Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #60

 

detail of the front closures

Jacket closures post. This will be a detailed description of how I made the test front closure. Which was successful.

Ever since I started making this costume, this is one of those pieces I most thought about. I didn't want to use ribbon, I wanted it to be one piece, with no visible corner seams.

After drafting the pattern, I cut it twice, once in the denim, on the straight grain, and once, in the satin, on the bias. But the satin is slightly different from the pattern. I marked both the pointy edges and the slit, and then connected both long sides with a ruler. I also marked the centre slit  line.

sewing both sides of the closure

After that, I cut the slit and pinned it to the bigger piece of satin. Sewed it, with a small backstitch, all the way around.

the satin pieces, sewn together, and the denim interfacing 

Then I cut the seam allowances evenly.

basted the denim to the satin

Then I folded the satin edges over the denim, and slip stitched them together. Ill have to be careful with this the next time, some stitches caught the outer satin. 

turned inside out

Then i turned the satin inside out, encasing the denim interfacing.

pressed

And pressed it thoroughly. The straight grain denim, keeps the closure shape, and the bias satin adapts to the curvy shape, allowing me to make the centre seam, visible in the artwork.

sewing the slit

I then marked the slit on the other side, and sewed it, leaving 2,5 unsewn for the button hole. I should have made this step, before adding the denim, and turning the fabric, thats how I'll do it for the other seven (2 big, with button hole, for the front, one simple big, for the back, and 4 smaller for the cuffs), and with white pencil. Fortunately, only two fiddly ones, with button holes.

finished closure piece

Then I cut the button hole slit, on and started joining both front and back pieces, with a small ladder stitch, around the button hole. The button hole done, I sewed the rest of slit shut, with a small ladder stitch. In the end - Morgan Donner to the rescue! - I reinforced the far end of the button hole, where there's more stress, with a few milimeters of tight button hole stitch. This is an historical practice, mostly for closure slit ends. Pressed it thoroughly between each step. That's one more thing I'll change the next time, I'll fold and press the slit seams, before turning the closure inside out. Both slits were fray checked before sewing.

+ I was succesful at the first try, which always makes me happy, no time misspent.

- its a time consuming fiddly job, luckily there aren't many closures, and only three have button holes.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Draft the smaller cuff closures, and cut everything.

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #59

button closures and embellishments patterns

Nothing like a good rant to get the gears started again! Almost the day after my previous post, I grabbed the artwork, the jacket, and the buttons, and made the skirt embellishment pattern and the front closure patterns.

I simply compared the artwork with my jacket, and eyed the proportions. Then folded the paper for symmetry. The embellishment once, horizontally, the closure twice, horizontally and vertically, and, with a square and a ruler, drafted them.

I already made a test closure (a successful one), but there are too many steps, I'll make a post about it tomorrow.

+ got my mojo back, not fully, but it's here!

- it was just a small thing.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Draft the cuff "closures", cut all the satin pieces, and cut and make bias tape.

Intermission

The last couple of weeks I've been dealing with an aggravating situation at the faculty, which has made me furious and taken all my will to pick up the needle and thread. I won't go into details, because when someone besides me will be reading this, the issue will be solved either way.

Just wanted to register that when these kind of issues happen, big decisions, things beyond our control, a person can be taken off track, and have their creative drive reduced to almost nothing. I need a break, because when I'm sewing in this kind of angry state, basically everything starts to go wrong...

Meanwhile, I've been turning all my energy to remain calm, and to try to solve this as best as I can. When it's over, soon, I hope, I'll try to get back to my sewing mood. Right now, I just want to break things 😅

+ Outside negative things are also part of the creative process, I feel the best way to deal with it is to take a break from crafting, or do some hadcore crafting.

- It's sad when the institutions that are supposed to be supporting you, don't care in the least way, and affect your performance in what you're supposed to be doing.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Fix this and go on towards Plan B.

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #58

the bloomers' pattern 

I finally fetched a new sheet of drafting paper and some old pyjama trousers, and patterned the bloomers. I added a bit of width, because the pyjama trousers are a bit tight, and added crotch height. I want the bloomers to be extra floofy, so I patterned them in an A-line shape. I also marked the gathering and frill placement.

At 80cm length, I just have the right length of fabric if... the bloomers didn't have two rows of frills! Although it's a bit over, I decided to buy extra 1m cheap white taffeta, for the extra needed 20-25cm of fabric. I'll add it to the top part of the bloomers, which will be hidden by the petticoat and skirt. Better too much than too little!

If you remember, I bought the last of the taffeta at the store in Oporto, and it was already missing 75cm, from my early calculations. It would have been enough, as I only really need 50cm, the most, but it was the only place where I found nice white dress taffeta.

Now there are only the shoes and the button appliqués left to pattern.

+ It's an easy pattern to draft, no need for a mock up.

- I just dream of a studio and a proper cutting table...

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Buy the extra fabric, sew the bloomers.

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #57

satin lace from the Stoklasa shop

Today, fellow German cosplayer Kukkii-san posted she got some satin lace in bulk, from a Czech shop. She was kind enough to share the shop's name with me ♡. Eastern European shops seldom pop up in Portuguese located searches, unless you specify them. I've been noticing one can find some nice bargains from those parts, and with Brexit, ordering from the UK is not the first option any longer. Fortunately, I can speak both French and German, and understand enough Spanish to order online, so, there are still shopping options inside the EU, and maybe the shipping will become lower in the near future.

So, this satin lace is very, very cheap, under €4 for 13m, but the shipping is around €20... The lace will cost me around €25 in total, but it's more than enough to trim the skirt and bloomers.

In te Tokyo Babylon artwork, there aren't any visible scalloped edges, but it's a small detail that makes the skirt and bloomers more interesting and a bit fancy, that's why I decided on a scalloped edge. Ideally, the scallops would be cut on the taffeta itself, I even bought (and later destroyed) a trim cutter, from Flying Tiger, but the taffeta isn't crisp and weak enough to be cut with something meant for paper, so I had to give up. Another option would be to have it laser cut, but, even though I know a place that would eventually do it, it would involve a lot of experimenting, I would have to do it before sewing, and I'm not sure if it would go over budget. When I was thinking of alternatives, I remembered seeing a polyester scalopped lace at a local fabric shop, but they don't sell it anymore, so I scavenged the internet searching for it, but the only thing I found looked cheap and wasn't cheap. Then I decided to go for Plan C, and machine embroider simple scallops. I bought machine embroidery thread for that.

But now, with this new information, I'm divided. 

Embroidery Pros

• I already have the thread and even made a cardboard template;
• I have freezer paper, to help stabilize the fabric;
• It cost me under €10.

Embroidery Cons

• I'll have to test it;
• there's a probability it won't be even;
• I'll have to do it on my mom's machine.

Satin Lace Pros

• it looks pretty;
• it will be quick to sew, even if by hand;
• it's my Plan B;
• I can sell the embroidery thread,  and get some of my money back.

Satin Lace Cons

• it's more expensive, around €20;
• I still have to order it.

The skirt and bloomers' trim are something I was planning on making much later, maybe in June, so I have time to decide. I think I'll take into account my monthly budget, as things are a bit harsh right now.

+ The lace trim is much more like what I imagined 

- It will be more expensive 

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Make the bloomers pattern, so I'll know how much more fabric I need and how much more I'll spend on it. Then decide which way to go with the trim.

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #56

 

the finished petticoat. 

Yes! Another finished piece! 2 down, 7 to go. I've been sewing the second petticoat frill between the coat and hat sewing, because I can only handle the tulle monster a bit at a time. The other boring task is sewing the shirt's button holes, I've just made 3 so far.

To finish the petticoat, after finishing sewing the second frill, and taking the gathering stitches, I took another elastic from another pair of old leggings, and inserted it inside the satin ribbon waistband. I secured both ends together with a few stitches, and it was done. Almost. While inserting the elastic, I noticed I had missed sewing a bit of the ribbon, so I had to hand stitch that bit by hand. No fuss.

a very bubbly skirt.

+ I like how it looks, very much the effect I was aiming for, and it's similar to the artwork.

- It was a very boring task, hand sewing the frills, but I didn't trust my mom's plastic sewing machine with so much tulle, and didn't want to break it.

THE CUNNING PLAN 

I don't know which piece I'm going to do next, maybe finally make the bloomers' pattern? The shops will reopen on April 5th, if everybody behaves, so I can finally buy the white taffeta for them. And I need to buy more burgundy, cherry red and white thread. I also need to finish covering the small buttons.

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #55

the hat's bow

I've sewn the bow as I mentioned before:

1. cut two rectangles, one big and one small, from the satin and from the burgundy cotton;

2. paired each rectangle, big with big, small with small, using the cotton as interfacing, to give the bow more body;

3. sewed each rectangle in a tube, on the longer side, with a running stitch;

4. turned and pressed both tubes very well;

5. folded the big rectangles ends to the centre, overlapping them by 1,5cm in the centre;

6. made a box pleat in the centre and tacked it;

7. wrapped the smaller piece over the centre of the big piece, and sewed everything together. So the knot has that more natural shape, I made a pleated on each end to opposite sides, before I sewed the ends together.

Then I sewed the bow to the hat, over the hat band, so it's visible when the brim is up.

tacking the felt structure to the top

Time to start joining everything. So it stays stable and neat, I tacked the top of the felt structure to the top of the hat. Then I turned the hat over the structure, and tacked it to the bottom of the crown, with a slip stitch.

the structure, tacked to the hat

Then, I pressed the inner crown's edges inwards, by 1,5-2cm, and sewed it, with a slip stitch to the hat on top of the structure.

the inner lining in the burgundy cotton

I should have sewn together and tacked the inner lining to the structure, before attaching it to the hat. But I didn't, so I ended up adding a drop of UHU glue to each quarter, on the inside of the structure, and glued both together. This is just so the lining doesn't drop down.

the open "purse" bottom and inside of the hat

the finished hat

I just need to add two wig clips or combs to the sides, so the hat stays put in my head, and maybe a ribbon, so I can hold it like a purse, when in my hand.

+ It's finished! The first 99% finished piece in this costume, and I'm quite happy about it. The use of the hat's crown as a purse worked, and can easily carry my keys, wallet and cards, plus a few other small items, like a comb or lipstick. 1 down, 8 to go!

- Right now it's a bit unstable, I can't move my head very quick, but the wig clips or combs - I'll test which work best - should help keep it stable on my head.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Add and test the wig clips, wear the hat inside for a day, with a few items inside, to see how it feels.

Go sew one more button hole on the shirt!

Hokuto Sumeragi - Mad Hatter #54

first try, to see how it looks

I don't know why I didn't update this earlier, but I've got a lot done with the hat.

sewing the brim to the crown

After finishing the brim, I sewed it, with a backstitch to the crown. But... after I finished sewing it, I realised I had sewn it on the reverse side. It's not that noticeable, but I wanted the nicer side of the bias tape, the first side I had sewn with a backstitch,  to be on the bottom, so when I turn the brim upwards, it's facing out. So, I unpicked the seam, and started again. I finished the seam with a blanket stitch, to minimize the fabric from fraying. It won't be seen in the end, but this way it's more secure.

the hat band

The last outer piece was the hat band. I cut a straight strip of the cherry red fabric, turned it about 1cm on each of the longer sides inwards, and top stitched it, with a back stitch, where the crown attaches to the brim.

+ I'm loving the result, and the grosgrain is a nice fabric to handsew. It's soft enough, but it has body too.

- It was a bummer to have to resew the brim to the crown. The hat band also took me ages to top stitch in place!

THE CUNNING PLAN 

Sew the bow in the satin.