I left a few holes unsewn, to add wire loops to hang the twin tails in them, but I didn't need it in the end. I adjusted the metal ribbon to fit snugly on my head, and shifted to the base wig.

the base wig, minus 4 wefts

I harvested four weft rows from the back of the base wig, and started sewing it to the felt cap. Two things I should have done differently at this stage:

1. Harvest the wefts from the twin tails, as they are very thick, and harvest at least 6;
2. Cut the wig elastics and the label before sewing it to the cap.

Lesson learned!

the inside front hairline

wig sewn to felt wig cap

Then I started sewing on the wefts to the cap, first the bottom side ones, on the inside, facing down, to create a hairline, and then the parting ones, facing outwards, to create the parting.

Using the steamer, and diluted UHU Pen glue (watersoluble glue for paper and cardboard), I started styling the wig to create the parting and twin tails, which I temporarily secured with elastics.

just the wig's hair, up in twintails

This is where I realised the hair I had sewn to the cap wasn't enough to fill the back of her head. So, after trimming the twin tails, I created a bunch of small wefts, by glueing them, with the undiluted UHU Pen glue, to a plastic board, and then, with universal UHU glue, glued them to the back of the head, between the sewn on wefts, and on top of the base wig wefts. After the glue dried, I styled them towards the twin tails, with the steamer, and secured them with the elastic.

The final step was to style the sewn on wefts. With the steamer, and my Clover Mini Iron, I bent and styled the hairline wefts towards the twin tails, and secured them. Then I bent the parting wefts toward the opposite direction they were sewn on. With the help of the comb tail, I started the thatching process, by intertwining thin strands of hair from each weft, the left to the right, and the right to the left. Not happy with how the back of the wig was filled, I glued more leftover twin tails hair to the cap, and, after the glue dried, I styled all the hair into twin tails, and glued it with diluted UHU Pen glue.

making wefts of the leftover hair

The initial plan was to glue the base wig twin tails together and then cut them, but I realised they would add volume to the detachable twin tails, so, instead of gluing them, I tied them and sewed them tightly to the base wig, and left them as is.

filled back of the head

styling the fringe

Then I started with the front. First I separated the sideburns from the fringe, and cut the fringe to Candy's short length. Then, with the steamer, rolls and hair clips, I first folded the hairline hairs up, and then curled them in. I set everythin first with diluted UHU Pen glue, but then with Got2b Glued hairspray. I was very happy with the result but then realised I made Usagi, from Sailormoon, fringe, and not Candy's. Recently I read somewhere that Naoko Takeuchi, the creator of Sailormoon, was inspired by Candy for Usagi's hair design, so I guess I was close, tried to pull them down a bit, and let them become a hybrid Candy-Usagi fringe. But the sides weren't that symmetrical, and looked a bit wonky, so I curled up her ahoge, which created a diversion.

styled fringe with ahoge

Lastly, I trimmed and curled the sideburns to the front, mostly using the steamer, but didn't do much else, as they will be mostly hidden by the twin tails.

THE TWIN TAILS

curling the twin tails, 1st try

wavy twin tails - they need to be curlier

The twin tails were a bit curly, but not enough, so I curled them with hot water. First I did it with the larger rolls I got on purpose for Candy, but they only straightened the hair to a soft wave. So I repeated the process with the smaller rolls I already got, and it worked very well.

big hair, don't care

This is where I realised the twin tails have too much hair, but the base wig was already almost done, so I didn't harvest any more wefts from the twin tails. Instead I made a first length cut, and used the hair to fill the base wig gaps. It also works, but it's not ideal, I'd rather sew most of it. I let the twin tails be for a few weeks, while I started sewing the dresses, to finish them later, nearer the event, but I sprayed them with silicone spray, to keep them from tangling too much.

On the eve of the event, I attached the twin tails to the base wig and cut them to shoulder length, and tried to recurl them with the hair curler, but it didn't do much, so I went back to the smaller rolls and the steamer, which has proven to be the best wig styling tool, and let them dry pinned to the head.

While I was styling the wig, I occasionally pinned the bows to the hair, but realised the clips attached to the back of the bows wouldn't work, as, the bows would lay down almost horizontally, and I wanted them vertical. So I took off the hair clips, passed doubled thick yellow thread through the knot loops, and tied them to the twin tail clips.

The final step was to sew a few wig clips on the inside, for safety, but I ended up not adding them, and realising while wearing the wig that I didn't need them that much. The wig is VERY COMFORTABLE, but a bit hot, and VERY STABLE, so, my next gravity defying wigs will all be helmet wigs for sure.

curling the twin tails, 2nd try

I still wasn't completely happy with the curls, so I curled the twin tails again, this time using the medium and the smaller rolls.

curly twin tails: before (L) and after (R)

This time I finally achieved Candy's voluminous curls.

hair elastics work the best for Candy's hair bows

As the bows didn't hang on very well with the thread loops, the last thing I did to the wig was unsew the bow knots, insert small hair ties in the loop, and resew them. Then I inserted them in the wig's smaller twin tails, and attached the curly twin tails to the smaller ones, after the hair bows. And they do stand vertical!

+ I managed to style a more difficult wig and I'm very happy with the results! Granted, Candy's hair doesn't need to be very neat, so this was a good beginner helmet wig. I have two more planned for the future, but those will have to be very neat.

- I made a few rookie mistakes while making the wig, but that was expectable. The only one I wish I could go back was the weft harvesting from the twin tails instead of the base wig, but I managed to solve the problem and learned from it.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Make both dresses!