Superhero Costumes - Part 3

After making the specifications I could then begin to draw up the pattern for the Superman t-shirt. This is something I have learned to do since working for Cohen and Wilks and I think it will be really useful for my final year at university.

 Once I knew how wide the top would be then I made a small pattern for the Superman logo to be appliqued to the front. This was done by cutting out the outline shape in 3 layers of fabric - 2 yellow (to stop showthrough of the blue) and one layer of red. I then cut out the red part to give the logo and pinned this in place onto the yellow fabrics. I used a zig-zag stitch to completely secure the "S" in place.

I really love the effect of this as it looks smooth, and neat and I know there is no chance the fabric could fray or spoil. If I was to do this again however I would use an interlining just to stiffen the red fabric as little, as I found it did move as I stitched it.

 

I then placed the logo onto the front of the fabric and stitched this into place. Next I stitched the front and back together at the side seams and shoulder seams.

My next steps to complete this part of the costume is to finish the seam allowances, stitch in the sleeves, stitch the hem, cuffs and collar. and this part will be complete. I will put up a photo of Nathan wearing it once it has been completed.

All photos are from my camera.

Running Away to Liverpool

In February, I found out I'd won some money in a competition so me and my boyfriend Nathan decided we'd run away to somewhere for the weekend and have some spontaneous fun!

Liverpool was my first choice with so much culture, and I knew Nathan would enjoy it because of the city's links to the Beatles. I'd definitely recommend the Tate Liverpool, the Maritime Museum, spotting the "Lambananas" and also heading to the Hard Days Night Hotel and looking around in the nearby Beatles' shops. It was definitely a weekend to remember and

I've added some photos below to show our weekend away, which was so much fun I wish I had the money to run away every week!

Photos are from my camera you can see the full album here.

Thanks to Nathan Whitehouse for allowing me to post the pictures with him in!

Upcycling - Turning Jeans into a Skirt

Over Easter, I had a few days off from work, and during this time I decided to do a big Spring Clean. This involved everything (except my boyfriends things of course) from clothes to collected clutter. I then went through all my clothes to decide which fabrics I wanted to use, to those things that were suitable to give to charity. I found I had a pair of Topshop jeans that weren't too battered and beaten to be chucked away, and that were a nice denim that it could be useful to use in design journals next year.

Then I thought about Upcycling these jeans into a denim skirt - it is summer after all! So here is how I did it:

 

 I took the jeans pictured above, and I cut them at the knees (as in the picture below), much longer than I anticipated the skirt to be, so that I could choose the desired length later, and leave enough extra on the hem the skirt.

I then opened the Inside Leg seams to open the jeans into a skirt. The Front Rise was unpicked to the bottom of the zip fastening and the back rise was unpicked up to halfway of the seam.

I then changed the way the back rise sat, eliminating the curve as much as possible to create a straight seam. I then added the extra top-stitching as in the original design of the jeans.

 

At this point, I cut the skirt to the desired length with added hem depth. I then pinned the front rise so that it overlapped under the zip and lay flat. I cut up part of one of the remaining legs to add an insert into the front where the inside legs now opened out. I then stitched this in place following the original design of the top-stitching.

 

To finish the skirt I hemmed it, and pressed it. The finished result can be seen below!

 

I would really recommend Upcycling your old clothes, maybe you find something boring now and would like to update it's style? It took me 2 and a half hours to change these jeans into a skirt, and it is definitely worth taking the time to do it.

Feel free to let me know what you've upcycled!

Images are from my own camera.

Superhero Costumes - Part 2

The next part of my superhero journey was fabrics - this always gets me more excited about a task as I can start to visualise it. I know I should have really made specifications first to minimise fabric waste, however I like having spare fabric left over afterwards.

So below is a photo of the fabrics for both costumes, I already think they look very superhero-esque!

I bought these fabric from Samuel Taylors in Leeds, you will find their website here.

Image is from my own camera.

Superhero Costumes - Part 1

Well, it's been a while since I have posted on here, but I'm about to start a little project in preparation for a night out to celebrate my boyfriends 21st birthday.

So the plan is, to go out on a pub crawl with a bunch of friends all dressed as different superheroes. As a fashion design student, who loves a challenge, I have decided to make our costumes. I will create specs, make patterns and sew, sew ,sew until my heart is content.

Our choices for heroes are...

Superman

and...

Wonder Woman

It's all very exciting! I'm really looking forward to making our very own outfits, so I thought I'd document the little story on here and show you my journey along the way!

There will me more posts to follow soon!! I hope you enjoy.

The images are from google.co.uk