Posted on Categories Commissions, Cosplay, project spotlightTags , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Project Spotlight: Wanda Maximoff Civil War Green Coat

UPDATE! Scroll to the bottom to see the finished jacket on it’s owner!

Project Spotlight

Seamsgeeky_scarletwitchJacket

This jacket, besides being awesome, is very special to me. I was commissioned for this jacket earlier this year to be worn as SDCC. And, of course, was commissioned before Civil War had come out, so there was a lot of research to do be done on my end with some very fuzzy photographs.

movie stills
But what makes this jacket so special is that this was the first pattern I drafted digitally using Adobe Illustrator. I managed to spend a good amount of time earlier this year teaching myself the fundamentals of flat-patterning, vs my usual “winging it,” and it was really nice to be able to put that knowledge into action. I’m sure at one point I’ll go into my adventures of flat patterning. Also, I was amazed how much easier this garment went together. I think it’s because I spent a lot more thinking about it’s construction as I was designing it and concentrating on the details.

Of course I mocked up a quick muslin just to make sure it fit like I wanted.

SW_muslin

Alright, the important deets (and some larger jacket images):

seamsGeeky-Scarlet-Witch-green_01 seamsGeeky-Scarlet-Witch-green_03 seamsGeeky-Scarlet-Witch-green_05For some reason those pictures turned out way green. The colors below are way more accurate. C’est la Vie.

  • Jacket is unlined and made with cotton twill which was custom dyed with Procion dyes from Dharma Trading Co. I hemmed it with a blind hem stitch and dyed rayon hem binding (aka, the SHIZZ! This is my favorite way to hem).

Seam Geeky Scarlet witch color
I used a mix of Muir Green, Sage, Wasabi, and Olive. I love the way the different toned fabrics work together. I’d give a specific mixture I used for the different colors, but there was a lot of mixing and layering of colors until I was happy with it. And then when it was done, I gave it a quick all over dye bath with a very watered down olive to unify the colors a bit. This also helped bring out some the areas that I distressed.

I cut out and dyed all the pieces specifically for their color which also did a great job of making the jacket look a bit weathered, plus I did a bit of distressing at the end.

  • The jacket has a bunch of mismatched buttons like the one in the movie, and I did my best to try and match the patterns and tones. Most of the buttons are vintage metal buttons (I bought a 1 lb bag on etsy) with the exception of a few I picked up while in Dallas When we went to see Hatsune Miku! Squee!seams_geeky hatsune_miku

When I got the lot in, I dug through all of them looking for buttons I liked, then refined for the same size, then cleaned those, then organized them so my client could pick the ones she wanted if she liked. She opted for me to pick out which ones to use.

seamsgeeky_scarletwitch_buttons

  • I used 1/2 in brass grommets on the back of the jacket. Originally I purchased some 1 inch antique copper grommets from china, but as I studied the photos more, I realized these were actually brass, and the 1 inch seemed too large in the end.
    seams Geeky scarlet witch sleeve

The sleeves have these metal rivet looking pieces. I ended up using one half of a heavy duty snap. Let me tell you, a heavy duty antique copper snap with just the right looking “male part” was ridiculously hard. I ended up finding some on eBay. Bless eBay.

• Lots and LOTS of topstitching.

• This jacket is deceptively asymmetrical. Both sleeves are similar but assembled differently with different detailing. The same went for the back And the front areas by the pockets.
I really think it turned out beautifully, and kind of wish it was my size so I could have kept it.

UPDATE!
Here’s some pictures of the jacket in it’s natural habitat! I always love when I get photos of commissions in action!
SG_maximoff Jacket SG_maximoff jacket 2

Posted on Categories Commissions, project spotlightTags , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Belated Projects and Commissions #1 Spidey-Coat

I’ve decided to start a new category of posts basically featuring things I made in the past that I meant to blog about but didn’t because I thought I needed better photos or was lazy. Basically, I’m trying to work through the backlog of projects.

Project Spotlight

So Entry #1 – Spidey-Coat Commission

So this coat is the bees knees (or the spiders eggs?). I was contacted at the end of last year but the most amazing person who had a design in mind for a Spider-Man inspired coat. She sent me some drawings, I sent her back some more with some fabric options. I LOVE combining different types of textures in garments, and I loved that she was into it. Once we agreed on the design, I got working, and here’s some of the end results in picture form.

spideycoat image stripe

Some garment deets:

Fabrics used:

  • Red and Blue cotton twill fabric for the main body
  • Ponte knit for the sleeve bottoms
  • Perfecto faux leather (this stuff is amazing)
  • Crepe de Chine custom printed at Spoonflower for the lining

Cool jacket details:

  • For comfort and mobility, which seems like a given for any Spider-Man ANYTHING, I made slotted seams on the pertinent seams with some of the red ponte. I love the look, and how functional it can be.

Seams Geeky Cosplay Spider-Man coat

  • Oh! And red topstitching!
  • Thumbholes on the sleeves!
  • The hood is removable! It’s secured with hidden snaps in the collar so it can be taken off.

 Seams Geeky Cosplay Spider-Man coat

 

Seams Geeky Cosplay Spider-Man coat  Seams Geeky Cosplay Spider-Man coat

  • When I custom printed the lining, I actually scanned in the pattern pieces and designed every spiderweb pattern specifically for that piece. Lots of work, but worth it.


I mean, look at that?

And look how great it looks on her! Commissions are some of my most favorite things 😀
Seams Geeky Cosplay Spider-Man coat

Posted on Categories Commissions11 Comments

New X-Men Hoodie Kinda-Commission

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I call this a Kinda-Commission because a friend of mine (The oh-so-talented Chris Haley) was wanting a hoodie similar to Cyclops’ jacket in New X-Men.

 

 

We’d talked about design, color, functionality changes that occur when you are essentially taking a leather biker-jacket and combining it with a letterman jacket and turning it into a different kind of jacket, in a different material. We’d priced out the cost, and then I realize that Chris’ birthday is coming up, and I could surprise him with the hoodie. The challenge being I didn’t have his measurements and had to go about guessing his size (a wonderful thank you to his lovely girlfriend, and an old Mister Miracle t-shirt he gave me two years ago).

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Hoodies are longer than a jacket and Chris also has a longer torso so alterations needed to me made. And with making a jacket-of-sorts longer, you also need to redraft the “X” to have proportionate angles. I did quite a bit of research for this, pulling out my husband’s New X-Men books to try to figure out all the angles on the jacket to make sure I got what I could correct.

Side note: I’ve boycotted X-Men and specifically this series because of my unnatural attachment and devotion to Jean Grey. While researching this stuff I caught a few panels and cried like crazy. Afterwards I asked my husband if I should break down and read it. He responded with “It’s such a good series, but no. It wouldn’t good for you emotionally.”

Well, went I went to one of local chain fabric stores they didn’t exactly have the colors I needed (they didn’t have black. But they did have dark grey), so RIT dye to the rescue! I started out with a dark grey and a white fabric, pre-shrunk in the washer.

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I learned a lot while dying my fabric for my Captain America costume, one major point being if you want vibrant colors, it doesn’t matter how much dye you put in, you need very hot water to keep the fabric fibers open. I now achieve this with constant heat and a large 3 gallon pot on the stove. This has other limitations, like not being as large I need. For this, I cut the pieces out first, then dyed them individually. I find I can get a more consistent dye on the pieces than dying a large piece of fabric, and I don’t stain my washing machine. (I’m hoping in the future my husband and I can figure out a way to get me my own personal washing machine just for dying, but until then I make do).

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The X-Men school logo patches I made the good ol fashioned “Freezer paper” method. I still owe him an “x” zipper pull, since the one I sculpted split in half when trying to insert the jump ring. I was so afraid it wouldn’t fit, but it does. Pretty perfectly. Lookin’ sharp, Chris.

If he asks nicely, I might try to make him a Cyclops visor to go with it.