Modesty's Costume Closet

 A personal flaw of mine is being very discouraged in reaction to mistakes. It's taken years to realize the root of this issue. And oddly enough, costumes have helped me heal. I'm learning how to make happy mistakes or at least embrace the process. And all this flowery intro is how my process in learning how to make a kimono is going. My hindsight (that now feels a bit embarrassing) and my current process plan and hopefully resources for anyone to have a better foundation than me getting started.  Here were the challenges I had on this project:  I rely on patterns. When it comes to brain load, measuring and understanding why the shapes work is often a lift I can't make easily. The patterns available are a mix of authentic and more Western approaches to sewing. (Something that I only recently learned is the variation of seamstress traditions between cultures.) Technically, you don't NEED a pattern for kimono, but although I knew the pattern shapes, I did not know how to ...

 Here's some photos of the full costume on me.  I would not call this the photoshoot. I did just get my photo backdrop so I will likely do more but it will have less of my apartment mess in it. LOL.  What Went Right: - Most of my plans went well! - Learned to knit! - Did some cool designing on things even if some of it was improvised.  - Dyed fabric - Sewed a lined kimono successfully - Kept a regular pace and finished in 2 weeks (over the course of 4 months.) - Ended up creating a new character and I'm perhaps making a story with all the kitsune I came up with. It's a lot. I'll share character designs later!  What could go better:  - Creating and attaching the sleeves, hindsight.  - The neckband doesn't stay down properly.  - Hair chalk did not work very well, will need to wear a wig - My kanzashi broke. The hot glue was not enough - Bought one more kimono pattern for reference - Bit more fabric research...find something that irons! - Faux Fur fo...

 As of 4/10/2022, the wisteria fox costume is complete. I completed the final touches that I wanted to make. And here's what I did.  Kanzashi Piece I had purchased a hair piece but I felt like it needed to be a little bigger to cover my human ear so only my fox ears were prevalent. I know how to fold these things but had to get new ribbon to do it. It took a few tries but eventually I created this hair piece.  Wisteria Kanzashi  I used the instructions from this video for folding the flowers, but did my own construction of the hair piece.  Mask This was one of those things where I could ponder forever at this blank canvas and never come up with any ideas. I tried doodling some patterns based on references but still wasn't really happy with what I was coming up with. So, I just had to sit down and go to town with paint and get it done. I had a couple elements from references that I was kind of using but mostly just painting. There's no turning back now. To be fai...

 Made the tail. Finished hand sewing the sleeves and I'm not 100% happy with them but I also don't want to futz with them anymore. I just won't make future sleeves in the same way.  How the tail will work is this. I'm using the default nylon webbing belt that it came with. The obi will fit over it.  Things are really coming together quickly now. The only things left are details. I'm going to hand paint wisteria flowers onto the kimono. But I'd like to use stencils for some of the parts. I found some vector graphics and made files for my 3D printer. This past weekend I ran some tests with the newly armed 3D printer/cutter. Unfortunately, it is not ready to cut vinyl or paper at this time. The bed on my 3D printer is not level and no matter how I fiddle with it, some parts of it remain uneven. (Likely a bit of warping or something. Hot metal can do that.) So I'm looking into getting a CR Touch to auto-level my 3D printer. Which will help in the long run.  In t...

This weekend was non-stop sewing of the Obi belt because I didn't feel like hand sewing the sleeve lining. But JOKE'S ON ME, because the obi required quite a bit of manual sewing. Not that I hate hand sewing, but it is inconvenient.  For the most part I followed the recipe Simplicity included but I did have to extend the belt just a tad. The largest size was about an inch or so too small and I was nervous it wouldn't fit around me. My instincts (for once) were on point. The belt fits where it's supposed to. Had to hand sew the hook and eyes and I had to hand sew the back support to the obi itself.  The dress form is to MY waist size. Where I deviated from the pattern was with the tie in the back. I needed something that would look formal, but not cover up my awesome tail. I did some Pinning and found a couple of styles I thought would work and I could easily figure out how to pattern.  Back bows Both back bows were just looking like rectangles of fabric inserted through...

 Today I've attached the sleeves to the body. All that's left is hand sewing the lining to the sleeve seam and such.  It looks finished!  Guh...attaching sleeves with lining is so fiddly. I think the instructions in the Simplicity pattern make more sense. I may "re-do" the sleeve attachments since I don't think I got them quite right. But most of this week has been lost to 3D printing projects. But hey...I like how this is coming together.  The next steps will be to make the Obi belt. This project was what I was distracted by this week. I've written more about this project in my Modesty Studio Blog . 

Day 8:  I quickly sewed the lining pieces together. I still have to attach the lining to the kimono and add the collar. Then...the sleeves. 😬 Day 9:  Collar and Lining added.  The body of the kimono is constructed. Woo-hoo!  I constructed the sleeves so they have a lining in them. Now I have to figure out how to attach the sleeves. 😭 After this point, the Kimono is constructed and will need to be painted by hand. But I may start working on the Obi belt next.  Reflection on Commercial Kimono Patterns So I have two patterns but of the two I think the Simplicity one is a bit better in terms of pieces and body construction. However, the instructions for the sleeves are so awkward. However, the McCalls pattern instructions have been a bit clearer and the sleeve construction easier to understand. It also includes good tips on making applique and when to apply it.  In my opinion, it would not have hurt to also check the Folkwear pattern and a few free independe...

This weekend was not very productive on the costume or knitting front. But I did do a bit of online shopping and wish-listing for possible props for Wisteria Fox.  Silk Wisteria branch. Some of the ideas for props or accessories I had were:  Mask Oil-Paper Parasol Folding Fan Paper Lantern Wisteria flowers  Fangs Kanzashi Claw nails Character Guiding Principles But I can't nor should do all of these. In these situations, I can use what I'll call "character guiding principles" to narrow down what would be appropriate and other decorating themes. If you are thinking of a character, these are just a cluster of traits or words that you can associate with them. Then when considering props you can weigh if the item fits or pick a color that works best.  For example, Captain America is patriotic and protective. The shield as a prop makes sense to these principles because the primary purpose of the shield is to protect the ones behind it which is what Steve Rogers is known f...

 It was painting and applique today. Now all the outer pieces are decorated according to the template I made. Here's what I did.  First, I tried to iron out some of the wrinkles. Due to the nature of the fabric it has to be cool ironed. Which still pretty much did nothing. After a solid effort, I decided to forget about it. So I went to making a template of the flames using old wrapping paper.  Clipped down an old shower curtain. I applied the template to the sleeve with painter's tape. I used Turquoise Design Masters spray paint . Both sides of the sleeve have flames. The back has smaller flames than the front which is where the fox applique will go.  I worked on the kimono in sections. It's a repeating pattern.  Ugh...so wrinkly still.  The paint dries nearly instantly so I set these things aside and work on the applique. First, I needed to paint the face.  I used an iron-on Ultra bond to stick it to the parts of the fox which consisted of the body, ...

 Today is a good day! Went out for sushi and hung out with a friend, then got home and cut out the second sleeve plus lining. And today I planned to dye the fabric. Here's how it went.  Dye Job At first I was going to dye all the pieces separately then sew them together. But then I figured, the main body of the kimono might have a more consistent color if I sewed some pieces together. So I did.  Body is sewn the sleeves unattached.  Then I prepped my fabric in the bathroom getting things wet.  Hanging things to make it easier to dip. Got my pot of dye heated up then put it in the bathtub. Dunkin' pot.  I kept the fabric on the hangers and dipped the pieces in the pot. I used some wooden chopsticks to help push and stir things around. Then used the shower with cold water to rinse after the dips. Kept rinsing until the water ran clear again.  Post dye dunk.  The body of the kimono got a second dunk dye to make it darker at the bottom. Now they're dr...

 Another little side jaunt into the progress and pitfalls of the project.  💢 Once again, I made an error in my calculations. (Math and I need couples counseling.) However, it's not just the number that was off but the fabric too. When I was first cutting the pattern I did not factor in the length of the sleeves very well. I have one outer sleeve and one sleeve lining.  In my head I thought, I should be able to get the other sleeve and lining with about a yard more fabric from a 60" bolt. I didn't want to spend $12 per yard again so I went with the slightly cheaper $6 version on fabric.com. And then I just had to wait for it to arrive.  I got it on Saturday after our mini-winter in Texas when the leasing office was open again. When I opened the bag, I noted that this version of Peachskin fabric was thinner than the one I was using everywhere else. And what was worse, I laid the pattern piece and realize...shoot...I can only get ONE sleeve out of this, not two.  ...

 Still waiting on that last bit of Peachskin fabric, so no kimono progress. But I was able to start working on the tail.  Obi and Tail Mechanics So first, the animatronic tail arrived which helps with where to place the tail on the costume. It's a tinge heavier than I expected so I do not think I want to attach it directly onto the Obi. The tail comes with a nylon webbing belt and a clip plate.  The tail comes out of the bottom of obi. While waiting for the tail to arrive I did make the above doodles to figure out where I could attach the clip plate. The Obi pattern requires a backboard which it suggests to be made from cardboard. But I could use something a bit sturdier like PVC board to make it strong enough to hold the tail. I could possible attach the clip to the Obi directly! However, because I want to reuse the tail skeleton for future projects, I will not go the route of attaching the tail directly to the obi. Instead, the current plan is to go the route of wearing...