Bags!

I got back from University two weeks ago, and in that time I've been able to do some sewing. I made a second Pusheen bag (I gave the first to a friend). I had bought enough fleece to make this bag too (with careful cutting and pattern placement). I improved on the last bag. 

I made sure to baste the fleece layer to the canvas layer, then I overlocked their edges together. This lends strength to the bag and prevents stretching, which was a problem in the first version of the bag. I used some brown jersey to make Pusheen's eye and mouth, and some lining fabric for the stripes and the bag straps (the straps are also stitched to a strength layer of fabric). The webbing is a bit thin for the bag buckles, and I didn't line the bag, but since it's a bag for personal use I don't mind. 

 The second bag is made from an old pair of jeans that tore last year. I really like damask and damask prints, so I kept the material. I was happy to be able to use it. This is a bit of a rough bag: I didn't make a proper pattern and just cut and sewed quickly. It isn't perfect, but it's a nice little bag. I'd like to add a few bages and pins to the front. This bag is fully lined, with internal pockets.
The next bag I'd like to make is a Fjallraven style backpack, large enough to hold a laptop. I'm considering trying to create a galaxy-print fabric. For now, I'm happy with these two bags. 

Suicide Squad: Harley Quinn: The Accessories

My costume has come together. I;m going to see Suicide Squad tomorrow - maybe it's good, maybe it's terrible, but I guess I'll find out. Today let's look at the accessories.

Shoes

I found these boots in Budapest (I live there most of the year). They weren't too expensive, are much comfier than high heels, and looks quite similar to Harley Quinn's boots. There's a hidden wedge in these boots, so I look at bit taller.  

Glove

The glove is made from sleeves from an older sweater. I drew around my hand, and cut and pinned until it fitted well, then painted on the design with acrylic paint + fabric medium. I was a bit impatient waiting for the paint to dry, but it turned out all right.

Belt 

The belt is a Frankenstein-monster mash of an old stud belt, hot glue, a strip of vinyl, snap fasteners, and craft foam. I'm not sure how durable this belt will be, and I may remake it. I initially tried inserting the studs into the belt, but it was really hard to align the studs properly.

Bracelets

These are made from an old belt, craft foam, hot glue, and velcro. The weird marks are hot glue - I was initially going to use this belt to make the studded belt, changed my mind and ripped off the studs, but unfortunately the glue marks remained. 

Choker

This is also made from the same old belt that I used for the bracelets, painted white. The letters are also made of craft foam and are hot glued on. 

Holster

The holster isn't complete; I still need a toy gun and an actual holster to attach to the harness, but I can do that later. This is made from a strip of black vinyl, decorated with studs (I only had brass coloured ones, so painted them silver). I had this metal ring on my desk, and used it for the back of the holster.

Bag

 It's August and it is sweltering. Even at night it's pretty hot. All in all, Harley's jacket will probably be too hot to wear to the cinema. I need somewhere to keep my tickets, phone etc, so I made this drawstring bag. I used Annika Victoria's tutorial, which is excellent

Baseball Bat

I could have bought a real baseball bat . . .but you know, I must like making work for myself or something. So I made one from foam, following the excellent instructions in this tutorial:

I deviated from the instructions here and there. I shouldn't have used hot glue, because the edges were very uneven. 

Here's the basic bat I made. The core  is an old broomstick, sawed down to the right length. I primed it with a layer of light yellow acrylic paint.

 I painted the bat to a base colour, and added a subtle wood effect - it doesn't really show in these photos. I decorated it, and then my brother, my boyfriend and I decorated the bat with various Harley Quinn appropriate quotes. I wrapped the handle in a strip of thin white cloth, and that was it!

Luna Lovegood

My mum always said things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end, if not always in the way we expect . . .

. . . all my shoes have mysteriously disappeared. I suspect the Nargles are behind it. 

Luna Lovegood is done! I finished the dress last week, and the jewellery today. 

Spectrespecs:

I followed a great tutorial, but added a few touches of my own, such as using clear tape and craft foam to reinforce the specs. 

Here's the tutorial I used:

http://diyfashion.about.com/od/maskandmasquerade/ss/Spectrespecs.htm 

Dress

 I bought a pair of pyjamas, and drew up a design that I though would suit Luna, rather than copying any particular costume from the films.

 My first idea was to convert the shirt into a shirt and incorporate the sleeves as pockets. 

 That didn't work out very well. The skirt lacked volume and the pockets didn't lie smooth.

 I scrapped that idea, and converted the top and parts of the trousers into a large rectangle of fabric, which I then gathered down. For the bodice, I converted a burda pattern and added some straps.

 I had some bra cups from an old top and thought I'd try and add them to the dress to provide support, since there's no boning. These were more trouble than they were worth. Perhaps I just sewed them in badly, but it was really hard to make them sit neatly, and they made the seam at the top seem bulky. I had to add topstitching just to make everything look all right. 

The next step: sew the skirt and the bodice together!

I gathered the skirt to fit the bodice. In hindsight, pleats would have looked nicer - oh well. I tried to match the seams of the skirt and bodice, so that the pockets of the skirt would sit neatly on the sides of the dress. 

Jewellery

I've never tried beading before. Luckily I have a talented friend helping me make the radish earrings and the cork necklace.

For the earrings, we used this tutorial:

https://svyet.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/dirigible-plum-earring-tutorial/

First we made the leaves. We used 28 gauge silver wire and some of my friend's beads. 

 I don't have any pictures of making the body. I found the body of the radish a lot harder to make, so no photos, but if you use the tutorial linked above, it explains it very well. My only advice is to write down the number of beads you use on each row, and then use the same number on the other earrings. Seems obvious, but I forgot to do that and had to estimate how many beads to add for each row on my earrings.  

 My friend did most of the beading work on the necklace, and I added the clasp and jumprings. We made two necklaces and just had enough blue beads. Mine is a bit short due to lack of beads, so I added a piece of chain at the back. My friend strung the beads on wire, then twisted the ends into loops. We slid the cork on, and attached the lengths of beads to jump rings. Then I added a lobster clasp. The cork is an ordinary cork with a metal flower decoration glue to the bottom. The top flower decoration is anchored with a pin (jewellery pin? not sure what it's called) directly into the cork. The cork pendant is attached to the necklace with jump rings.