16.7.23

Miss Piggy - Kermit Dress #6

cutting the side back

Two weeks ago, after I finally bought the Gütermann green polyester thread, for which I had to go to Baixa, as the local haberdashery shop closed, and the lady at the alternative quilting shop isn't nice and they don't have Gütermann polyester thread. I cut the dress, but forgot to blog about it.

First, I tried Non Gou's dress on, to see if it fits like Miss Piggy's. Basically I just needed to cut it slightly wider, and about 10cm longer. So, I spread the fabric and cut the dress, using Non's patterns, the hood (twice, one as a self lining), and left over enough for the gloves. Even though I have big leftovers, unfortunately any type of velvet means a lot of waste, because of the pile. The 5m I bought, were just enough for everything.

dress and hood

I had to draft a glove pattern again, because, with the move, I have no idea where I put the other one I drafted for Hokuto.

new glove pattern

As before, I took one of my bought gloves, from Rasajo, a glove shop in Porto, which closed a few years ago, and drafted my pattern from that. I only drafted the hand part, as the arm is basically a trapeze, and doesn't need a pattern, just measurements, a ruler and a set-square.

velvet gloves, the squigly strips
are for the inside of the fingers.

I marked and cut the gloves on my drawing board, two hands, two thumbs, and a lot of 2cm strips, for the inside of the fingers.

green thumb

I decided to sew the gloves by hand, as it's mostly a precision job, and I'm afraid my sewing machine isn't up to it, especially in a velvet fabric. As usual, I started by sewing the thumbs shut, and sewing them to the gloves. Before attaching them to the gloves, I tested both on each thumb, to choose which fits best. We're not symmetrical. 

sewn thumb and partially sewn
index and middle finger

Only after I sewed the thumbs in, I realised I cut them with the pile running in the opposite direction of the gloves. I won't unpick them for now, but, if I have time, I'll redo them, as it's an easy and fairly quick fix.

I also drafted Piggy's ears and snout, to be made in upholstery foam and felt.

I also decided to make a Piggy dress for my small plushie Kermit, but I'll make a dedicated post for his costume.
+ One more task done, and, even though it takes more time to sew the gloves by hand, they'll turn out better in the end.
- Bummer what happened to the thumbs, but it's an easy fix. I'll do it, if I think I have the time, before sewing shut the gloves, by the little finger.

THE CUNNING PLAN 
Keep sewing the gloves, and take one day to sew the dress.

Lengthy Introduction Post

In September 2020 I started my PhD in Fine Arts , specializing in Multimedia Arts , at Lisbon's Fine Arts College , FBAUL . I've bee...