Jan272017 by lauraNo Comments

My Red Coat

I made this coat for a mixed ability dress making class I attended in 2013. It was made from Simplicity pattern 2172, the last pattern I ever bought. I have worn it ever since, admittedly it doesn’t give great protection from the rain but I love it.

I was surprised to get so many people on the street come up to me and tell me they like it, I really need to get business cards.

By far the greatest compliment I have ever received was for this coat. It was from my brother in law, who on hearing I had made it myself said “but that’s a… real coat”…so proud.

It is made out of red Melton and is fully lined.

One thing I have learned from this coat is that I must use thicker thread when attaching buttons, especially over my bust.

Jan272017 by lauraNo Comments

Valentines Heart Cushion

Things To Sell

I have been attempting to make a variety of things that can be sold for more than the materials are worth. As much as I love costumes they use a lot of materials and take a lot of hours to make, so are not profitable.

My first item is a heart cushion designed for Valentines day. I have been informed I should be cashing in on the holidays. Unfortunately Valentines day is a bit sticky for me but I doubt I am the only one. To fix this problem I have produced a stencil of a realistic heart and sprayed it onto a cushion I made in the shape of a love heart. Isn’t it cool? You can buy it soon on etsy

Jan262017 by lauraNo Comments

Ross’s birthday bag 2

Joker Bag, Just Because

My fingers hurt, but it is done!

A few more “ha ha”s would be nice, but I ran out of green thread and as I said my fingers are killing me.

I was also getting a little concerned about making too many holes in the bag with my awl, if I could have gotten the bag apart in a way I could repair it would have been a lot easier. Ah well.

Overall I think this went well. Ross certainly liked it, so I am happy.

Jan252017 by lauraNo Comments

Ross’s birthday bag

Joker Bag, Just Because

This week I have had to shift my focus from Hawkgirl to Ross’should birthday present. He has recently gotten a new managerial job, so he requires a new managerial bag. His old avengers bag is considerably knackered and somewhat juvenile.

The plan is to buy a good quality leather laptop bag and customise it to make it Ross appropriate.

His favourite colour is green which is unfortunate as no one else seems to want to wear it, especially not other men. So a green leather bag is out of the question. I have opted for a brown leather bag with green detailing. I would like to do reverse applique, which should be quite durable but I need a green pattern.

This is not easy, what kind of pattern can you apply to a man’s bag. Despite being overly comfortable with his masculinity I don’t see him liking a bag covered in anything overly decorative. So I am making a Joker themed bag.

I have found a minimalistic Joker design based on the animated series and I plan to add a load of “Ha Ha’s” in green. I may add a quote along the bottom: “If I weren’t crazy, I’d be insane”

…

So by the end of the day I have made a good start. The bag was better made than I had anticipated and was not worth taking apart so the applique was a struggle. I have opted to embroider the rest but it will take a while.

I shall keep you updated.

Jan192017 by lauraNo Comments

My First Blog Post

Costumes For Me, Hawkgirl

I have vowed to myself that I will go to Comic Con this year. I have always wanted to go but being the person I am I need an awesome costume and I never seem to have time for it. I will hold it off no longer, I will go to Comic Con this year.

I have chosen Hawkgirl as my costume, she was always my favourite in the animated Justice League, after Batman of course, and the wings should supply me with a suitable challenge. The real question is who will my husband be. Ideally he would be John Stewart, but alas making him look less like Hal Jordan would be a hate crime. So I guess Hawkman would be the better choice, though it means making the same costume twice…hmm…something to think about.

Anyway, I started making her a few months ago, I started by playing with the wings, if I couldn’t get them to work I would rather know sooner than later as they are fairly integral.

So far so good. I have the basic structure and opening mechanism down. Open they are about the same size as my craft room so working on them is a bit fiddly. I have to decide what to cover them with. Hawkgirls cannon is somewhat all over the place. Some versions have actual wings with feathers but most wear a harness made of nth metal with either nth metal wings or feathery wings. it would be too expensive to use real feathers and I would feel a little bad about using that many feathers despite being a carnivore.

At the moment after much deliberation I am considering using gold pleather, it can be shaped and painted, should be easy to apply and can look both feathery and nth metal-y. It will take a lot of time to make them all but I am a glutton for punishment. My only real concern is that they will be one sided, so either the other side will have to be dealt with or I have to make twice as many which is added time and weight. Regardless I am not allowed to buy any more materials until I have completed some of the other parts she requires, so this question can mull while I work on the bodice.