Category: Original Design

Elizabethan Whovian- The Underskirt

Published on by essieofwho

Hi everyone! I’m sorry I didn’t make a blog post last week. I had plans for the past weekend that took away from blog writing time. So, I decided not to make a blog post last week. Unfortunately, my planed ended up not working out so now I’m kicking myself for not posting anything at all. In order to get myself back into blogging, I’m going to talk about something simple: the underskirt for the Elizabethan Whovian costume.

Although the underskirt of the costume isn’t as interesting as the gown’s construction, I still had problems with it. I used the same pattern for the underskirt for the gown, Simplicity’s 3782. The fabric I used for the front of the skirt is The Doctor’s Favorite Things by Kdowning on Spoonflower printed on cotton poplin while the rest is made out of white broadcloth.

Here’s what the underskirt looks like on my dress form with a hoop skirt under it…

When I was cutting the front panel, I realized I had the fabric printed 42 inch wide fabric, and it wasn’t wide enough to cut the skirt front. Also, it wasn’t wide enough for me to cut the fabric so the design is not symmetrical. So, the skirt front doesn’t look the way I wanted to. I want to eventually get different fabric (non Doctor Who design) and make a new underskirt with a front panel the way I want it to look, but this one is functional and is in keeping with the Doctor Who theme, so I’m just going to use it as is.

I also changed the amount of white panels in the skirt. I ended up running out of fabric before I could make the eight panels the pattern called for, so I used seven. It looks good anyway and I think eight might be too full for my liking.

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

Elsa Inspired Prom Dress

Published on by essieofwhoLeave a comment

I’m slowly getting the chance to finish the dresses I was planning on making for sale at my Etsy shop. (My day job has been driving me crazy lately so I don’t have the time to sew like I want to) I was able to finish a dress and list it a while, so I decided to talk about it.

I had an idea a while ago to make a prom dress inspired by Elsa’s Snow Queen outfit from the movie Frozen. Although the outfit would look cool as a prom dress, I thought for prom or another formal dance it might be a little much and not that easy to move in. So, I set about making a prom dress inspired by Elsa’s Snow Queen outfit.

elsa prom dress final

The dress was made with sequin dot fabric with a crinkle lame overlay on the bodice. The top of the bodice was made with light blue chiffon and has beads and sequins sewn onto the edges. The skirt is made out of satin and the whole entire dress, including the skirt, is lined with lining fabric.

Like I said before, I put the dress up for sale at my Etsy shop so if anyone likes it, wants it, and can fit in it, you can buy it! XD

As for the other dresses I’m making for sale, they’re coming along slowly. I’m not sure what happened that slowed progress down, but I’m working at a snail’s pace. (Or, that’s what it feels like!) I’m not sure if I’ll get all the dresses I’m working on done by the end of the month, but I’ll try to get at least one done!

Simplicity 1940’s Skirt

Published on by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Lately I’ve been sewing costumes for this year’s Arizona Renaissance Festival. All the costumes I’m working on are complex and/or detailed and, although everything looks good and is coming together well, I became dishearten about the speed I was working on them. I thought it would be a good self esteem booster to make a simple sewing project and show myself that I can sew fast, sew very well, and the only reason why it takes me so long to make the costumes is because they are just that complex and has nothing to do with my sewing abilities.

Back in December, I found a reprint of a 1940’s Simplicity pattern for a skirt, pants, blazer, and shirt in one of Simplicity’s pattern books. The pattern, Simplicity’s 3688, immediately caught my eye. I had an idea to make a skirt in the style of the skirt used in a woman’s RAF World War II uniform, but I couldn’t find a pattern that was originally printed in the 1940’s. It irritated me because I knew there should be a pattern, but nobody was reprinting it or selling it. The skirt in the Simplicity pattern was the closest I ever saw to the RAF skirt so I bought the pattern along with blue twill to make the skirt out of.

I was able to finish the skirt this weekend and here’s how it looks…

1940skirt1 1940skirt2 1940skirt3

The pattern was surprisingly easy to work with and the skirt fit was correct. Usually when I work with Simplicity patterns that are close fitting to the torso, I need to enlarge the pattern a size or more in order to allow room to fit over my hips. Even if there is a shirt in the pattern and the shirt fits me, I still need to enlarge the the skirt size. With this pattern, I used my normal size and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with the pattern! The waistband of the skirt sits higher than I’m used to, but I like it anyway. I don’t know when I’ll be able to wear it for the first time, but it’s ready to go!

I’m planning on making the shirt that goes with the pattern and possibly the blazer as well. I don’t know if they will fit properly like the skirt did, but I’m hopeful they will. Right now the shirt and blazer are not a top priority on my sewing list, but possibly after I finish my Festival costumes I’ll be able to go fabric shopping and see what I can find.

That’s all for now!

2014 Costume and Sewing Round Up

Published on by essieofwhoLeave a comment

Even though I always wanted make a costume and sewing round up post, I never made one before. I decided this year to change it! I also decided to do a round up post for my art and photography, but those are coming soon.

This year I didn’t get the chance to wear many of the costumes I made. Usually what happened is whenever the event I was going to dress up for came, I got sick (Arizona Renaissance Festival) or I got hurt and didn’t feel like dressing up. (Phoenix Comicon) Fortunately, some of the costumes looked like regular clothes so I was able to wear pieces of them with my normal clothes. I really enjoyed it!

I don’t remember all the costumes I made this year but these are some of costumes I remember the most…

Elizabeth i from Day of the Doctor…

Finished dress from the front
Finished dress from the front

Continue reading “2014 Costume and Sewing Round Up” →

Rocket Skirt

Published on by essieofwhoLeave a comment

While searching on Spoonflower for fabric with a space theme, I found some fabric with a border of space shuttles launching at night. I feel in love with it, bought a yard in basic cotton, and when it arrived I made it into a skirt….

rocket skirt

I know it’s not the best photo of the skirt, but it was windy the day I too the photo and… well… I had trouble keeping the skirt still.

I didn’t use a pattern to make the skirt. Instead, I cut the fabric in half, sewed the seams with a french seam, hemmed the skirt, and added the waistband and elastic.

I might buy some more fabric in the future and make another skirt, but instead of buying cotton I’ll buy silky faille. I bought some fabric for a future project in silky faille and the colors are so much bolder than the cotton. As much as I like the skirt I made, I don’t think the basic cotton does the design justice color-wise.

Well, that’s about it for the skirt! It’s not a very complex project, but I sure do like to wear my new skirt! 😀