Edna Mode Cosplay

LittleLoloCosplay as "Edna Mode" from Disney's The Incredibles.

"Edna Mode" is a quirky fashion designer who creates costumes for super heroes, most notably known for saying "No capes!" and "I don't look back, darling..."

I made this costume dress in under 5 hours (over a span of 3 days), using mostly decade-old remnants from past projects. In total, I spent less than $40 to make this.

Dress: Made from upholstery vinyl and fashion pleather, a roll of insulating foam, sport zipper, black corset boning, with stretch gauze lining and pink shirting trim. Everything was remnants (free) except for $2 worth of pink fabric.

Glasses: under $10, purchased via Amazon Prime.

Boots: $30 purchased at Nordstrom (I "splurged" here since the rest of the costume was basically free)

A snapshot of my pattern pieces.

I drew my pattern from scratch. For the dress, I just traced one her shirts and used the same pattern for the front and back. I cut the V neck out of the front later.

The sleeves were the most time-consuming part of making this dress. The pattern for the sleeves was a little tricky, but here's a little explanation of how I made it. 

It took three layers of sleeve to make all of the arched pieces.

I started with a lining made out of a breathable stretchy gauze in the shape of a normal sleeve or mutton sleeve. Then I cut 6 copies of a "top" sleeve out of the vinyl (3 layers per sleeve) and split each of these into the arched shapes (which I numbered so I would know which order to put them in).

This is what the sleeve looked like before cutting the triangles.

The finished sleeve.

The real trick to sewing this vinyl was LOTS and LOTS of baby powder!

A zipper in the back makes it much easier to put this dress on a 2-year-old.

Maternity Cosplay - Making a Padme Costume in One Week

I made Padme Amidala's Mustafar "sleeveless" costume for Emerald City Comicon 2015 in 23 hours over 4 days. I wanted to share tips on how I made it because it is a very comfortable maternity outfit, a great cosplay option for pregnant mamas!

ECCC 2015 - Mustafar Padme Amidala by Avalyn Cosplay

- I had only four days in which to make the costume (M-Th)

- I had little to no experience making pants, and no patterns! I couldn't find the right leggings at the mall on short notice, so I was going to have to figure out how to make them.
- I made the entire outfit for a Total Cost of $25.25.

It was a last-minute decision to tackle this project but I am so glad that I did! SmallRiniLady and I were presenting a cosplay panel on Friday and I felt it was necessary to wear a costume but I couldn't wear my old costumes since I was 5 months pregnant. Padme in Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith was my natural choice for a recognizable pregnant character; my first cosplay was Arena Battle Padme from Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, so this was like coming full circle.

At the EMP/SFM Star Wars Costume exhibit

1. Collect Reference Photos

Get as many photos as you can up front before you start a new costume recreation project! There is nothing worse then getting near the end of your build before finding a picture shot from the back that shows your character has a prehensile tail you didn't know about...

I started by doing an image search on Google and Bing, using my smartphone. Then I found amazing close-up detailed reference photos on padawansguide.com .

I saved all of these images to my smartphone, then uploaded five essential images to the Cosplanner app so I could easily find them again.

This is a picture of the ACTUAL MOVIE DRESS being made!
- at the Star Wars Costume exhibit at the EMP/SFM

2. Figure Out What You Need and Buy Stuff

Materials needed for making this costume:

1. Fabric for leggings: Cream stretch knit fabric (should stretch width-wise across your leg for a snug fit, does not need to stretch length-wise)
2. Fabric for the dress and gloves: Oatmeal/tan suedecloth 
3. Material for the harness: Dark brown leather or faux leather (I bought 8" of 60"-wide $35/yd synthetic leather from the home decor department) - you actually only need about 4" or so at 60" wide. 
4. Interfacing for the collar.
5. Fimo (moldable plastic clay like Sculpey that you harden by heating in the oven) for the filigree details on the broach and harness "buckle". 
6. Fabric Paint for the sleeve emblem (I used brown acrylics over black fabric paint because I couldn't find any brown fabric paint)
7. Acrylic Paint - shades of gold for the filigree pieces, browns for the sleeve emblem

On the Sunday before the convention I found all of my fabrics at JoAnn's. After a moment's hesitation at the cutting counter (can I REALLY get this done before Friday?), I took the plunge! 

Total Cost: $25.25

- Disclaimer: this is the total amount that I spent this week on this costume. I did not count in the price of the boots I already had ($35), the Fimo that I already had (I think I bought it for $2 on clearance 6 years ago), or all of the tools I used which I already had (sewing machine, serger, thread, needles, elastic, fusible interfacing, tailor's chalk, markers, pointy stick tool for detailing the Fimo, paintbrushes, acrylic paints I already had, hot glue and glue gun, oven, the craft room and tables in my house, etc.).

Stuff I left out:

I took short-cuts on the boots and hair, using boots I already had, and just braiding my natural hair instead of making a hair piece. If you are trying to make this costume to wear at Rebel Legion events, please see Rebel Legion Costume Standards for Padme Amidala/Skywalker (Tan Mustafar Outfit)

3. Sew the Costume Garments

Monday I started sewing the dress. Breaking down the construction I planned to make the top first, with seams to shape the bust. I found a jacket pattern (Simplicity 2207) in my collection that would do. I used the front and back pieces, chopped them off at the waistline (the dress has an empire waist) and excluded the sleeves. I left some extra fabric at the tops of the armholes to account for the shape of the fabric coming over the shoulders. Then I sewed the top pieces together according to the instructions in the pattern. In the interest of saving time, I did not put lining in the dress.

My method is to try it on (inside-out), pin it strategically, take it off and adjust the pins slightly, smoothing the fabric, then try it on again to verify that works, then sew it. I use both a serger and a sewing machine.

Here all I have done so far was sew together the Simplicity 2207 jacket pieces.

Next, I sewed up the front, leaving enough of a V-neck to fit my head through (this would be pinned together with the broach later). Then I finished the armholes with a rolled hem.

After that it was a matter of draping on a skirt, drafting a collar and hemming everything. The collar was the most complicated part; I started with the bottom edge of the pattern that came with the Simplicity 2207 jacket pattern, traced it onto pattern tracing material and made it into the larger rounded shape I wanted.

The skirt part is pretty straight-forward if you have had a little bit of experience making dresses or skirts. I made the skirt with two pieces (front and back), attached it to the jacket at the high "empire" waist, fitted the front draping over my baby bump, pinned down the side edges perpendicular to the ground, sewed it on, and turned under the bottom edge to hem it.

For the harness straps I cut two 2" strips from the faux leather (which I assume was 60" wide). I turned down both long edges 1/2" and sewed them 1/4" from the edge. I pinned the straps to the dress at the back but did not sew them until after I made the hardware. (This is a fast, cheap, but nicely finished look. For a more accurate look I would have used real leather or at least had no stitching lines showing. Also, in hindsight I think my straps could have been up to 1/4" wider in the finished and still would have worked.) 

For the finger-less opera gloves, I created my own pattern, designing one sleeve as two pieces sewn together, the seams running  from hand to bicep. 

Squeezing a glove pattern piece onto fabric remnants!

I measured the length of my arm from where I wanted it to start and end, plus extra length for a rolled helm at the hand and elastic casing around the upper arm. Then I started measuring the circumference of my arm at various points, making sure my thinnest point at the wrist would still be big enough to fit my hand through. I cut my four fabric pieces out of the scraps from my dress (I barely had enough because I forgot to account for the gloves, whoops!).

For the leggings I styled them after my favorite super-comfy maternity leggings from Loved by Heidi Klum. But Padme's leggings have vertical seams up the center front and back of the legs, not at the side seams, so I couldn't just trace existing pants and I had no patterns that would work. I needed to figure out how to make these by myself.

Finished maternity leggings and finger-less opera gloves

So to make the pants I cut my fabric in half (one piece for each leg) and cut the U shape for the crotch area center seam first. I just grabbed a random pants pattern in my size and traced the U shape for the center seam, putting together the front and back pieces. I left enough room to wrap around the front of my leg but kept the back bigger so it could wrap around the back and meet the other edge at the center front. I stitched the U's together then pinned the fabric to my clothes to drape the legs. It was a matter of pinning at the widest point, letting the fabric hang straight, then pulling it tight to follow the curves of my body and pin as I go. 

I made a waistband of a straight strip of fabric in a tube around elastic, then pinned it to the top of the pants keeping it high in back and low under the belly in front, overlapping the front edges in a V with the ends disappearing. I gathered the top edge of the pants to fit it to the waistband.

4. Detail the Costume

For the brown Sleeve Emblem I saved time by painting it on instead of embroidering. Note that the emblem only appears on Padme's left arm (yay, I only have to do this once!).

Now, if only I had remembered to buy fabric paint! I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart in the middle of the week and discovered there was no brown fabric paint! So I bought black puffy paint instead (no time for a trip to another store!) and decided I would use some brown acrylics I already had at home to brush on top of the black.

I drew the emblem onto paper by hand (it took three attempts to get the size and shape right), then cut it out to use it as a stencil. I put paper between the two layers of fabric to prevent bleed-through of the paint, positioned the stencil, roughly brushed on the black, removed the stencil and finished off the edges and small details by hand.

First I brushed black fabric paint onto the left sleeve and let it dry overnight.

After the fabric paint dried overnight, I dry-brushed dark brown acrylic over the black fabric paint. Then I used a lighter brown to brush on highlights, assuming a light source would come from above. This gave the effect of embroidery and was very quick and easy to do!

Here is the final emblem, with the brown acrylics over black puffy paint, brushed onto suedecloth.

Lastly, I made the broach and buckle filigree pieces. I haven't worked with Fimo very much, so I started with the smaller broach, hoping it would be a success. Worbla would not have been a good choice of material; it isn't very smooth and I wouldn't be able to get such tiny, fine details with it. I needed something flexible yet sturdy so it wouldn't just break apart halfway through a convention day. Metalwork is not in my repertoire, so Fimo seemed to be a good choice (it was!).

The first step was to bring up close-up reference images and sketch the designs onto some paper, at scale. Then I could start forming the Fimo by hand right on top of my sketch, working from the bottom up. I tried to give it extra thickness and weight where I could, to make the delicate pattern more sturdy.

Making the broach.

After the Fimo hardened in the oven, I primed and painted it (I may have forgotten the primer!) using black acrylic as a base; then I layer Copper over the black, and Royal Gold on top, with another shade of gold dry-brushed on in areas. The mixture of metallic colors gave it an aged, dimensional look.

I hot-glued the buckle onto a pin-back and pinned it to the dress to close up the V-neck below the collar.

The finished broach

I repeated the whole process with the buckle for the harness. I actually sewed the two straps together in an X, then I traced the straps onto my paper first so I would be able to make the "buckle" fit the straps correctly.

I only drew one side of the buckle since it is symmetrical.

After I finished making the buckle (I think this took 1-2 hours), I carefully peeled it off my paper and transferred it to tin foil on a cookie sheet. Then into the oven it went!

Fimo buckle, ready for the oven.

 I painted the buckle the same way I painted the broach. I did not add Mod Podge or anything on top of the metallic paint; usually that will change the paint surface to make it look less metallic. I would rather just re-paint it later if anything rubs off after wear. Since I dry-brushed it, it should not flake off, it will just rub off a little on the edges over time. (After three days of wear, the only place it rubbed off was on the top center tip and it was only noticeable on close inspection.)

The finished "buckle" for the harness.

Lastly, I attached the buckle piece to the harness using hot glue in three places. The hot glue held up pretty well. It did start to peel off in two places on the first day; I hot glued it again at the Cospitality Lounge and it stayed put through two and a half more days. I would rather have it peel off the harness than break apart in the middle of the filigree; that it one big reason why I used hot glue to attach it.

I am super happy with how my costume turned out! I wore it to ECCC 2015 on Friday and Saturday, and then I wore it again to the Star Wars Costumes exhibit at the EMP/SFM in Seattle on Tuesday.

Mother/Daughter cosplay! Avalyn Cosplay as Padme with #LittleLolo as Princess Leia at the EMP/SFM in Seattle

Ruffled Diaper Cover

Sometimes I find a pattern on sale that I can't resist. I mean, look at this adorable ruffled diaper cover! Little Lolo needs this.

I used some fabric and lace remnants I inherited from my grandmother's stash and put this together while Lolo was napping. In all I think this took about foir hours at a very leisurely pace. I added my own trim and front pockets but otherwise stuck to the pattern (view A).

For a tip on gathering fabric to make ruffles, check out my quick video on Instagram here: http://instagram.com/p/pFbkTlBb48/

Burp Cloths

Burp Cloths are easy to make from scraps of flannel cotton.

 

Each of these is about the width of my shoulder and about 18 inches long.

 

I added lace to the end of one of them to be fancy. I had all of this blue and yellow fabric leftover from making baby boy things for a friend (5 years ago) so I decided lace would make it a little more girly... ha!

Slipcovered Glider Chair

 

 

This chair is the Graham Glider by West Elm, which is gorgeous and comfy, but I am afraid of getting baby goo all over the nice grey velvet. I really want this chair to last for years to come.

 

Graham Glider by West Elm





So I decided to make a slip-cover for the chair (and matching bolster pillow). Going with my fantasy forest theme, I found this fabulous fabric at JoAnn's. Using coupons, I purchased the fabric for more than 50% off; the original price was $9.99/yard. It is a sturdy cotton and easy to pull off and throw in the wash if I need to.

 



 

 

Clearly I didn't have a sewing pattern, and I didn't want to fully reupholster the chair, just make a slip-cover, so I decided the best method to make this slipcover would be draping.

 

I draped fabric over the chair wrong-side out, and pinned it to the chair one piece at a time, starting from the back. At the seams I pinned two piece of fabric together, then pulled it off, sewed the seam and put it back on the chair to add another piece. I worked symmetrically, doing two seams on opposite sides at once. But I still ran back and forth between the nursery and sewing machine a lot.

 

When I finished the slipcover the way I wanted it, I serged all of the seams to reduce the selvages. I love how it turned out!

Flannel Booties for Baby's First Cosplay

I made more baby booties. They are irresistible. This pair just happens to be made of soft green flannel so they will become part of baby's first handmade costume.

Here is what the pattern (McCall's M6342) for these baby booties looks like once you cut out the pieces (2 of each):

More: Itty Bitty Baby Booties

Itty Bitty Baby Booties

I made baby booties!

JoAnn's had patterns on sale for $1 so I picked up McCall's M6342 and a few others to make baby clothes and so far I have had a blast just making a bunch of baby booties!

 

This is a great project for using up scraps because the pattern pieces are so small!

Easy Paper Bunting

Need party decorations and short on time? I whipped this up in 30 minutes or less, for my cousin's baby shower. These are also really cute in a baby nursery.

Start with a selection of coordinating scrapbooking paper. For one-sided paper bunting flags, you can get two flags from one square sheet.

Create a pattern out of a piece of scrap cardboard. Draw a line down the center. Then measure an equal distance out from one end of the line and mark two points which will be the corners of your triangle. Draw lines to connect the points to the other end of your line. Cut out the triangle.

Place your triangle on the paper. You can position the base of the triangle against the edge of the paper. Use a roller cutter and mat to quickly cut the triangle out.

Flip your pattern piece and cut a second triangle from the same sheet. Repeat for all of your sheets of paper - you can cut 2 or 3 sheets at the same time to go faster. I used 6 sheets of paper for 12 total flags.

You need string and a sewing machine for this part.

Place your first flag pattern-side down. Using the widest zig-zag stitch and a length of about 3, stitch along the top edge of the triangle, keeping the string under the zig-zag so your stitches land on either side.

When you finish, the flag will look like this. Stitch the rest of the flags in a row, leaving a couple of inches between each flag.

When you are done, string them up and party on!

Wonder Clutch

I made this on New Years Day!

The clutch is made of red silk, with a yellow "lasso" wrist cord, zipper, and hand-beaded detail.

I hand-beaded the star with an assortment of silver beads, with silver thread for a whimsical accent. The lining inside is removable, for easy cleaning.

Inspiriation: Scrappy Chevron Strip Pillows

Wouldn't this be a fun sewing project? What an excellent way to use old swatches and fabric scraps!

Inspiration:

Anthropologie Pillow $78	West Elm Kantha Chevron Pillow Cover $29

Construction Observation:

The West Elm pillow is created by stitching strips of colored fabric onto textured white fabric with one or two lines of stitching down the center of the fabric strip. This is quick and easy (thus the cheaper price) but could lead to frayed edges, gives the pillow a chenille texture.

On the Anthropologie pillow, each strip of fabric is stitched closer to the edges, on both edges. This is twice the work, but should reduce fraying. Also, there is more space in the "gutters" between the rows of angled strips. This calls more attention to the fact that the strips are appliqued on instead of patchwork, whereas the West Elm pillow could just as easily been constructed with four rectangles pieced together. I also like the sharper angle of the chevron effect, and I like how the addition of darker colors adds more contrast against the white.

Materials:

• Two squares of medium or heavy-weight white textured fabric, 18-inch square plus seam allowance (19-20 inches square)
• Ruler
• Protractor
• Pencil
• Blue chalk
• Cutting board and rotary cutter
• Piece of scrap tagboard (for a template) or thin cardboard or card stock
• scissors (for the tagboard)
• one 18" pillow form
• zipper (optional)
• iron & ironing board
• sewing machine & thread
• Fabric scraps, 7 or more different fabrics (15 is a good target). 
• TIP: Make sure to include a yellow/gold, a red, and a turquoise/aqua fabric. This will help the overall random combination look cohesive.
• Include neutral, tan or beige fabrics to coordinate with home decor.

How to Make One:

1. Decide if you want 4 or 6 vertical stripes. 
2. Determine the width of each "gutter". Write this down.
3. Determine the width of each "stripe". To do this, multiply the number of "gutters" by the gutter width (from step 2), then subtract that length from 18 inches. Divide that total by the number of stripes and you have your exact width for each stripe. Write this down.
4. Create a template for your fabric strips. It's a parallelogram! On a piece of tagboard, draw two parallel lines (the width between the two lines is your choice, try a half inch?). Use the protractor to determine the degree of the angle you want, then draw an angle across one end of the parallel lines. Turn the tagboard piece so that the angle line you just drew is now a vertical line. Measure from that line with a rule the width of your stripe (from step 3) and draw another line bisecting both parallel lines. Now you have your parallelogram for your strip template. Cut it out of the tagboard. Trace it onto a scrap paper several times in the chevron pattern to see if it looks right to you. If it looks wrong, change your measurements or angles and make a new template. Get your template correct before you start cutting fabric!
5. Iron/press your fabrics to get out the wrinkles
6. Using the rotary cutter and cutting board, cut out strips of fabric, perhaps 3 to 7 strips per fabric. Calculate how many pieces you need - perhaps 84 to100 strips.
7. This is the fun part! Put all of the strips in a bag, then randomly take them out one at a time and arrange them in the chevron pattern (on the floor, table, or on an 18"x18" mat). When you are done laying them out, adjust a few pieces so your reds, yellows, and aquas are evenly distributed and make sure you don't have two of the same pattern next to each other.
8. Mark placement lines on the white fabric using blue chalk.
9. Stitch the strips onto the white fabric. (Easy method is to just sew one line down the center of the strip. Better method is to sew down both sides of the fabric strip, close to the edge.)
10. Trim edges of fabric strips
11. Sew the front and back together, add zipper on one edge.
12. Insert pillow form and zip it up!

Buttoned Wrist Cuffs

Button, button, who's got the...

...button?

Take a piece of wide trim with lace edges, roll over and stitch the short ends, add a button at one end and a button hole at the other end. Simple! Almost-instant cuffs.

These are cute accessories for a Steampunk or Lolita outfit. Or you can just wear them to make a fashion statement.

Ethereal Layered Skirt

This skirt makes me want to dress up like a fairy princess!

front of skirt

I made the skirt in two layers, one layer of lilac/lavender prom dress satin beneath a layer of a shimmery translucent white fabric. It gives the skirt an ethereal look and adds dimension.

back of skirt

In the back of the skirt I used the eye sides of hook-and-eye tape to create a lace-up corset back. The lilac fabric underneath covers the small gap.

I bet this would be cute bustled too!

styled as a dress!

Look, you can also wear it as a dress! It's totally cute and ends just below the knees. I think it needs a different belt, maybe a darker purple? Alas, I don't own many belts...

French seam on translucent fabric, seen from the outside

I found that french seaming worked very well with the see-through material of the skirt since all of the hems would be visible even from the outside.

How to Sew French Seams
French seams work best when the seams are straight (not curved). When you cut your fabric, leave 3/4" - 1" seam allowance. 

First sew the seam with the WRONG sides of the fabric together, sewing 1/4" or less from the edge of the fabric. 

Press the seam allowance to one side of the seam, then fold the fabric so the RIGHT sides are together, press the seam so you have a nice folded edge along the seam with the seam allowance inside. 

Now sew the seam with the RIGHT sides together, greater than 1/4" from the edge (the remainder of your seam allowance), encasing the raw edges inside a thin tube.