Modesty's Costume Closet

 The design frenzy has settled down. The initial excitement wanes a bit as expected. But there is still more to think about. While I'm pleased with the potential ideas, there are a few things I should consider on a more logical and practical basis. For example, what's going to be the challenge in making this dress? How expensive do I think it will be? Is my production plan the best way to make this? When it comes to accessories, what will be great for dancing and what will get in the way or become an annoyance?  Current preferred Design Lets start with determining potential Accessories. Accessory Evaluation Going off my drawing, here are the accessories I might use:  Feathered Headband Stud Earrings Long Pearl Necklaces  Ornamented Necklace Black Gloves Gold bangle bracelets White Feather Boa Ornamented Belt/Sash T-strap Mary Jane Shoes A couple of non-negotiables include the shoes and at least one other Flapper staple such as the headband or pearls.  For dancin...

For me, a big challenge comes with picking a character or making one up because I have lots of fondness towards the characters. And I am not opposed to doing a bit of cross-over or reaching back into my high school art and making Sailor Virgo or some other original character design.  For the base costume, I am keeping closer to the Manga references or the Reboot for references. Every character has multiple versions depending on the series and powerups. I'm going to try and stick with first season basics/initial costume. First I'll go over characters I'm considering: (Images all made with the Sailor Senshi Maker ) Canon Characters Sailor Moon Sailor Mercury Sailor Venus Sailor Mars Sailor Jupiter Sailor Saturn Sailor Pluto Original Characters Sailor Virgo Sailor X Sailor Goro Crossover Characters Sailor Rarity Sailor Fluttershy Sailor Mitsuri Sailor Tanjiro Sailor Shinobu Sailor Kyojuro So 16 character ideas total. Time to evaluate and eliminate to determine which one I will...

 This year for the Dance Party I want to go as a Sailor Scout. Currently, I'm not sure which character I'll go as or if I'll design my own or do some kind of crossover. (Sailor Mitsuri maybe. 😜) I have such a soft spot for the original characters as I grew up in the 90s with the original release of the manga in English and the wonky 90s anime. However, I do like some of the new designs of the reboot.  Thankfully, the characters all have the same BASE to the costume that is a leotard, with a sailor collar and short skirt. In essence, I'm going to work off my growing knowledge of how to sew swimsuits and leotard-based dancesport costumes to make this. And I did cheat and get a pattern just to get some ideas about how to put things together. But I think I'll make my own way.  As far as the variations between characters go, the differences are typically found in the sleeves, the colors, and the gemstone broach designs. (When looking exclusively at the Sailor Fuku/Unifo...

My current project is making a new ballroom gown for a competition in March. My theme has been gothic rose as mentioned in a post I made a year or so ago.  Old design ideas  So as you can see there were a few considerations for this theme and a new dress. Now that I have a dress and have made a few costumes, I know what cuts I like. Some of the tailoring elements for the dress that I like are:  Godet Flared skirt Off the shoulder wide neckline Long sleeves The aesthetics/theme that I was aiming for were:  Gothic Colors Dark Roses So my first order of business was finding a pattern. I know...I could draft my own but I don't. I found something I liked from Just Dance Patterns .  Design 465 It has all the elements that I wanted. Off the shoulder neckline, godet skirt and long sleeves. I sent the pattern to a printer to get it printed on A0 paper...which is becoming a favorite thing for me to do now.  But obviously, I need to make the dress a bit of my own des...

This past year was very productive. Lots of progress was made and I've had some reflection on my spending habits. A small space feels a lot smaller with clutter. Organizing and interior design was never my forte, you should see how rough my Sims houses are. 😂 Making plans comes a bit easier so I've been working on new ways for me to keep track and make progress on the myriad of projects rotting on the backburners.  My new promise or maxim is: Do not keep supplies that are not attached to an active project.    Let's try to keep this promise.   Organization The first thing I did was find all my scattered lists of project ideas and put it in one place. I put things into categories because that's how my brain works.  Evaluation Going through the list, I checked the projects and evaluated certain aspects about the project like if I have the supplies, how long I think it will take, and how interested or passionate I am about the project. The passion is an in the mome...

It's November and the year is rapidly drawing to a close. The hectic costume month of October has passed and now I'm taking stock of what I've done and what I have planned to do in the next year. It was very productive.  2024 Costume Review  Since adopting a new schedule for myself, I've found my projects making steady progress instead of sporadic updates.   The 7 kimono project: This was an ambitious undertaking and I'm so pleased how it came together. I learned SO much in this process and hope to clear out room in my apartment to do a proper photoshoot. I do still intend to make zori for these outfits and some kanzashi out of the leftover fabric.  Morticia Dance Costume: This came out so well! It also gave me some challenges and taught me things about fabric choice. It was perfect for the Halloween dance party.  Updates to my Ballroom Gown: While I plan on making my own dress in the future I wanted to spruce up my comp dress with some rhinestones and a ne...

 This may be a bit tangential from my usual topics but it was inspired by some character bounding shawl ideas I had so we can tie it into that. But Ombre or Gradient yarn cakes are really pretty. I have been crocheting with one. However, the challenge comes with finding the right colors in the right sequence. So that go me curious as to how to make my own Ombre yarn. So here's what I've researched as possible ways to get that color change effect along with some of the pros and cons of each.  1. Purchase Skeins of Colors Sticking with the idea of using solid color yarns, you purchase yarns in the colors you want and create the cake. However, color choice is important here. To make the change of color more gradual, you will need yarn colors in the transitional color. So if I'm going for yellow to red, I may get an orange that is a good blend of those colors. The more "steps" of colors you get the more gentle the transition is between colors. Below is a video example...

 This is going to be the last planned kimono I'm making for this project. There are a few extra things on my to-do list and some things on my wish list too.  Here's how the Wisteria Cat kimono went.  So some things that went well:  French Seams done well! Even on the sleeves! Bless the walking foot! Got the pattern on the fabric to be upright on front and back. Collar went on smoothly! Even hem!! OMG...finally! Some things I wish went better:  I had to make a seam on the shoulder line which is not authentic. :( I did it to make the motif on the pattern look better so I didn't have upside down cats on the back of the body and sleeves. The sleeves are a bit short  I rushed my cutting and it got sloppy making me cut a part I didn't mean to cut and having to fudge around my mistake.  There's a bunch of little extra things I've been doing for these projects. Including kumihimo braiding!  So far I've made:  A kumihimo obijime 3 kumihimo haori himo ...

 Another week, another kimono constructed and I feel this is my best one yet!  Before putting on the collar and sleeves.  All put together Such a pretty pattern! I used a walking foot to make this one which meant I had to sew a bit slower, but that gave me nicer seams.  I will be going with serged seams or "hair line" seams, but I have not done that yet as of writing this post. For now, she's set aside so I can start working on the NEXT kimono which is my burgundy men's kimono. (I've already had some trouble with it. I really have to pay attention to right side wrong side when using fabric that has no obvious pattern.😅) So we're chugging along at a good pace with this project. Here's what's left:  Hem, attach collar and sleeves to burgundy kimono✅ Construct the Red Men's Kimono✅ Cut, mark and construct the Cotton Cat Kimono Sew the grey hakama✅ Sew the red haori✅ Sew the black lady's haori  Sew the black hakama Some of the extra little project...

 The next kimono I made was Ruka Rengoku's pink spring Kimono. Making this a cosplay kimono. Currently, the kimono is unpainted. But I wanted to pause and admire the progress made since starting these kimono projects.  Things that went well:  All the major seams are French seams. I did it correctly this time!  The collar was a bit easier to do this time.  I put the chikara nuno in correctly this time. At least for one of them.  I was able to do a blind hem by machine!  It fits!  Some things I learned:  Matching thread color is important. Hot pink really shows up.  This polyester silk is a bit more slippery than I expected.  My Clover Seam Iron is hottest on the rod part and not the flat part. Burned a little hole! (I was able to hide in the hem.)  What still needs doing:  I want to paint the flower pattern onto the kimono. I'm trying to make stencils to help me with clean lines. But I'm having trouble with placement. It's ...