An album of photos and descriptions of sewing projects I have completed. Scroll to the bottom of the gallery to see a slideshow of the garments being worn.
Clothing
A tweed midi length skirt I completed in HECOL 254. (Nov 2018)
Matching Top and Skirt set made from Star Wars comic fabrics. The top features a collar, buttons and small tie at the bottom. Skirt is a simple circle skirt with a waistband and side zipper. (Nov 2019)
Cotton dress with tie straps and pockets. I wore this on a tour of the Event Costuming Department at Walt Disney World where a head designer complimented it. Made my day! (Jan 2020)
Cotton Blouse and Skirt combination with side sleeves and underskirt with lace trim. The bodice features plastic boning and is pinned to the bodice due to mannequin constrictions. (Feb 2020)
Costumes
Leia - Star Wars
Senatorial Leia from Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope, is the costume I've worn the most, it also has the most remakes. I was unable to find the costume to mount, but my first Senatorial Leia was made from a pink bed sheet and painted on belt. It was also the costume I wore when I met Carrie Fisher, the woman who played Princess Leia, in 2016. I wish she could see the progress I've made to bring her character to life.
This is my second version of Leia, it is made out of an incredibly thin but heavy knit fabric. This fabric probably has my favourite and most screen accurate drape to me. It is not screen accurate for various reasons. My belt was also made out of thick foam pieces and spray painted buttons. This was the costume the Rebel Legion met me in, and they told me to improve my costume in order to join. (Feb 2017)
Version 3 was the first Leia costume that was approved under the Rebel Legion. I had to hand stitch all of the hems as they are hidden and I didn't know how to sort the fabric properly so I could machine sew! It is made out of a very thick knit material that made it very hot to wear in summer, and it did not have the drape that Leia's dress is known for. It's still good for winter events though! (May 2018)
This fourth version of Leia is my current Leia that I have and use for Rebel Legion events. It is made out of a thin jersey material called Jet Set, and is used by many Leia costumers. It's only available in the states so I had to ask a friend to get it for me on a trip! It snags very easily, especially around the belt area, but has held up well for three years of lots of events. (July 2018)
This fifth and currently final instalment of the Senatorial Leia is this short version I made for a trip to Florida. It is made out of the second version of the Jet Set material, that I had gotten on a prior trip. There wasn't enough to make a full length gown so I settled for a shorter outfit. I made it to all of the Rebel Legion requirements and it was very fun to work with. They advertised that this fabric snagged less but I did not notice much of an improvement. The drape was slightly lighter but not too much.
Rapunzel - Tangled
This was actually the first full costume I had ever completed apart from Leia. I made this before I had any proper sewing instruction and you can definitely see it. It was made for Calgary Expo's Masters of Cosplay competition. I adore the fabrics I used, and I can see how delicately I made this costume - from the basting stitches to the improper grommet installation. I hope to restore this costume one day. I remember hand glueing each rhinestone on this dress for about three days. (April 2018)
Sally - The Nightmare Before Christmas
With Halloween 2020 being at home, I decided to go full out instead of a store bought costume this year. This costume was very interesting to piece together, and resulted in me making a dress in the silhouette I wanted the costume in, cutting it apart, and cutting pieces of fabric from that to sew into the dress. All of the fabrics used came from my scrap pile as I thought the mismatched fibre contents and woven and knits would suit the character. I also created a blue spandex bodysuit (pictured under the dress) in order to not have to paint my entire body as well. It is still not 100% complete but I will revisit it when I'm able to wear her out in public! (Oct 2020)
Belle - Beauty and the Beast
This is probably the costume I am most proud of in its construction. As mentioned elsewhere in my portfolio, this was the first costume I ever wanted to make, and it took almost seven years to do it. My goal was to make this costume look as close to the costume worn in the parks as possible. The only difference construction wise is that I included some plastic boning for structure, as well as the full princess seams in the front to accommodate my personal measurements (the park's design only has front darts). I also found blouse and apron fabric that is identical to the fabric used in the theme parks. I am also particularly proud of the finishings. Everything is completely finished, either by serging, or hand stitching. I'm quite critical of my work, and this was the first costume that I finished and said "Okay, I could let someone pay for this, this work is professional enough for that."
Comments