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Army of Ogden Camis

black rayon ogden

Okay… Bandwagon jumper here. The Ogden Cami by True Bias is fantastic.

black crepe ogden

And it uses almost no fabric. Okay. It uses more than I’ve tried to throw at it, but still, very little.

kaylee ogden.jpg

So far in my army I’ve made 9 (but only have 8):

  1. Black rayon with embroidery around the armscye
  2. Black crepe (probably polyester)
  3. Paisley cotton, previously Kaylee Dress
  4. Blue rayon lawn, previously Ariel Culottes
  5. Suiting fabric, possibly a wool blend
  6. Heavy cotton with no drape, previously Uganda Dress
  7. Red Iron Man inspired, did not make it long enough for pictures
  8. Blue cotton, also seen in my first Archer shirt
  9. Black rayon dress!!! Bodice lined with embroidery on the front and back

The pictures in this post are in order, in case you’re curious.

blue rayon ogden

I’ve determined that there’s nothing I can do with that blue rayon. Even v2 didn’t work out well.

suiting ogden

I did notice that the first was very, very low cut on me. When I take up the straps about an inch, then it has a much more comfortable neckline. I think I probably need to do a FBA, but at this point, its cute, comfortable, and probably a big part of my summer and fall and spring (and maybe winter?) uniform. And I’ve been feeling lazy…

uganda ogden

Though, I will definitely emphasize that marking which side is back and which side is front is important… For the first three I did that by using a lining fabric as the back facing, but I forgot for the blue rayon, and I don’t ever know whether I’m wearing the front or the back of the thing…

archer leftover ogden.jpg

In the future (because I’ve already got 2 more planned) I want to steer clear of fabric with little drape. This definitely looks better with fabric that falls well. That’s why the Iron Man one didn’t last… It might have been medium weight twill, or at least it didn’t drape like a medium weight twill will.

And the dress. So this has a fully lined bodice, and a skirt that I really should’ve serged before I wore it. Basically I took the pattern, lopped off a couple of inches, pretended I was extending it on a new piece of paper, drafted a really simple skirt, drafted some (mediocre) pockets, and cut it out. It ended up being slightly dropped waist, and an excellent summery dress that is just soooooooo comfy. Oh, and I used some trim for the straps. To give it some flair. And I embroidered it. More on that to come.

styled ogden

And this is what it looks like (typically) when I’m wearing it at work: sweater or shawl or both!

Such a great stash/scrap buster, and flattering and comfy too!

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Mustard Knit Wrap Sweater

front

I’ve been wanting a “ballet sweater” for awhile… I’m not a ballet dancer, nor do babydoll styles seem to flatter me (meaning they don’t tend to make me feel great about my appearance), but I love the idea of a wrap sweater.

The idea was on my back burner for a long while.

2017 January saw me in Seattle for a conference, and I picked up two skeins of this lovely Royal Alpaca from Aslan Trends in a mustard gold color on sale. It’s supposed to be worsted, but it felt like a bit more than that as I knitted it up.

sleeve

I scoured Ravelry and discovered that none of the patterns fit my specifications (I guess I’m super picky?). So I knitted up a small swatch to get an approximate gauge, and then calculated out some general plans, then kind of threw them out the window and did it as I wanted. I know that I made the edging on purpose, and I made the i-cord edging first or concurrently to the making, and I went with kimono sleeves since they’re easy, and basically knit pretty much until I ran out of yarn.

back

The yarn did shed on me so much (and everyone was so nice to not point out that it was shedding all over my black shirts…), and it still does to a (marginally) lesser degree, which I’ve seen from my google searches happens a lot.

front2

What I do know is that this sweater is warm! For a very open weave it is very cozy, so it’s going to make an excellent sweater in cool weather, which **fingers crossed** its going to stay now. I was getting cross with the 85*F October days.

open
This is my “why are my downstairs neighbors so loud” face…
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Alanna the Lioness

Happy Halloween everyone!

start

Let me start by telling you a story of young Jess…

Once upon a time, there was a house down the road that was for rent, the only house in the neighborhood that was. This house throughout the years contained some of Jess’s most unusual friends, but most of that is fodder for another time.

One year a family moved in with two kids, and one of them was Alison. Alison was three years older, and had done and read so many more things, but still wanted to be friends with Jess (even though in elementary school years three years is a decade). She introduced Jess to Tamora Pierce’s books on Halloween (by dressing up as Alanna, if I remember correctly). And changed her life.

The Song of the Lioness quartet was not the first I read… I think Kel was first since I was closer to her age, then Daine, but the character that I got attached to deeply was Alanna.

pullingsword

She’s a warrior who’s also magical and has a cat who’s also a bit of a god… and she goes on cool adventures in far off lands… And I was a quiet kid that cried a lot and got bullied to varying degrees emotionally, to the point that I’m pretty sure some of it was imagined (which is essentially me bullying myself). Reading all of Tamora Pierce, but especially Alanna, got me through my child and teen-hood.

doesthisposemakemelookfierce

So I decided to show this love as a costume.

As with many of my costumes, I looked to make part of it so I could wear it in real life, which were the trousers I showed you last week. They’re on heavy rotation…

 

And I teased my prop sword and shield as well, though those aren’t real life applicable.

But I realized that I will not be able to use much more of this costume in my real life, so when I recognised it I felt free to just make. It also helps that the shirt fabric and all the bias tape was in my stash. The red linen was a purchase from Joann’s.

Both the shirt and the tunic are based on the Onyx top by Paprika Patterns (yay for TNTs!).

shirt

For the shirt, I added length to the sleeves and added cuffs, and raised the neckline plus added a “v” split for easy pulling on and off. The neckline is finished with yellow-gold bias tape, which was mostly applied by hand (because I didn’t have any matching thread. And didn’t want to buy more). Lots of pick stitching.

The sleeves were just lengthened straight from the armpit down, so I could get some volume at the cuffs, which I mostly just eyeballed. To match the cuff width with the sleeve width I pleated in the sleeve volume. The buttons… the buttons don’t work. I put snaps on the inside, and the buttons on the outside… Just in case I couldn’t actually button the cuffs myself. So… Convenience?

tunic

The tunic was basically the original top, just sleeveless and with the neckline raised a smidge. I lengthened the top until it hit “somewhere between hips and knees” but left slits on either side so I could get to my pockets (highly important at a con) and for movement.

patch

I used an embroidery machine to make a patch for the “breast pocket” area, which was so fun to watch. I love watching needles stab into the fabric… Maybe that’s too much.

Two more finishing touches rounded off the costume: the ember stone and Faithful.

ember

I’ve carried around this pendant for years and years now, not really sure what I wanted to use it for, so it was just something fun that I was able to incorporate.

And finally, Faithful. My companion. He is the reason why I was recognized, most of all. And no one was able to tell that his eyes were purple!

Faithful

First I bought this plushie once I realized I didn’t have the time or bandwidth to make a realistic cat. I made him a little “platform” out of denim and a mustard fabric, which I would then safety pin to my tunic. Then I put wire up his leg and tail so it would stay up. And then I painted his eyes so the irises would be purple, which mildly worked. Not well, but if you’re looking for it.

shieldup

And that’s my ode to Alanna. It’s been a long time coming, but I think this is the best time for me to portray her. I need a little of her spunk in my life right now.

(On a semi-related note, Sara Bareilles released a new song recently, and I have been listening to it on repeat.)

((Also, if you really like Tamora Pierce’s Tortall universe, but want to hear a discussion about it from a group of well read friends who are picking it apart from a 2017/2018 point of view, I’d highly suggest listening to the Tortall Recall podcast. While I don’t always agree with their takes, it’s fun and sometimes enlightening to listen to people discuss some of my favorite books in new to me ways. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, I just enjoy listening to them!))

alanna.jpg

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Not a Background Lannister – Prop Shield Tutorial

first

So I started with the trousers last Wednesday… The shield on Friday… Next up in the lead up to the costume reveal is the shield.

And boy am I proud of it!

I have access to a laser cutter, at my job, so I put together a “quick” file (it’s never quick) for a shield that would fit on one piece of plywood. I could’ve made a bigger one, but I was trying to be material conscious, and I’m glad I kept it at that size. The laser in question is technically two feet “wide” in material dimensions, and 4 feet long, but it’s a little bit smaller in both directions due to crookedness and use  over time.

I worked with 1/8″ plywood, and made this as solid looking, but light as possible. There are two fully solid pieces, with multiple border pieces, one set in between the solid pieces, and two sets on the front, and then the decorative pieces there too… This would be better explained in pictures…

alanna_pullapart

Yeah… Like that.

So I layered and glued everything together. It took awhile. What I should have done then, is sand those edges. I didn’t. Moving on.

edge

On the top of the shield I used wood filler and a putty knife to shove material into the seams so it was a fake beveled/routed edge. That’s honestly what took the longest. I’d put on wood filler, wait for it to dry, sand it, apply more when it inevitably chipped and repeat.

bevel
Yeah… not meant to see it up close.

I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get progress pictures as I went. So then I painted the shield. Chestnut brown on the back and sides, then red and gold on the front. The gold is Bright Gold Lumiere Jacquard fabric/universal paint, and the others are stash cheapo acrylic paints. Oh, I so love the Lumiere paints.

lioness
Gaah. I’m gonna stop it (mostly) with the close ups on this one.

On the back are two more sets of laser cut pieces, the main point of which was to provide some material for screws to connect to. Then I guesstimated sizes of leather to attach the shield to my arm, screwed it into the top and bottom bracers. I had to reattach the bottom ones to make them tighter so I could control the shield a bit better, but then I was completely done with the shield!

Lightweight, blocky and just what I needed.

It did mean that I hit a bunch of people accidentally, but… that’s being at a con, right?

I was not too surprised that this wasn’t the recognizable part of the costume (It looks too much like the Lannister crest, or Peter’s from Chronicles of Narnia), but I was surprised what was! You’ll have to tune in on Wednesday to figure out what I’m talking about!

corner

That probably sounded like a ending, but I’m popping back in again to say that though I made this with a laser cutter out of plywood, you could totally do something like this with a craft knife and some stiff foamboard or foam, and come out with similarly awesome results!

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Is the pen really mightier? – Prop Sword Tutorial

first

The first prop I needed to make was a lightweight sword. It had to be a short sword (so the double handed sword I bought at my first DC was out) and it had to be me-sized. So smaller.

full

I went to Michael’s one day to scope out the small plywood situation, and ended up with Basswood, I think with the dimensions 24″ by 4″ by either an 1/8 or 1/16″ but I’m not sure which. I also purchased an 1/8″ diameter dowel, which gave the sword it’s structure. That was the cheapest Michael’s trip ever, because with a coupon, the main part of the sword cost $2.50. Craft stores never work out that well for me, so I definitely gave myself a pat on the back for a good job. Or rather, I took myself out to see the Incredibles 2 (this was late July/early August. It was still in theaters.

I’m pretty sure I cut the basswood in half lengthwise, then I cut the pointy bit out, and tried to match on both sides. Most of this was done at night, so cue the bad phone pic here:

DSC_6980

I then taped the dowel to one of the sword pieces. Then I applied wood glue around the edge of the sword outline, and used every single clamp and binder clip I own to keep the pieces together.

DSC_6986

Then I left it for a few days, even though it probably only needed one.

I used a laser cutter to cut out pieces for the hilt from 1/8″ plywood that would slide onto the wooden dowel for stability, and I aimed for a hand and a half length. In the end I got a stacked result, then used wood filler to fill it in and round it slightly. It worked pretty well, though it might’ve worked better if my filler was wetter. It has gotten rather gummy over time. Regardless there was a lot of back and forth between gooping and sanding. Using cardboard would work pretty much just the same way, if you cut some layers and used wood filler and glue and tape to hide the corrugated edges!

hilt.jpg

Then came painting and sanding. I painted up the “blade” with white acrylic first, then with Lumiere Jacquard paint in silver. Then it was too shiny, so I sanded it. Repeat once more to see if anything changed. Add the line down the center (kinda… don’t look too close) and then sand again to blend that in.

For the hilt I first painted everything brown, then painted it with Lumiere Jacquard paint in bright gold.

jewel.jpg

And the jewel. Still the biggest pain in the butt of this project. When I was designing the laser cut part of the hilt I made pieces for the end that would allow the jewel to nestle in.

Then I tried hot glue, then superglue twice, and now E6000. It’s sticking for now.

point.jpg

So that’s how I made my prop lightweight sword!

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Stormy Grey Flint Trousers

grey flint - frontsmile

As of yet, the only garments I’ve made from the Flint trouser pattern by Megan Nielsen have been grey… Like flint.

Coincidence? Yeah. Funny? Probably only to me.

I’ve found myself lacking interest in fabric shopping. **gasp** When I have something to make and already know what kind of fabric I want to use, it won’t be at the (big chain) fabric store when I need it, and the hours at my (more expensive) local fabric store are inconvenient now.

grey flint - wide

But since i know how to dye fabric I’m choosing that option more and more!

For fabric i used this linen cotton blend from Dharma Trading and used their fiber reactive dye in 150 GUN METAL GRAY.

grey flint - sidewide

I bought 6 yards of the fabric for my stash, and probably used just over 2 yards for these trousers. Then came the evening when I spent two hours leaning over the tub and the paint bucket I use to dye the fabric. When the fabric came out of the bucket I was convinced I let it sit too long since it was almost black, but after putting it through the wash it turned up as this lovely stormy charcoal blue grey.

grey flint - pocketses

As for the pattern, I made a few alterations. First the same ones that I used for the shorts I made last year, cutting out about two inches from the rise. Then I lengthened it to full length by adding about 8 inches to the hem.

grey flint - front

I interrupt this broadcast to remind you that this is a linen cotton blend. This is to say, naturally relatively wrinkly, and also this is the third wear since it was last washed, and although it’s been hung up in between, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t being wrinkled… It happens. This public service announcement has been brought to you by “Jess just looked through the pictures for this post and grew concerned for her sanity.”

grey flint - back

I was banking on the hopes that the weird crotch and butt wrinkles I got with the shorts would be smoothed by the weight of the extra fabric. I think I was mostly right. There’s a bit of room for improvement there. I’m pretty sure I made a curved waistband.

When the trousers came together, though, the waistband still needed to be taken in, like with the shorts.

grey flint - buttons

I found these really cool plastic buttons in my stash, and I’m pretty sure they were bought in NYC at one of the shops that specializes in notions.

grey flint - bias binding
Can we pretend you don’t see any loose threads?

Oh, and did I forget to mention that I bound every seam with bias binding? I want these suckers to last!

Swishing around in these makes me so happy!

grey flint - neighbors

Soon, I’ll share what costume these trousers were made for!

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Diving Deep Shawl

This might be one of the quickest yarn-buying to final project finishes that I’ve had so far…

wings.jpg

I bought the yarn in January from Me & Ewe in Austin TX as part of my “buy yarn/fabric as souvenirs” initiative to help me stop buying stupid trinkets I don’t need and instead come out with things I’ll treasure. My backpack from last year’s fabric purchase is most definitely my most used item in my life.

It’s a fine single ply yarn that is a merino wool and silk blend from a spinner in Texas. The colors remind me of a tropical ocean under moonlight, or rather what I think that would look like.

spread

Then I got into a stage of my home life (at the time) where I realized that I couldn’t accommodate nearly every craft I’m fond of in my tiny hole of a room (only slightly bigger than a walk in closet) except for yarncrafts, which had easily accessible supplies and very little footprint.

back

So I got to searching Ravelry, bought this excellent pattern called Pearla Beaded Lace Shawl (though I chose not to bead it) from ByTheLilyPond.com, though I did purchase it on Ravelry.

I found it a pretty quick knit, and very intuitive to knit after a bit. I knit it all from looking at a computer, moving a rectangle around in Adobe Acrobat and scribbling a small key on the page so I wouldn’t have to continually scroll up and down, which made it easy to knit wherever I was. I’d most definitely make this shawl again, and I’ll consider it for the next time I go to a new place and buy yarn!

hemi

And I finished in early April. Between it and my NOLA Shawl I can wear a shawl with pretty much any item of clothing. Which is great! I love unusual accessories!

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Defense Dress

front cute

As I mentioned in my 2017 wrap up post, I defended my master’s and now I’m a free woman! Otherwise known as a member of the semi-normal work force.

But because I can’t help myself, even in the stress of preparing for my defense, I made a special dress to wear for the defense. It ended up being a small amount of stress relief and a chance to slow my brain down between turning in my manuscript and giving the oral defense.

To make my degree a bit full circle, I used the same pattern as when I had my very first grad school presentation… This is the Dandelion Dress pattern from Seamster Patterns, which is unfortunately no longer available. It’s essentially a very uniquely seamed shift dress/shirt, and I’ve made it a couple times now. I still wear my first version a lot, and I was hoping to recreate that magic.

side

Because I can’t stop myself, I had to make it more complicated… The fabric I bought from Fabric.com was not what I was expecting. I bought this printed boucle which I thought would be printed so that the boucle direction matched what looked like the print direction… That wasn’t true. The print was also much bigger than I expected and it was blaringly large in the original colors of navy and white. So I dyed it with some emerald procion green dye, and it turned out to be in my perfect color scheme! My accent fabric is a brushed navy twill that is sooooooo soft. A bit lighter weight than expected, but I’m not used to figuring out what 6oz feels like. I know for now though!

I used the twill on the front and back center and the sleeves, and the boucle for the large side pieces. The fit is okay. I don’t know whether it shrunk after the first wearing, or whether my first feels larger due to the slight stretch in the fabric. Neither of the fabrics for this version have any more than mechanical stretch, and I can feel it. About a year later now, and I’ve lost some of the “bad choices preceding defense” weight, it feels less tight, but now that I see how the back looks at least in pictures it’ll be relegated to job interviews and sweater days, since it doesn’t (easily) fit into my daily life until it gets cooler outside (it’s fall, but the weather isn’t complying).

front

For the pattern choices, I went with the rounded neckline, and I omitted the zipper again. This one is harder to wiggle into, but I still can… I do have to wear it over a slip or tights and slip shorts, because the boucle is just wiggly enough that you can tell whether there’s anything under it, and I really didn’t want to line it.

I love this dress, and it made me feel great wearing it on the day. I passed (with some flying colors if I do say so myself)! And I’ve worn it a few times since. The sleeves are a little tight when I bring my arms forward, but not cut off circulation, just uncomfortable and unflattering… So with sweater, yes! Without sweater, maybe. Also there aren’t pockets, so a sweater with pockets is ideal.

When editing the pictures I saw how crummy the back looks, but I can say that at least 25% of the wrinkles are from wearing it all day, and I’d guess that 50% is that the swayback doesn’t match my body curve (but without a zipper I can’t do better) and that the final 25% is that I tend to underestimate the amount of backfat/bulk that my back carries. I’m no football lineman, but I definitely have to make back adjustments on tight patterns,  and I never did on this one.

I’m no longer working in an office environment, so this will end up relegated to the job interview/special event part of my wardrobe, but the memories that I have with this dress are something I’ll never stop believing in…

Too cheesy?

disturbed.jpg

Also, I found this picture and now I’m super curious what caused this expression…

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Ocean Waves Purse

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Purses have not often been my thing. I’ll carry them, find a perfect one for that month or year, and then drop them.

The closest to perfect I’ve come is a small leather purse that I bought for 17 euros from an Aldi near Duesseldorf about 10 years ago. I still have it. But this purse was made in the beginning of the smartphone, and does not have enough room for both a phone and a wallet. No matter what the size of the wallet. And forget about keys.

inside

So I set off to make one that would fit the things I might need on a day out when I don’t . I listed the things I needed to fit: keys, wallet, phone. Then things I’d like to bring: a notebook, pouch of markers, maybe my ballroom dance heels. That last one’s a stretch.

front2

I then did far too much research on making a leather purse, and ended up finding this Russian tutorial, which has a pretty clear procedure, and a reasonable looking pattern. I did end up altering the pattern, to make the purse a bit larger and make the front flap larger so it falls closed better, and I put a different pattern on the front, but overall I followed the general step by step.

flap

A game changer for me was to put tape on the suedey side of the leather, so it won’t stretch out when you shape it.

I made this out of nearly all of the leather bellies I’ve got left. Those were carried around with me for about two moves since I last used them, so it was time to get them cut up. I might have just enough to squeak out a strap, but I don’t have the hardware, so I haven’t checked into it.

skive

After the cuts were made, I skived all of the pieces thinner, by about 25%, and also the edges to make it easier to turn them. It did make the inside nice and somewhat even, and less shaggy, but only a little.

top

Then I brought the entire project into my workplace (on a weekend when we were closed) and dampened and stamped the leather for 9 hours… So many hours. Lots of tv while I was waiting for leather to dry just enough to stamp. Lots of punching holes. So many holes.

front

If you don’t know (though I’ve probably said it enough), I got my master’s in marine physics, so I did learn a lot about ocean waves… Most waves do not look like this, but I’m totally okay with it. I know better and I’m ignoring it.Cool?

Cool.

ring

Then I used some wax threads to sew it together, and then also fastened it with suede leather lacing. There’s D rings for the top of the purse to attach the straps, and it used to have a bar at the bottom of the front to hold the flap down, but it broke. Probably never going to fix it, if we’re being honest.

inside2

And then I took some yarn and the remaining leather lacing to braid together a temporary strap. That may turn out semi-permanent.

I coated it with some weatherproofing wax that I used on the belts I made waaaaaaaaay back in the blog.

lasercut

Ooh, and then there was the little bit of laser cutting I did on the back. I had designed the initials a few months ago, and I sometimes bring them out and use them. Inevitably I’ll have the discussion about who K is, but I know that it says JS, even if no one else does.

back

And that’s that!

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Sewing Journal – Shop Update

I started using a bullet journal is 2016, I think. And some of the pages are simple, like my log of savings and investment account tallies, and some are more complicated, like anything related to DragonCons.

patterns.jpg

After getting the basic setup, I was thinking of what pages I could add, and there were a lot, but one of the first was a log of what sewing patterns I already owned, both clothing and other. Later I figured out that I don’t have any non-garment patterns, that I can find at least. It’ll be my overflow, when I get that many patterns.

sketches

Sometimes I’ll use my bujo for sketching as well, like in this Summer Sewing and Knitting Plan. Was I super ambitious with this? Yes. Was it created about two weeks before I realized I had to get my butt in gear for DragonCon? Yes. Am I happy that at least 2 of these are complete? Absolutely.

alterations

One of the earlier pages was just a simple list of alterations that I needed to make, since I’m firmly in camp “fix it and only get rid of it if you can’t love it” but also camp “put it in a corner until you feel like dealing with it.” Writing it down makes it more real for me.

I’m not good at keeping up with daily, monthly, or even irregular logs, though. I get about 5 month spurts of bujo usage and then it gets shelved for a few months. I’m about to give my bujo another go, but I decided to keep my sewing stuff separate this go around.

So I needed a sewing journal! I started with the pages I knew I needed, so I made ones to match those above (these are now called “Sewing Patterns I Own” and “Sketches” and “Alterations to Make”), as well as some for fabrics, and some for projects.

fullplanner

Here’s the official list of pages:

Customizable title page where you can write in your name
Title page that simply states “My Sewing Journal” (because you know who you are!)
Sewing Patterns I Own
Sewing Patterns I Want
Specific pattern notes
Specific pattern notes with lines
Index for fabric (20 lines)
Index for notions
Fabric description page with room for type, color, quantity and description for three fabrics per page
Fabric description page with room for the above and a 2” square swatch for three fabrics per page
Measurements. We need them, so here’s a page.
Planning page for organizing six projects with fabric and patterns
Specific project page for making plans and notes
Specific project page for making plans and notes with lines
Alterations page for cataloguing six alterations to make
Mood board page
Sketches page

titlepageprojectpages2projectpagespatternpagesmeasuringfabric indexfabricpages

The file is designed for letter sized paper, since I live in the US, but if I were going to paste these pages into a notebook, I’d probably shrink them in the printer menu to a smaller size and cut them with scissors. It’s crossed my mind to do that, but for now it makes sense to me to keep it in my filing cabinet, since I’ve got the space.

So if this is something you’re interested in printing and using yourself, check it out at this link, and you can find the rest of my Etsy shop here!

(I am thinking about making one for yarnstuffs, since I also have a bit of a yarn hoarding problem… Let me know if you’re interested!)