Lum - Tiger Yukata #4

fixed collar

When I made this yukata, I already had a much better idea of how kimonos and yukatas are made, but there were still a few small things missing. Meanwhile, Billy Matsunaga posted a video on how to make a kimono/yukata, the easy way, and a few other videos of her sewing her own kimono, where she talks about how to have the collar tilt back, like this. Contrary to what I thought, it's not very noticeable in my real kimono, the back collar seam isn't straight, but curves down. Billy also said that to achieve a nice tilt, she cuts the collar about 3 to 4cm down the back seam. So, besides finally hemming all the hems (one of the sleeves, and the right side overlap hem), I unpicked the back collar seam, hand traced the back collar curve, about 3cm down, and sewed it back by hand, with a backstitch and then a slip stitch, on the inner seam. Kimonos are usually sewn with a running stitch, with an occasional back stitch in between, but I decided to sew it with a full back stitch because my previous straight seam is shorter than the current curved seam. Simple geometry. To be able to embed both seams neatly, with minimal puckering, a back stitch is sturdier and makes it easier to control. Now it looks much better, doesn't it?

glueing strips of EVA foam, to add bulk to the straps

I'm going to wear Lum again for Festa do Japão, next Saturday (the 29th), and didn't want to take my precious geta, I had custom made in my last trip to Japan, for some reasons. The velvet straps burn my skin, making them terribly uncomfortable to wear, the last time I wore them, I almost ruined them, leaving a huge dent on the soles, and I already didn't like to wear them in gravel or uneven ground, like the venue for the Festa do Japão. So I got these black flipflops, that look a bit like zôri, to replace them. Lum's geta are black, with indigo/purple tops, and red straps. Flipflop straps are thinner and fatter than actual geta straps, so I glued scraps of EVA foam to them, to then cover them in red fabric.

starting to cover the straps in red cotton

red covered straps

Red is my favourite colour, so red fabric scraps are abundant here. I took some leftovers from my Sewing Woes dress' cotton, cut about 5cm wide strips, folded the edges inward, and sewed them together with a ladder stitch. Then I cut thinner strips, and followed fairly the same method to cover the part between the toes. I folded the strip in three, and sewed the sides together, with a ladder stitch, up to the straps.

indigo tops

3/4 view

Then I went to Mega China, in search for a blue purplish sheet of EVA foam, and luckily they had one almost the same colour as the obi. When I made the obi, even though I like yellow and purple together, I didn't want it to be 100% purple, because I'm not a fan of purple itself. When I went to look for a fabric, I found this charmeuse satin in indigo blue, which is a purplish blue. I was also lucky with the foam, as the only purple they had was too light, and that's the purple tone I dislike the most, and this indigo is very similar to the obi's satin.

First I traced the soles on top of the foam, and cut them. Then I eyed the strap attachments, traced the bigger holes with my circles "ruler", and copied them to the other foot. To glue them to the flipflops, without taking the straps out, I made a cut to the big toe side, and to the sides of the back strap attachments. Then I added a thin coat of contact glue to the front half of the flipflops and the foam, with one of my silicone brushes. When It was tacky, I glued the front half together. I did the same to the back half, and walked with them around the house for the rest of the day. After a few hours, I trimmed the foam, and I have fake geta, just like Lum's.

This week I'm going to press the yukata and the obi, plump the wig, and get everything together for next Saturday.

+ The yukata is finally done, the seams need basting, but this fabric dosn't fray much, and I'm running out of yellow theread, so maybe I won't bother. I declare it DONE!
The fake geta were quite easy to make, I think I'll buy another pair of these flipflops, in case I need another pair to customise for cosplay.
- This was long due, and this costume isn't 100% done yet. I need to finish the obi-ita, add some grosgrain ribbon to the edges and make the ties, and make the juban. But now I don't know where the juban voile is... Next time I wear Lum, I'll make it.

THE CUNNING PLAN
Find the white voile and make the juban. Use voile scraps to finish the obi-ita.

Yuuko Ichihara - Foxy Lady #39

the finished cuffs and collar

After I don't know how many months, I finally finished the gold embroidery on the cuffs and collar, for the blouse/sleeves.

What were my last steps? Basically finishe embroidering the collar and then cut out the white fabric. Of the three, which have about the same area of embroidery, the second cuff was the slowest to embroider. It's usually in the middle of a longer project where I start to procrastinate and don't work much on anything. I think the second cuff ended up being embroidered at about that time where I had a major crafters blank. The embroidery work is also the best in the first cuff, then the collar, and lastly the second cuff. I may have been quicker when I got to the collar, which may be a mixture of speeding up with practice and wanting to get rid of this job entirely. I still love to embroider, but it's a tedious work, and takes a long time. Finally, I applied the UHU glue on the back, of which I should have applied two coats, but I think I only did it on the first cuff, and, cut the white fabric out. This also took a long time, as my fingers would start hurting, using the small embroidery scissors, after a while. I also was much more careless with the second cuff and the collar, which resulted in cutting a few gold threads. This issue results both from lack of patience in the last stretch of the task, and the smaller amount of glue in the back. To correct this, I applied small drops of UHU glue on top, with a silicone brush. These silicone brushes were one of the best purchases for this costume, as they're perfect to apply glues and other messy materials.

the completed blouse,
with attached cuffs and collar

After I felt the cuffs and collar were completed, I tacked them to the blouse. I used the same gold embroidery thread, doubled up, and sewed the corners of the cuffs, following the existing embroidery threads. Perfect camouflage! For the collar, as it's thinner and longer, I also tacked it at the shoulder seams and in the middle front. When I patterned this, I didn't take into account that the height of the EVA foam, even if thin (2mm), would make it shorter than the fabric cuffs, and also didn't take into account how the embroidery also would shrink it a bit. So the fabric collar and cuffs underneath are a bit warped, but's not the most noticeable thing. I need to take both these factors into account if making something similar in the future. Lesson learned!

the collar

one cuff

This blouse is far from perfect and refined as I wanted to. I guess if I would have taken a few weeks, or a month, to work solely on this costume, besides the sewing part likely being completed by this time, the end results would be neater. But I'm happy I have two pieces 100% completed by now, 2/7. Not that bad, I guess...

+ it's completely finished, looks great, and it's pretty. That's much due to my choice of materials and techniques.
- it took too long, mostly because I procrastinated a lot, and I glot sloppy in the end. It' still looks good, so I'm pretty satisfied with the result.

THE CUNNING PLAN

Finish the petticoat, as there isn't much more to make for that.

Candy W. Ardlay - Uniform St. Paul's #3

the boots, royal and sky blue
velvet ribbon, and the harmonica

I didn't think I would be posting Candy so soon, but the items I ordered from AliExpress just arrived. Yesterday the velvet ribbons arrived (and the lamps for my lava lamp), and today the harmonica and the boots. It usually takes longer, these took under 2 weeks to arrive.

The Ribbons
The colours aren't exactly the same, but they were the closest in the available colours. The royal blue could be a little bit lighter, and the sky blue should be a periwinkle. I ordered 5 yards (a bit under 5 meters) of each colour in 1cm, 1,5cm and 2cm wide. The great thing about velvet, besides looking awesome, is that it photographs a different tone, depending on the light. So, it's a bit like computer screens, each shows the colours differently.
I plan to use the wider ribbons (2,5cm) on the skirt hem, the medium (1,5cm) on the collar, the back bow, and maybe the cuffs, and the thinner (1cm) on the belt, and maybe the cuffs. I'll see which width fits better each part of the dress later, when the dress is made, as I'll sew them by hand.

The Harmonica
It's a bit on the small side, I think I bought a kids harmonica. But it's fine, it's just a nod to Candy's bond with Terry.

The Boots
Designwise they're awesome! And really very comfortable. I believe I can endure one con day fairly well with them on. But the pleather isn't very thick or good quality, and I need to add grommets to the lace holes. I'll probably also add a strip of rigiline boning to the back seam, so they don't slide down. They're too warm to test them around the house for the next few months, but I'll do it once it cools down. When I go buy the blue and grey shoelaces, I'll ask at the hardware store if they have those hook rivets, and I'll add some to the top part of the boots. Besides looking better, they're more practical. And, oddly enough for modern cheap boots, these don't have a side zipper.

first try on, didn't have the patience
to tie them all the way up,
but they feel very comfortable to walk in.

I like these boots for Candy, because they are a bit bulky. The girl's legs in Candy Candy have a very weird shape, no ankles and very short feet, that's why I went for these, also aiming for comfort, and I think I nailed it.

I was organizing my cosplay Pinterest secret boards, where I add all sorts of cosplay resources for each costume, and I already had the boots there, but a link from Wish, instead of AliExpress, where I eventually bought them from. It was a good idea, as I had many more Black Uniform pictures there than I found the last few weeks.

sketch for the white uniform 

overlay with the black uniform 

Meanwhile, I made my usual technical sketch for both uniforms.  First I just made the white uniform and all the accessories, but when I decided to add the black uniform, I traced the uniform sketch into a new piece of paper, painted it, and cut it out. then I glued a sheet of acetate to the original sketch, and, with it folded over the sketch, I glued the blach uniform sketched to it, on top of the white uniform. This way, it's all contained, and I just need to flip the acetate to change the uniform. 

I'm adding to this post, again, because it's just a small addition, not worth a post of itself, and I don't want to wait until I buy more items.

wide pink ribbon

The other day I went to Mega China, a Chinese trinket shop nearby in search for stuff to finish Lum's Yukata, and they had this 7,5cm wide hot pink satin ribbon, and I bought it. I'm not a huge fan of these ribbons, for many reasons, some of them being, it's only satiny on one side, it creases too easily and it doesn't have enough body. But I liked the colour, even if it's a hotter pink than the original, and I like the Idea of the hair bows being actual ribbon, So, the plan is, to add some thin but stiff interfacing, like horsehair, and then sew two ribbons together, with the satin side to the outside, and make the hair ribbons from 3 pieces, the bow, the knot, and the flaps.

+ everything I needed to order online, except the wig, has arrived, now I need to resist starting this costume before finishing the Foxy Lady.

- only when I get paid for my last job, I'll go downtown, buy the white and black twill fabrics, and try to find the pinks, and the maroon, preferably offcuts. If I find an offcut of grey velvet, I'll buy that too.

THE CUNNING PLAN
After buying the rest of the fabrics, start making the patterns. But not right away, I still aim to lose a bit of weight, I'm going for my pre-pandemic weight, so I can wear all my other costumes and feel better in this one. And, whenever I get another money boost, I'll order the wig from Coscraft.