activation email

[Ninjathrowingstork]

Since I'm in the middle of a job hunt rn I'm starting this whole build slowly (for me, at least, compared to some cosplays I've done), using mostly what I already have so far/what I can finish with the least shopping possible.
Last weekend I started my girth belt at the build party, then dyed and finished it over the week. Note, in the future I'd dye the rope before knotting it, since the cotton rope wanted to coil up more after dyeing, and took a full day to completely dry before I could add the accent colors. Total: $10 because I bought extra rope, and already had the rings and leather belt scrap.
https://imgur.com/a/bi3isIm

Since I had way more oil tanned leather leftover from the belt pouch I made for my Westworld cosplay than I though I did, I knocked two smaller pouches out over this week and put a nicer shine on all three. The new ones just need hardware to close them up.  I already had the cartridge belt leftover, since I found it for cheap on eBay and it ended up being too small for what I'd needed, but I put a new stain on it so it's softer and shinier than the vintage rawhide color it used to be. I'm not 100% sold on the belt since the buckle isn't that swarzy, but I can either change the belt out later on or hide the buckle, I'm still early enough in that I'm not super worried about it.
The holster already has a nice color and I don't want to lose the vintage finish, so I might use it as-is, or just make a pattern off of it and get more leather to make a new pair that match the pouches I already have.
https://imgur.com/gallery/d9zv0md



For the flight suit, I want to use this pattern https://www.simplicity.com/simplicity-storefront-catalog/patterns/costumes/simplicity-pattern-8286-misses-knit-and-woven-jumpsuit-and-leotard/
since I already have broadcloth for the outer fabric. I know getting out of it will mean de-kitting, but I'd rather not worry about two layers shifting apart as I move (and I've already had to navigate con bathrooms in a full dress and hoopskirt before, so I'm ok with that), plus I wanted something I could get the equestrian pants look with the inner leg accents and plan to use a microsuede stretch for those panels that'll also hopefully provide extra strength against thigh rub killing the fabric, or be replaceable without having to disassemble the whole suit.
Other than that, my plans are to make my flack vest from duck cloth possibly backed with something to give it more weight, and a kama like the one I made for my Riza Hawkeye cosplay, either all twill or pleather backed with twill, haven't decided yet.

Overall color palette for the project:

[Ninjathrowingstork]

Since I was slightly short on the broadcloth, the underarms got pieced together (not that it'll show), but now I have a flight suit, minus a collar and hems!

Sure none of these corners or seams I got lined up, with the stretch microsuede that didn't want to sit still, but hey I'll know they'r there. And it's beautifully soft fabric.

All the little weirdly fitting bits at the hip seams get hidden under belts, so yay.

Next up, flack vest. Somehow, I already had a pattern with princess seams that just needs a little hacking to change the closures around, then a neck seal to go under it.

[Ninjathrowingstork]

Vest progress! I started with the body of this coat pattern, since it already has the princess seams and high neckline.  Since I was going to alter the hemline and wanted to save my pattern for the future, I copied it out onto heavier paper, shortening the front and back at the marked waistline but left the sides according to the pattern. Once I had the mockup done, I drew a line across from the front to back, levelling it out.

Unpicked the mockup and used the felt as my interlining, sewing it directly to the outer duck fabric and treating them as one piece.

The side front and back seams were pressed towards the center and topstitched down (there's gonna be a lot of topstitching in this)
I also threw together a neck seal, but I'm going to shorten it slightly since it turned out a little higher than I wanted.

Invisible zipper sewn in the back before I added the lining, made from an old bedsheet because it's soft, cool, and easier to sew stuff to than the felt interlining so I can secure magnets for armor later. (red zipper because I had one already, and then it happened to match the bias tape I also had the most of)

Based my shoulder bell off the shoulder cap from the original sleeve pattern, but ended up having to redo it a lot after making a felt mockup.

Basted the shoulder caps in once I had them done

Bias tape facing sewn in, seams trimmed and turned, and hand stitched down until I get more matching thread.

[PorkRoll]

That's a great looking flight suit. Well done

[Kryamla Redalur]

I’m really impressed with your soft goods so far! They look really lovely!

[Ninjathrowingstork]

Kama part one:
I had over two yards of this Italian silk that feels like a dress/suiting fabric, but looked like a washcloth and since it was third hand (from my sister from a neighbor from her mom so idk how old it is) I decided to dye it with the same dye I used for my girth belt because that's what I had on hand. The dye test worked out, and it looked right compared to my Riza Hawkeye uniform skirt, so I went ahead and dyed the whole thing.


Then I took a break to make an aruetyc (non-Mando) shirt out of another cotton I dyed, so I'd have something comfy to change into and still have a swarz-ey look for cons .
Back to the kama. Instead of going to find the paper pattern I'd made for the FMA uniform, I just smoothed it out over the doubled up fabric and carefully cut around it, cutting out four different panels, two facing each way.  After sewing up the center back on each side, I pinched and pinned darts over each hip so that it would sit smoothly, since I didn't do this on my Riza one, and had fit issues with it. After that, I lined up each side, basted them together, and sewed it down to a strip of blanket binding.

To check how much fabric I had left, I folded up one piece and kinda wrapped and pinned the other for a loin and cape.

For the cape, I cut the long strip in half crosswise and sewed it into a wider panel (with a French seam, bc I hate raw edges and this fabric keeps shedding everywhere). The smaller panel of scrap got cut into a rectangle and seamed up the back, leaving the selvedge edge in the front. I kinda just pinned the cape piece onto my vest on the dress form and started draping and pleating and pinning, then sewed the pleats down. The hood is just pleated and pinned on so far, and I have some scraps sewn into the strap in the front that's pinned on for now.


Tomorrow I'll try to get the bias tape I made sewn onto the kama and loincloth, since the faux leather I had originally for a hem binding turned out to be too stiff for this fabric, and the cotton broadcloth will take whatever weathering I do better.

[Benjarrin]

Awesome, what a seamstress! its really great seeing somebody make everything from scratch, love the girth belt, the flight suit is excellent. I'm going to follow  your thread, cant wait to see what you do next.

[Ori Dart]

Really great stuff! I appreciate you showing how you use other seemingly unrelated patterns to create your stuff. Looks great!

[Tal Choruk]

How did you finish the seams on your flightsuit? I'm making mine out of cotton and I'm a touch worried about ripping them out while trooping.

[Ninjathrowingstork]

How did you finish the seams on your flightsuit? I'm making mine out of cotton and I'm a touch worried about ripping them out while trooping.

I just straight-stitched them and pinked the raw edges, since it's a dense enough weave and the tan parts are a knit that isn't showing signs of fraying. I might go back and reinforce a few spots, but the stretch panels are there to keep most of the force of any sudden movement from pulling directly on the seams and allow for more space to move.

[Ninjathrowingstork]

Finally remembered to actually take pics of the finished pieces, after getting everything wearable a week ago. 
The loincloth was a bunch of smaller pieces of fabric I layered together and decided the raw edge looked nice, so I hit that with fraycheck before sewing it all together. (And the templates were just pinned on to the vest to see where I needed to start  trimming and altering them to fit, because the LoF small is still patterned for guy's shoulders)

I'd originally planned to bind the edges in a faux leather I've had for a while and didn't mind cutting into strips, but it made the edges too stiff and ruined the drape, so I dug out this kona cotton piece and made a ton of bias tape because it's surprisingly easy and makes stuff look good. I wasn't set on the color either, but it was dyeable if the cream, which matched the accent panels on the flight suit, didn't look right. I pinned part of it, decided it stood out too much, and dyed it in the same formula I used for everything else I dyed red. And then left it for a few hours because I forgot it was there, and was ok with color irregularities if it clumped together.

They're not actually attached yet, but I also have these over-panels from leftover faux-crocodile that I trimmed the edges on and painted the backs to hide the fabric texture.

The first buckle I tried on the waistband kept slipping through, so I switched to the slide buckles leftover from another project, and they fit perfectly.

My drapey cape

I still have a few fit fixes and need to finish the removable over panels for the kama, but I'd say this stuff is more or less done, until I start working on more holsters and belts and do the weathering on it!

[whereswa11y]

Wow! You have skills!

[vershnekit]

Epic soft parts!