sewingoflove

I received a question about how to attach the diamonds on Harley’s costume. There are a couple of suggestions I would make. It’s really up to you how you want to do it, but there are several ways that I have seen/heard of.

1. Stretch fabric glue
2. Sewing the diamonds on by hand
3. Sewing the diamonds on by machine
4. Using stick-on felt
5. Attaching snaps

The first time I did a Harley, I used fabric glue. I didn’t really do it right, and it was really hard to use, so obviously it didn’t work quite well. It began peeling up the first time I wore it for a length of time. That is what has been circled in the picture to the right. The second time I worked on my Harley costume, I used the same body suit, so I tore off the old diamonds and cut new ones to sew by hand (since I didn’t want to take the costume apart to use the machine). It worked really well, but it’s VERY hard to keep all the fabric from sliding around, so some parts of the diamonds didn’t straighten up well. That is noted on the picture to the left. I think the best tactic would be to sew the diamonds on by machine. Don’t forget to add seam allowances if you do it this way, so you don’t have raw edges hanging out. Make SURE you attach the diamonds before you assemble the suit if you want to use your machine!

Happy sewing!

I made a couple changes between Baltimore Comic Con and the Halloween Harley Quinn. I changed the big puff balls on the collar for slightly smaller style. I also changed the stuffing in the tails to, well, not polyfill, but fake snow. xD I found fake snow at Joann, and I tore that to make the stuffing. It worked really well, and I like how they feel now.

 Unfortunately….this Harley Quinn is now officially RETIRED. The last two times I’ve brought it out to wear, I’ve had to mend holes in it >.<; But know what that means?? I have a chance to make it even BETTER now! I’m thrilled really, I mean, I’ll miss it, but it’s time for a new one. I’m even considering doing a cotton suit for the summer, and spandex otherwise. Eh, I’ll figure it out. Anyway, i just wanted to mention it. Buhbyee Harl 1.5!

I’ll make notes and tutorials as I make Harley 2.0 (which will be pretty spandex x] ) and post them up here. As always, questions and comments, feel free to post!

Happy Stitching!

Well, I finished my Harlequin sweatshirt, and I’ve gotten several offers to purchase it from me. So I think I’m going to be starting an Etsy site, where I can offer sweatshirt designs from any superhero or supervillain costume :3 Anyway, in light of that, I won’t exactly write a how-to on this piece. I’ll post pictures, and a link to the Etsy store when I finish it But if you are interested in purchasing a Harley hoodie, it’ll be a very limited quantity that I’ll be selling. But here are some pictures of the WIP and finished product! Enjoy, and Happy Stitching!

Heylo all!

I’m working on a Harlequin sweatshirt (since it’s gonna be a cold Halloween!)  and one of the banes of my Harley costume came up again–diamonds. Drawing PERFECT diamonds is…difficult. So I drew ‘em up on Photoshop and adjusted the size, so I could have “large” diamonds and “small” diamonds. I figured I’d offer them up here, just in case you wanted to use them as well. It’s a small, IMPORTANT, but incredibly tough part of the outfit ^^ The diamonds in this image are about 3 inches tall. I used ‘em for the “small” diamonds on the sweatshirt arms. If you want me to offer up the large ones as well, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll assume you can do it yerself ;P Right-click and choose “View Image”. You should be able to print it right from your Internet browser. Let me know if you have any issues!

 Happy stitching!

This is really an awkward part of the cowl. How do you make them…poof out like that?! Oh Paul Dini, PHYSICS! She defies the laws of PHYSICS! Awwhh oh well, I suppose we have to be cannon, eh?

How to do this is TOTALLY up to you. Here are the options I’ve heard/done/seen.

1.    Stuff it using fabric scraps. Make sure you’re using SMALL scraps, so chop ‘em up if you have to. Use a chopstick to get the scraps down to the bottom of the curve.

2.    Stuff it using cotton stuffing, like in a stuffed animal.

3.    Hand sew horsehair braid into the curves so you can adjust its size. Stuff in some way if you must.

4.    Slip pipe cleaners or a short metal rod into the curve so you can adjust it.

5.    Construct a metal spiral that will hold size/shape.

Honestly, I stuff mine using fabric scraps because I’m a cheap-ass. xD Cotton makes the  most sense to me, because its soft and will bounce back to shape if its moved or pressured, stays stuffed nicely, doesn’t make unattractive bumps and ripples in your curves, and doesn’t need special care during transportation.

That’s all! You’ve finished your Harley cowl!!! Questions? Post ‘em! Comments? I’d love to hear ‘em! Pictures? Please!

Happy Stitching!

So you’ve got your cowl all done, but it doesn’t fit quite right. Honestly, this is the EASIEST part! Even stuffing the ear pieces is more difficult

 Ever make a dart before? Yes? No? Well it’s what we’ll do here. Turn your cowl inside out and put it on again. By each temple, pinch the fabric and pin it together so it creates a triangle whose base is the side by your face. Do this again around the jawline. Adjust the amount of fabric and length of each dart until the cowl fits properly. This is something that’s easily done with a friend, but totally possible to do alone.  Sew each dart, making sure you use a straight stitch (even though this is stretchy fabric!) and that the end of your stitches is right alongside the fold of the fabric. A pretty good introduction to darts can be found here (will open in a new window.)

 That’s it! Try your cowl on again and make sure the darts are right. If something bunches or bags somewhere, adjust your darts or the fabric with your fingers before pinning it back and re-sewing the dart. It’s worth the time because then it won’t slide around on your face when you’re wearing it.

You can see the darts in my the cowl nicely here on the black one. I used red thread, and then colored over it with Sharpie to give it a redblack look ;)  I ended up darting even further back on the black under the jaw, and up by the earbit on the red.

 Any questions? Post ‘em!

 Happy stitching!

Back again! Here’s how you’ll construct your cowl using the pattern you made with the last tutorial

 Cut out each piece of your main pattern in black and red, as well as the forehead pieces. Take close note of your reference pictures–the BLACK goes on HARLEY’S LEFT side. The RED is on HARLEY’S RIGHT. The reference picture here is the Harley from Gotham Public Works. Keep this in mind as you’re making the piece!! It’s really embarrassing for me to spot Harl cosplayers who’ve switched up the colors at one place or another >.<;; Make sure your red is cut opposite from your black basically

The forehead piece is the easiest—just sew the pieces together to create a half-circle that will fit across your forehead. Pin the left and right head pieces together along the back of the head, the back of the neck, and the front of the neck. Sew these. Go ahead and take the pins out and try the cowl on inside out. Have a friend pin the back of the cowl closer to your head so you don’t have folds or too much fabric back there. I noted on my cowl here with chalk so you can clearly see where I sewed and cut. Sew along these pins. Make SURE that you sew forward and reverse securely over where your first seams meet the ones you’re sewing now to prevent unraveling. Cut off the excess fabric. Try it on again and make sure it fits. Trim triangles out of your curve on the head to smooth the seam.

 Next is time to make the ear bits. I really need to find something new to call these! Make sure you cut two black, two red. As with the rest of the costume, be sure your red is cut opposite from your back. Pin the two black pieces together and sew along the curved edges. Do NOT sew the half-circle that fits into the cowl. Take this piece (inside out) and the cowl (right-side out) and pin them together like a shirtsleeve. Make sure that when you flip the ear right side out that the curve is in the right direction and the seams are on the inside. I generally put the seams facing up and down, so I know for sure the curve is what I saw when I drew it out. Sew the opening like a shirtsleeve, and then flip it over and do the same for the red. It’ll look kind of depressed, but yes, it’s right!

Now you can pin the forehead piece in to where it belongs. It can be kind of difficult, but just stretch the fabrics and be patient until you can fit it. Here’s where it can get difficult—make SURE your forehead piece will NOT slide down or connect to the cowl on the sides so far that it will interfere with the mask. What I ended up doing was folding up the bottom of this piece by about half an inch and sewing it to the cowl this way. You’ll have to fuss with the sides if you pin the half circle before fitting the straight edge.  You can see here that I made mine much longer than it needed to be, so I just turned the end up and sewed a small seam Sew these pieces right onto the rest of the cowl.

 Now you can try this on properly. Turn the cowl right side out and use a chopstick to get the points of the earbits all pointy and such. Make sure the general fit is right. If it’s a little loose around the face, don’t worry-we’ll fix that in the next tutorial.  Stretch material does that! Turn in the hems all around the face and sew these into place. I didn’t do more than a centimeter here. When you get to the right angles, cut a small indent in towards the neck so you’ll end up with a right-angled shape OUT of the hem on the inside. You can see it the picture here. Do a couple of straight or hand stitches across this gap to secure it and prevent unraveling.

 That’s it! Next post is how to tailor your Harley cowl As always, any questions, leave a comment!

 Happy stitching!

(OM NOM NOM!)

My computer is fixed! Horray!!

 Anyway, right down to it! Making Harley’s cowl is a bit of a trial-and-error approach for me. You might want to have a friend with you to help your measurements. Remember that for this technique to work, you MUST use stretch fabric. If you do not have stretch fabric, you’ll have to be a WHOLE lot more careful on your measurements and placements, and will have to install a zipper on the back seam of the cowl. My pattern is designed to be pulled over the top of your head. Oftentimes, I pull mine on and let the ear thingies dangle in front of my chest while I do my makeup. Then I spin it around and pull it up over my hair, which is in two buns right underneath the ear bits. As always, right click and choose “View Image” to see the pictures bigger

 I started by taping together four pieces of paper to be around the size of my head. Half the head anyway. I measured from the center of the head down the side to approximately where the opening for the face ends, and drew a line that length down the middle of my paper. Try to tape (or hold) this measuring tape in place on your head. I called this Line 1 on my diagram. Make a note as to where this line ends. Add on two or three inches for the neck piece. Using a second tape, measure several times from the middle of the back of your head to the measuring tape and draw these lines on your paper in accordance to the first measurement. You’ll end up with a shape that looks like half a face, with a pointed back. Go ahead and use this, cuz you’ll cut the point off when you fit it on your head. Measure the circumference of your neck, and draw this piece on the bottom. Remember to measure and note carefully the distance from the front of the line (your stabilized measuring tape) and what is behind it. You can see what the shape should resemble in the picture to the side. Right click to view it bigger. Add your seam allowances.  When you cut the right angle from the head meeting the neck, make sure you cut an additional Cut this pattern out and hold it up to your head, and have your friend note where the “ear” pieces come off. Approximate a circle there, about two inches in diameter. Cut the circle out, but keep half the circle in good condition.

Go back to your measuring tape, and, keeping the harlequin mask in mind, measure halfway across your forehead (Line 2), and the length from the beginning of the first measuring tape to the measurement you made across your forehead (2b). Draw these measurements out. It will be a quarter-circle shape. Add seam allowances and cut the pattern.

Using the circle that you kept from cutting out of the main cowl piece, trace it onto your paper and draw out how you want your ear tails to look. Make sure you add seam allowance. You’re using the circle to make sure the tails will fit the cowl properly when you get there. Think of looking at it in profile view.  You’re going to cut two of each color of this piece, so you only have to make it look how you want it to from the front. The longer these are, the more “droopy” they’ll be.

 That’s it for the pattern! Tune in next post for construction and fitting woes Any questions? Leave me a comment!

 Happy stitching!

So this here is my favorite part of making these cuffs–cartridge pleating! It’s a form of pleating that was done in the 16th century European styles of dress. Even the Queen Elizabeth is seen in some portraits wearing a gown with cartridge pleating. If you need to see a picture bigger, right click and choose “View Picture”. Anyway, onward!!

First, I just want to mention something. You’ll need to make sure you have a good, study thread for the pleating. You’ll be yanking on this thread some, so you need to make sure it won’t break whilst you do. Trust me, it’s frustrating when it does! In fact, using the sturdier thread in all the handsewing for this is probably a good idea. I’ve had pretty good luck with Gütermann All Purpose Polyester thread. I honestly love all their threads! (The embroidery is soo pretty.) Let’s get started!

The ruffles start similarly to the wrist band. Actually almost exactly the same. xD You’re going to make a LONG tube of fabric. Make your cut twice as wide as you want your cuffs, plus about half an inch for seam allowances. Mine was about four inches wide, and the finished cuffs are approximately an inch and a half long. If you want your cuffs much higher than two inches (or particularly stiff/crisp) you’re going to want to sew in some interfacing, so when you press the cuffs they’ll stay straight and pretteh.

Honestly, I’m sure there’s a way to determine exactly how much fabric you’ll need if you want the pleats to run from one side of the band right to the edge of the other. Personally, I didn’t care so much. I used 44 inches of fabric for my tubing. I could probably have made that do the entire width of the wristband, but I wanted shallow pleats rather than particularly full ones.

Like before, pin closed two of the edges. Since this tube is significantly longer and much easier to drift on when you’re sewing, I turned back and forth and trimmed off any overhanging material. Sew closed the short and long end, and trim the corners. Turn your tube inside out and use your chopstick on the corners. Press the entire tube (it’ll be much easier to work with). Turn the edges of the open end inside and pin them into place. Either hand or machine baste this opening closed and take the pin out.

Time for the pillow closure! Get your needle and double-thread it. Angle your tube end so you can see the inside of the opening. Catch a little bit of fabric from one side and bring the thread through the other side, being careful to only take the inner layer. Continue this whipstitch from the same side until you’ve closed the end. Take out your baste stitches and press the edge. Congratulations, you’ve got a new tube!

Now, you’ve got a couple of options. Well, two really. It’s time to mark the pleats, but how do you know at what intervals? Option number one is to mathematically calculate the optimal pleat depth. To do so, take the length of the tube and subtract the length of the band. Divide this number by the band length. In my case, I have 44 inch tube and 6 inch wrist. The 44″ bang minus the 6″ wrist piece is 38″. 38 divided by 6 is 6.3. I could then mark the pleats 6.3 inches apart, but the pleats would be like three inches deep. You can divide this number then in half, or in half again. Then you’d have 1.58 inches between each marking. However, I’m lazy and only just worked it out for this tutorial. I used the width of my thumb. You can make markings on an index or business card if you decide to use the mathematical method to help you keep things in line. Keep your markings about half a centimeter from the end. Make SURE that you begin and end your markings on the very ends of the fabric, or you’ll have this weird loose piece flapping around in the middle of your cuff. Not very attractive.

Once you’ve done this, take your sturdy thread and double thread your needle once again using about twice the length of the piece this ruffle is going onto. I just wrap my wrist with the thread five times for good measure. Since this is also going to be straining a bit, I knotted the end about four times. Starting at one end, make a running stitch along the length of your tube on your markings. I ran my stitch about a half centimeter from the edge so it’d be pretty well hidden by the pleats when sewn into place. When you get about halfway through your thread, you’re going to bunch up the fabric by sliding it together down towards the knot at the end of your thread. Continue on through your markings until you reach the end. What I usually do then is to leave an additional maybe three or four inches of thread on the end and knot off. Pleating! Yay!

This next part can be a little more difficult. you’re going to take your wrist band and adjust the pleated section so it’s the same length. Line it up against the side, so when you wear the band, it’ll stand straight up. Now, you can pin it in place, but I always have trouble with the pin slipping around and pulling out and ending up back where I started. So I used safety pins. As you stitch the ruffles on, they’ll migrate a bit, and the safety pins will allow that to happen without losing your place. I pinned mine on each end, in the center, and in between those three places. You’re going to start under the wrist band, come up through the marking you made on the edge/corner of the ruffle, and pull it tight. Whipstitch it down, using two stitches per pleat right on the edges of the pleats. You may have to readjust the spacing of your pleats along the way, but it’s not a big deal at all. Tie off at the end, and then tighten up the loose end of your pleating thread. That’s it! You’re done! If you’re afraid of the ruffles flapping about, you can go along the other side and stitch down those pleats as well. I didn’t bother. So far it seems secure. Let me know if you’ve got any questions!

Happy stitching!

So I’ve gotten plenty of questions on just how I made the jester cuffs for my Harley Quinn outfit. Let me tell you, I agonized on them for the longest time!! The first set I made did the job, since the convention was the next day, but they weren’t GREAT. Since I plan on using the costume again, I decided that there were plenty -coughcough most- of the pieces of the costume that I wanted to re-make. This was the first. I absolutely ADORE these new cuffs–they fit better, as well as looking fabulous!

Now, the great thing about this part of making these cuffs is that you can use it to make really any sort of band that goes around a body part. Wrist band, arm band, ankle band, thigh band…pretty much anything. The example that comes to my mind is if your costume or outfit has a sweatband on the wrists. Doesn’t that get kinda warm in the summer months? You can use this to make a band to go aroun your wrist out of non-stretch fabric that’ll look really clean and nice! Anyway, onto the tut!

The first thing that you’re going to want to do is measure the body part that this is going on to. Since I already made the RIGHT cuff, I want to measure my left wrist. This can be a pain in the butt–measuring my right wrist is so much easier, but different sides of your body are going to be different sizes, unfortunately. And since we’re working with non-stretchy fabric, this is a rule we need to abide by closely. So my left wrist measures just under 6 inches around (my right is exactly 6). [Note–if you need to see any of these bigger, right click and choose “View Image”]

From here, you’re going to measure out the amount of fabric needed for your band. I made mine a little small (you’ll see later on, when I’m attaching the snaps) but I used six and a half inches of fabric LONG (that’s the part that goes around the wrist) by two and a quarter WIDE. The width of the fabric is going to be doubled over, PLUS the seam allowance, so I know my band will be about an inch wide when it’s finished. Make sure you add over half an inch to your measurement around the body-part to make sure you’ll have enough room for the seams on the side.

Next you want to fold your band in half and pin it on two sides. Keep one of the short ends open so you’ll be able to turn the band inside out for a more professional and finished look. Nobody likes seeing seams! Sew the two sides with just under a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Cut across the corners as shown, including the ones that are opened. Turn it inside out and, using a chopstick or a pencil or something long and skinny, push the corners out. Stick it in the open end and just maneuver it until your corners look less round and more, well, corner-like!

Take the open end of your band and tuck one side onto the inside, followed by the other. Be careful to make sure you do it relatively evenly. One end of mine was slightly higher than the other, but it didn’t bother me since the ruffle from the jester cuff would cover it up. Pin it together like this, and then sew a line across either on your sewing machine or by hand. If you’re making ruffles, the seam will not be seen. If you’re making just a band and don’t want the seam there, you’ll have to sew it closed like you would a pillow. If you need more help with that, look at my next entry. I’ll be explaining the ruffle, but I’ll have a bit on the pillow closure.

Next you’ll want to test your band and make sure it fits the part you’re making it for. I made mine a little small, as you can see the edges just touch. (Man this was an awkward camera angle!) The nice thing about snap closures though, is that you can make one end a hanging snap, which will allow the two edges to meet up just right!

To attach your snaps, first you have to disconnect them. I was really confused when I first bought them, I didn’t understand the packaging at all! But it’s easy enough. Unsnap them, put one end aside, and figure out where you want the other end to go. The trick of the hanging snap is that one is completely on the fabric, while the other is held onto the other side of the fabric by a single hole. I chose to put two snaps onto this because it is wide enough that a single snap in the middle would cause the edges of the fabric to bend in and look strange. The easiest way to attach your snaps is the whipstitch, but I prefer the button-hole stitch. There is an awesome tutorial on attaching sew on snaps here. The main thing to keep in mind is that you only want to go through ONE layer of fabric at a time–it’ll hide the snaps and make it look like MAGIC!

Make sure you align the fabric (try it on again) and figure out where your other snap has to go. It’s attached just the same way! If you’ve got a hanging snap, you only attach one of the holes to the fabric and the rest will just hang around. It’s recommended that you use four stitches to hold it in place, but since I figure my ruffles will pull on it a bit, I used seven or eight for each snap. Make sure you align and try on your band a couple of times before you finish, otherwise you’ll be upset if you have to rip out the seams and try it again.

And that’s it! You’re done!

If you didn’t want to or can’t understand using snaps (they can be annoying if you don’t get it just right) Velcro is also an awesome option ^^ I just happened to have snaps lying around in my sewing bucket from when I made the collar for Harl’s costume. Any questions, leave a comment and let me know!

Happy stitching!