I have been working on a jacket for a friend of mine lately and realised I should probably prototype it more, so I’m making her a light simple jacket first with the more elaborate fancy one later (after already making a general prototype to better work out the fit). Why do I need to prototype it more, you ask? I’m used to making clothes for myself, and I am tall and very slim. The friend I am making it for is a very different shape to me, in particular quite smol, so all the patterns I’m drafting up look like the proportions are off. No photos this time though since I’m not sure there’s a lot I could demonstrate with a picture of my notes.

Still, as an example the sleeves are each about four inches shorter than the sleeves on most of the jackets I’ve made for myself and it’s messing with my head.

Elnina cosplay Part 3: Cloud hat

(second photo cropped, from amourir.media on instagram)

This was frankly an unhinged process and I consider the hood portion to be more of a sculpture than a simple sewing project. I will describe how I made the hat myself, but I hope that people reference this and make more improvements. This is basically a second prototype, (the mockup being the first) but I don’t personally want to remake it, and I enjoy wearing it as is!

I used cotton batting for the stuffing, and two white fabrics: a stretch fabric for the outside and a stiffer fabric for the lining.

The pigtails are pretty straightforward. To get the round shape, I referenced a kirby plushie sewing pattern: https://cholyknight.com/2023/05/05/kirby-plush/

and adjusted the size, making the ‘arms’ much larger. I drew an oval that was 3 x 4 inches for the body, and the arms pattern is about 3 inches tall and 1.75 inches at the widest part.

which makes the cloud pigtails about 3 inches tall and 5 inches wide.

The hood portion I made by heavily modifying a toddler halloween costume sewing pattern, Simplicity 2788.

Here’s the shapes I made, based on measurements of my own head. for the centerpiece, i measure from where I want the hood to sit at the back of my neck, followed the center of my head all the way to the forehead, and a little further for the curl at the front, then built the shape out around that.

I recommend getting your own head measurements, and testing with a mock up first, but if you’re using mine, please note that I don’t use my first inch on the measuring tape because it’s a little short. (so above is 22 inches)

For the sides, I measured these two lines, and sketched out the rest of the shape around it.

I also HEAVILY recommend adding more fabric on the sides as well, since my wig cap is still visible. 😭

The sewing order is darts, then attach the three lining pieces together, then the three outer pieces together.

This is when I did the swirls to add more dynamism to the hat. I think the sprite just has the one swirl on the bang, but I did one on each side, one on the bang and one at the back. I did an improvised quilting technique, that is, I pinned a piece of cotton batting to the inside of the outer fabric where I wanted my swirl, and used my sewing machine to sew them together in a swirl shape. This might not be good for a sewing machine, but mine still works, and I was able to sew Elnina’s entire skirt afterwards.

Then, attach the outside to the lining, leaving most of the bottom open to stuff the hood. I used more cotton batting, and this is the sculpting, wrangling, fighting with the hat until you get the shape you want! I did some hand sewing here as well to make the curves and bumps more pronounced, and I tried to keep those interventions along the stitch lines to blend in. Finally, ladder stitch it closed and hand sew the pigtails on!

To attach the hood around the neck I had initially added velcro, but when I tested it at a con I realized that anytime I moved my jaw or neck the velcro would pop open, and that the strap was kind of tight. I changed the attachment to hook and eye closures and it works so much better and is practically guaranteed to stay together until I physically unclasp them.

Finally, since I still had some fit issues, I also did a hand gathering stitch in the lining, around where a headband would sit, and tightened the hood there so that it fit more snugly. (Visible wig cap and the hood slides back because of weight distribution).

I hope this helps as a resource, especially because when I was trying to figure out how to make this I discovered the absolute void of three-dimensional cloud tutorials on the internet!!! I think there was just elementary school cotton swab crafts and then the flat pillow pattern where you cut out a 2d cloud shape twice, sew them together and add stuffing. :/ My vlog about Elnina is probably the only crumb for cosplayers, because I got a comment saying I was helping them plan a Lakitu (Mario) costume! 🎉

I’m still a novice sewer myself, but what I lack in skill I make up for in audacity and determination! o7

ALSO, stay tuned, because I’m working on a follow up video on my Elnina cosplay, where I’ll update all the changes I made to the costume since my first vlog and also talk about non-binary representation in media!

Did you know that you can just. build a tent?

Like it’s more convenient to buy one already made, but if you’ve got a cool shape in mind you can order canvas or ripstop nylon and poles and just sew the dang thing yourself.

Classic designs are really simple (a wedge tent is pretty much just one folded piece of fabric with a front and a back sewn on, with the front slitted to make a door).

There’s a little more engineering involved depending on your goals but it’s all stuff you can figure out pretty easily, and if you need something up you can likely reuse the pieces as part of a later design.

The standard canvas to use is called “cotton duck”, and if you pay a bit extra you can even get it pre-treated with waterproofing. But if you don’t, you can also waterproof it yourself.

Common tent types include wall, wedge, bell, and pyramid, any of which can be made with only straight lines.

Was feeling a little restless recently so I made a couple lap quilts. Not quite satisfied with how they turned out (but at least theyre fast and finished) and now I need to figure out who to give them to 🤔

i’ve FINALLY finished these tap shorts (that i started literally years ago lol). they are entirely hand sewn, and are made out of scraps of an old bedsheet and lace from a vintage pillowcase :)

i’ve made this pattern a couple times now and it’s so easy and cute (and easily adjustable!)—it’s vintage simplicity 8393. that being said, i think i’ve only actually read the instructions once, and idk how easy it would be to find it (i got it at an estate sale). i’m sure it would be simple enough to draft a pattern for them though :)

FREE Spinners Quilt Pattern feat. Cottagecore Terracotta
https://www.michaelmillerfabrics.com/inspiration/free-project-downloads/spinners-quilt-feat-cottagecore-terracotta-by-project-house-360.html

If you’ve always wanted to get into making your own clothes or sewing in general but feel daunted, start examaning the shop bought clothes you own and you’ll see that they are often far from perfect and sometimes downright bad (and it’s getting worse as capitalism increases working paces and lowers the standard of stuff allowed through quality control).

I have expensive jeans on which the zip/fly construction isn’t right.

I’ve had to resew hems on tshirts after a few weeks.

I’ve bought shirts that the strip of fabric round the neckhole is was all streched out and I had to cut it off to make it look good.

I have a vest that one shoulder strap is like 1cm narrower than the other shoulder strap.

Notice the shoddy construction of these trousers I was altering in my last post. The tartan fabric should make it really easy to cut, fold, and sew in straight lines but these are squint all over and I have a tartan skirt that is just as bad. No disrespect to the exploited underpaid sweatshop workers who made them, my point is that if you want to make clothes you do not have to be perfect to make something that is not only wearable but also looks good.

Elasticated Waistband Lengthening

Quick and easy alteration!

I got these pyjamas without trying them on first stupidly thinking they would be big enough and ended up being sliced in half by the too tight elastic in the waistband (weird bc the rest of it fit me fine but it just goes to show that sizes are not even standard across the same shop let alone different shops)

Thankfully it’s really easy fix this by removing a section of the elastic. The technique will vary slightly depending on the construction of the waistband and whether or not there is a drawstring but should be basically like this.

You will need:

• the offending garmant with elasticated waistband
• needle and thread
• scissors
• seam ripper (optional)

First you need to open up the seam from the centre of the front of the trousers preferably using a seam ripper but it would be doable using a pair of small scissors (like nail scissors). Try and open the seam the same amount on each side from the middle. How far to go depends on how much elastic needs to be removed so use your own judgement.

It can be daunting ripping into seams and taking clothing apart but it’s actually a great way to learn about how they are made. Pay attention to how the waistband is constructed. For example I had two lines of stitching to unpick here - one holding the seam closed and another connecting the fabric to the elastic.

Basically you want to completely seperate the elastic from the fabric like this:

Next we need to cut out a section of the elastic. Start off with a small section as you can always remove more if it’s still too tight but it would be far harder and very tedious to reattach it if you cut too much off. Cut a section out from roughly the centre of the front of the waistband (technically you could do it at any point in the waistband but it will probably be comfiest at the front)

At this point try them on and see how the fit is. If it’s still too tight unpick the seams further and cut off a little more elastic on each side.

When you’re happy with the fit it’s time to sew everything back together again. Start by anchoring the ends of the elastic to the fabric by sewing down the edges of the elastic through both sides of the fabric. I did backstitch to make it extra strong but a couple of lines of simple running stitch should do the job. Use your fingers to feel where the end of the elastic is. Do this on both ends of the elastic.

All that’s left now is to sew up the seam again. It will be much longer than when you started bc the gathered material will now be lying flat giving you the extra length. Put the seam back together folding along the existing presses. You can also pin it if you like but I didn’t bother. Use whatever stitch you like, it’s not as important that it’s super strong this time.

And you’re done! Be comfortable in your now not too tight waistband and feel the power of the knowledge of waistband construction you now have!

I spent the whole weekend working on bookbinding and sewing projects. It feels so good to make something tangible, I hadn’t even realized how long it’s been since I’ve done that*. Anyway, I’ve come a good way on my autumn-themed patchwork tablecloth for which the fabric has been lying around for years. Today I made underpants from a fabric that hopefully won’t tear as easily as the commercially bought underpants I find nowadays which invariably get holes after an insanely short time.

I used to make clothes quite a bit before transitioning, but somehow got out of the habit. The last clothing I’ve sewn was for LARP. Let this now be the beginning of a new era of selfmade clothing!

This is still a work in progress. I have taken a bit of a break from it due to some hand issues, but I hope to get back to it soon!

Sometimes you have projects that are entirely whimsical and unnecessary while you have hosts of other projects that still need doing and yet you’ll still do them. This project was one of those for me.

For some reason I had decided that I could use a new sleeping bag for when I go to castlefest despite the fact I have a couple already for different temperatures and that no-one would ever see it except for me since it was going to stay in my tent. On top of that I decided to make it a proper leafy quilt just to make it extra complicated.

First of course there was creating the pattern and cutting all the fiddly bits of fabric

Then assembling the quilt top and while not shown ironing the shit out of it to make sure it would lay flat.

Basting the bugger so that I could machine quilt it without too many issues

Quilting!

Aaaand finally adding the zipper and binding

All in all for an entirely unnecessary project I am quite happy with it since it is a bit roomier than most sleeping bags which has always been my main issue with sleeping bags and it turned out looking a lot better than I expected for a project I only vaguely planned ( that said you don’t want to see the inside because that is a pieced mess)

I made myself net curtains for my bedroom window. Did I do a good job? No, turns out polyester organza SUCKS to work with. Do they work as a privacy shield? Not very well, no! Are they really pretty? Hell yea and thus they will never come down.

OK, got my new watch strap. Got gas in the car, and scored a minor deal (a slightly lower price when paying in cash). Went grocery shopping.

Finished the strap on my Indy bag yesterday. Pre-treated it and ran in thru the wash with all the other loads of laundry. Then looped thru the D-rings (using my ref pic from last week) and sewn in place. Tested the bag with about four and a half pounds (~2 kg) of stuff in it. Seems like all the sewing holds up. Aside from the fairly narrow strap digging into my shoulder and neck a bit, it’s able to carry that much, tho I probably shouldn’t.

… Honestly very intimidated by / anxious about trying to make a very large stuffed animal from scratch, and the fake popcorn bucket : / But running out of time for both of those.

cybermat from The Doctor Who Pattern Book

Turns out that shipping out the bugs CAN BE DONE it’s just that this is the biggest package I’ve ever shipped 🫡

I made my first plush toy. So much clay died while I was making the face °∆°

ASTONISHED by this work by u/therosecollins on Reddit

Child’s Pj’s Loungewear Sewing Pattern Sewnsewsister - Etsy