2 posts tagged “jacket”

1. Notice how the seam would have been left with raw edges. I strive to conceal *all* raw edges regardless of whether or not they are on the interior or exterior. Sadly this cannot always be the case, but it's still worth putting in an effort. Having come across my serger... broken... some months back made me not-so-happy (to say the least). Anyways, I opted to roll my hems to conceal the seams.
   
2. I folded the seam as close to the original stitching as I could and made sure it was straight all the way across. This was pinned in to place and *not*stitched*, but instead ironed flat.
   
3. I continued the roll until the raw edge was tucked in on itself. Removing the reference pins while folding so they would not be trapped under the rolled fabric. I made sure to re-pin the new roll as I went along.
   
4. After I had the first pin in I simply continued the process along the rest of the seam double checking it was even and would lay flat and having the pins placed in even intervals. And it was ironed once again.
   
5. Once the pins were in place and the ironing had been done to insure a flat, smooth finishing all that was left to do was stitch two even rows using the top stitch method (not pictured, but since completed).

After I was satisfied with the collar I moved on to hemming the bottom of the jacket, which had to be taken up just a little bit. Shortening an article of clothing is one of the easiest modification you can do so it was no trouble at all and I was quickly able to move onto the sleeves. After I had finished the sleeves I realized that Wendy Watson has 3/4 sleeves as opposed to the full length sleeves that I had made. This is one of the final alterations that will be finished (rather quickly) tonight. While pondering over possible button placement I noticed the fit wasn't entirely custom, but not exactly baggy. Just hovering somewhere in between. So I remedied this with more seam rolling. The end result came out great. The only reason it looks lumpy is because the pins are in place, but the finished stitching looks wonderful. :) One last thing I will need to do to complete this is re-dye it. When I initially dyed the fabric I did not wet the fabric in clear water first, so the dye collected in little pockets of dry fabric and left it slightly blotchy. Ugh! No worries though, a second application should set things right. I just need to do it by hand and make sure *all* of my seams are accounted for because I do not want to even think about how devastating it would be to have another dying mishap. >_<*

Remaining Tasks
 

• Belt Accessories
  
• Shirt (90%)
  
• Jacket 90%)
  
• Contacts (may use blue)
  
• Weapon (?)
  

My check off list is rapidly dwindling and I couldn't be happier! I bought a digicam so my uploading woes will soon be at an end! The events experienced with trying to haul people to my apartment to get progress shots and then badgering them to send those shots to me has been trying (to say the least). Only reinforces my theory of: "if you want something done you have to do it yourself" and that whole thing about independent self-reliance. I will be throughly ecstatic when my digicam gets here in the expected 3 days. w00t! I mean, at this point, so much of what I will be posting about today is old news to me and I hesitate to even post it. BUT it's news to you. ;)

My attention has recently been focused on the jacket. Once the jacket is completed (which should be happening tonight) it officially marks the bulk of the costume being done leaving me to attend to the fine tuning of "detailing". :D  Alright so before I delve into the ins and outs of the jacket construction let me share with you my new piercings!

The positioning isn't *exactly* where I would have liked it to be, but the piercer insisted that my ear ridges were too small to be able to support the piercing and it would have most likely rejected had I gotten them a half inch or so higher (as I requested). Well bollucks to tiny ears then. He also thought the smaller diameter hoop (on top) would have been too small of a diameter for the lower one so I had to go a size up which was a tad disappointing as well. But as it is, there were a few complications threading the hoops through and he had to bend them in the end and once they were in place, re-bend them back into the correct shape while they were still in my ear. The top is a 12 gauge and the lower is a 14 gauge. I have a history of my body rejecting piercings (as I am allergic to metal) but keep on getting pierced so we'll see how this turns out for me. I highly suspect that my issues before were more caused by faulty in-mall piercers telling me wrong advise. Turns out rubbing alcohol and constantly rotating your piercings is a surefire way for them to FAIL. I hounded the piercer for all the correct advice this time and will be taking proper care of it so hopefully it'll all turn out okay. ;)

Moving right along to the jacket (complete with crappy cell phone pictures!). Although this has already been successfully dyed and I have begun assembly, let me pretend as though this were all current information. ;) Making the pattern for this went pretty smoothly and I only had to make a few minor alterations to the finished muslin draft. When stitching it together I was sure to finish up the top stitching so there would be no measuring surprises for the finished draft. I am very pleased to report that my efforts payed off splendidly and everything fit as it should first try. My only concern is that the sleeves (for whatever reason) twist in at the seams. But they do so symmetrically and it looks stylized so I may just keep it this way. Regardless, I will be looking into *why* exactly it did what it did so I can keep tabs on that as a possible future technique. :)

Since there were no complications what-so-ever and I really don't have anything new to report. Here is a sneak peek at how it is coming along. Enjoy!