2015 Archives • Page 2 of 5 • Jessica Smith Creates

November 24, 2015August 19, 2018

Forest Dandelion

I made this for Indie Pattern Month back in June, but it’s taken me this long to fall in love, I guess.

Partly because of the way it hang as a dress, and partly because as much as I try to stay healthy, summer tends to bring out the junk food and bad habits for me, and this dress is not very forgiving in the stomach area. To be honest, my stomach area is my personal self esteem weak point, and I try my best to help myself in that area by making clothes that I feel good in.

So I cut off the bottom of the dress and made it a tank!

I’ve worn it a bunch now, and I love it this way!

Details then…

This was really the third iteration. The first was a straight mockup of the smallest size made of stretchy fabric, specifically the leftovers from my Peanut Butter Cup bodysuit. It wasn’t terrible, but I needed to make some alterations. I added room to the bum region at the center back seam, and I added a bit in the bust area, plus I “reattached” the yoke pieces to the main pieces, so I wouldn’t need a seam there.

The second version was using a fairly stable, with more give than stretch, ponte I think. Definitely feels like polyester, and I love this version. Except the print is definitely not my thing, it being so floral and dark. It makes some awesome pajamas, though. The neckline was too high for my vision of the final dress, so I lowered the neckline, and I cut in a Merida-type notch.

Then the final version. This is where it kinda went downhill, sadly. The fabric was a stretchy t-shirt jersey. Pretty soft, but it wasn’t stable or uber stretchy, and it has very little drape. I used the exact same shapes as the red floraly one, but I was getting butt wrinkles, and it wasn’t flattering. I took in the center back a lot, and all the way around the inner panels a few times. Eventually, this caused the bust to start wrinkling, so I added in a dart, which mostly affects the top layer. Finally, I ended up with something that mostly fit, and felt fairly comfortable.

I got pictures for IPM, but then I stopped wearing it. I couldn’t figure out what was bothering me about it, then two weeks ago I realized. I could see my stomach poking out, and that was my issue. So I tried it on, cut a notch in the center, added in an uneven hem, and voila!

All better!

Internally, I’ve labeled this my Merida tank, in keeping with my plan for most makes to have closet cosplay potential, and I think it fits nicely. Sometime soon I’ll accessorize appropriately and show you!

November 23, 2015

Coming Soon to a blog near you

Hey there!

It has now been a smidge over a month since I last posted… I had this huuuuuge project/presentation that took over my life, and then I took a week to begin finishing up some projects.

But I have so much to tell you!

We haven’t even remotely discussed Halloween. Which needs to happen. Because I had an exciting week!

I’ve now made two self drafted garments, one of which is actually finished, and the other is… in progress.

There’s still some pieces that have been finished for many months that I want to share but need pictures.

And I’ve realized that I’ve completed a few costumes but have forgotten to take a picture of them as a whole. So as long as the weather cooperates, I should get some full pictures of those.

Because, since we’re on the topic of completed costumes, did you notice the changes I’ve made to the site? It was time for a banner update, since I’ve been out of that apartment for nearly two years now, and I figured that I might as well update the colors a bit as well. I was contemplating changing the theme itself, but I couldn’t find another free one that I liked nearly as much. And I added a new set of pages that will be devoted to finished costumes with links to the in process posts, as I finish and photograph costumes of course? I’ve already started to get loads of traffic to my site about my Susan quiver, so I’m glad the information is all centralized now.

Well, I guess that’s it on my end… for now!

October 20, 2015August 19, 2018

Farewell to Narnia

It has been a long journey to get here.

I started planning this costume nearly three years ago, just before I started this blog. I had fallen in love with it when I first saw ‘Prince Caspian,’ and even working in a costume shop, I had never thought about making it for myself.

During my senior year of college, I finished my first overbust corset, thinking that it would be used for this costume… I’m still a little sad that I won’t be able to use it for this costume. I also got the fabric for the underskirt and the dress itself, which was quilting cotton and poly-satin, respectively.

Last summer I made the “sleeves” and the underskirt, and attached the sleeves to the corset. Not my brightest idea.

In late summer, or early autumn, I showed you the two posts about creating my quiver.

Over the past year, I drafted the overdress from the corset pattern, constructed it from the lining fabric (turquoise satin) as a muslin, then used those pieces to cut out the real fabric and sew it up. That was early autumn of last year. Then I stalled for months. At the end of the spring semester I started sewing the trim onto the top, and when I had the trim mostly on, I stalled again deciding what pattern I really wanted to paint. I got so fed up with it mid-July that I started on it with dots and then worked on the pattern as I went. I finished the painting mid-August, right before school started, and happy with myself, forgot that I actually needed to finish it.

I decided on the last Monday in September that I needed to finish the dress and get it photographed that weekend. This costume deserved better than my living room.

So a friend volunteered to be my photographer, and told me about this awesome library, and here are some of the photos!

It’s about time after 2.5 years, right?

Maybe I’ll get pictures outside sometime, but for now I love these pictures, and this library!

October 19, 2015August 19, 2018

Really the first pair of Tanias

Confession time. I’ve been really procrastinating with making up this post. I made these back in May, and I do like them a lot, but actually wearing them to take pictures has been the hold up.

I showed you my second pair of Tanias, since I entered them in the Monthly Stitch contests in June, but I’ve been procrastinating on these ones.

Picture taking is getting boring, especially since I don’t have a nice porch anymore. I have a porch, but it faces the inside of my apartment complex, so posing there make me feel super weird.

And there’s no good place inside my apartment as well.

But I finally managed the pictures. They’re not fantastic, but here goes!

These are the Tania culottes from Megan Nielsen.

The fabric is a linen mix from Joann Fabrics, and it has a nice body and drape, but before getting washed a few times, they were excessively scratchy at the crotch area.

I think I cut the size large, since that was supposed to be my waist size, and I cut out the XL length. It’s not too short, but its certainly not long.

The construction went easily and quickly, and the first time I wore them I noticed two things.

The waistband was too big at the top of it, but fit well at the bottom. And the crotch seam was a bit too low for me. I think its supposed to be low, but with the linen and my lack of thigh gap, my thighs were rubbing against each other and the seam, and they got a bit raw.

So I took in the top of the waistband a little, and sewed the crotch seam another half inch in.

It’s definitely more comfortable now, and it was nice in the heat of summer when I wanted to stay cool, and if I get a fall (it seems like its skipped fall and headed straight to winter here) it’ll be nice to wear with some tights, since the linen is heavy enough to not get too static-y.

So, I’m nowhere near caught up on the backlog I’ve got, but this is a nice start!

September 18, 2015

Priorities

My office-mate called me out a few days ago for prioritizing Doctor Who over socializing.

And he’s been to my house and sees my cubicle every day… He knows I’m obsessed.

But realistically, its about connection for me.

When I think about Doctor Who, or any of my many favorite shows and movies, I’m reminded of my fun times with friends or family members where we talked about, laughed about, geeked about these shows.

And its not like I don’t have unusual prioritizations anyway…

Most of the time, homework is the top priority, unless its actually due, which is pretty normal.

TV/movies are always high on the list.

edit — (Not Doctor Who, but equally special to me, my Susan Farewell dress from the Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian movie)

Sewing is next, with an emphasis on costumes, and again nothing with a due date.

Knitting is an all the time endeavour, since I’ve got bus projects, like these socks I’m working on, but if I can’t work on it on the bus, it typically follows sewing.

Other crafts have their time too… mostly whenever I’m really interested. Or want something…

And then there’s socializing. Last on the list. I like persons, of course. I do. But I like my alone time a lot as well, especially after spending all day at various offices and in random classes. And buses. All the buses. There’s something about laying on my couch and completely avoiding dealing with people that is so lovely.

So even if I am watching Doctor Who with a close friend and a Whovian that I haven’t met yet on Saturday, I don’t really care whether that means I’m not socializing with everyone I know… Maybe I’ll spend an hour at my office-mate’s potluck, but when 9pm nears there will be nothing to keep me from my Doctor Who premiere. And the connections I’ll make with that.

Because I know that two of my closest friends will likely be attending in their own homes too. And being together separately is a great thing.

September 15, 2015August 19, 2018

Syrah and Netties

At least for midseasons, so Fall and Spring, I have fulfilled my wearable blanket dreams.

Meet Syrah, version 2.

This fabric is fuzzy, and yummy, and just barely stripey. It was also free, since my parents gave it to me as a gift. Actually the same gift as the green one, so I got two maxi skirts for nothing as basically a gift. Did I mention its fuzzy?

I just want to pet it.

Forever and always.

I made this Syrah in nearly the same way as my green version.

I changed up the pockets in theory. I tried to make them flatter, which I did succeed at. They’re a bit too small now though, so I’m not sure it worked well. I can still fit my keys and phone, but my hands don’t fit.

The waistband is also the flat one. I like the ruched one, but I can’t wear a shirt over it, if I’m having a large tummy day (because isn’t food wonderful?). The flat one works much nicer for this purpose. I like wearing shirts tucked in with it, but its nice to have the option.

It’s just such a comfy skirt!

Plus, it works really well with my new Nettie shirts!

I’ve had this black thin t-shirt from Forever 21 for years. It never fit very well, but it was necessary for my first job, and I’ve had no reason to get rid of it… except for the holes from acid and a few little stains.

But if I was getting rid of it, I needed to replace it. So when I went fabric shopping a few months ago, I tuned into the black jersey fabric. I actually found two, one that was very t-shirt stable and opaque, and one that was super drapey and silky with a hint of sheer. I couldn’t decide which was better, so I bought both, and they’re super comfy.

The pattern is the same as my turquoise one, and construction and everything are the same. By now, I can churn one of these out in just over an hour, if I set my mind to it. I am getting some wrinkles from the underarm, which I’ll try to fix on future Netties, but overall, these were a great choice!

Comfort is key, and all three of these makes are fantastic in that department.

Cause nothing beats a wearable blanket!

August 3, 2015August 19, 2018

Tote of Wonderful IKEA Goodness

My former roommate brought me this fabric one day last year and said, “I bought this cause I was thinking of something like curtains for my house and then our color scheme changed. Would you like it?”

Of course!

It’s a decorator weight fabric, definitely. Strangely, I made a dress out of this stuff once. Much too stiff.

But it’s the perfect weight for a bag!

I recently came into temporary possession of a second laptop, for work. I’m trying my best not to do anything personal on it, which is moderately working, so often I bring in my personal laptop for lunchtime and when MATLAB is taking its good old time.

But if I shoved both laptops, both power cords, a lunch, a snack, my purse, a notebook, and other little bits into any bag I own then I would never be able to find anything.

I’m not a big bag person, but this thing is massive.

It’s a rectangular prism shape, with nice thick straps. There are individual pockets for each laptop, and each powercord. In height, it’s about two inches taller than my bigger laptop is wide. There’s two bento-box shaped pockets in the remaining area inside, one roughly the shape of each of my bento boxes. That way, either box would fit for lunch, and the second pocket holds the purse, snack, etc. And on one of these inner pockets, I

The entire bag is lined, since the lining is where I constructed the pocket frame.

All of these pockets are free floating, though, except one that is sewn down. I didn’t have the patience to continue after the pain that one caused me.

In hindsight, it would have been better to shape the sides as trapezoids (or trapeziums if that’s your fancy), but I wasn’t thinking that far ahead. To keep the sides from gaping open uncontrollably I attached two lines of a thin elastic across the long side. This thing holds everything I need to survive a day at the office. Or two days on occasion.

Super duper handy.

July 30, 2015August 19, 2018

Peggy Trousers

Peggy Carter is my hero.

Granted, my favorite Avenger is Iron Man, and I only watched the first Captain America a few times, but I knew during the first watch that Peggy was awesome.

And then they gave her a show. Cause she’s brilliant.

My costume situation is currently… complicated. My Claudia was basically finished, but I wanted to switch out the zipper on the vest for a separable one, and that’s when I saw the massive pit stains. Why must white be so terrible? Belle is essentially finished sewing and stuff-wise, but I’m deciding/working on the hair. I’m keeping my hair shorter, and its just to short to be both curly and Belle-like, so I’m working on a hairpiece to assist. Susan is being painted, and the TARDIS needs a skirt, so I’m currently fully booked on costuming.

But I couldn’t resist starting another costume.

I have a problem.

I’m rationalizing it in this case by saying that these are work appropriate, surprisingly comfy, and very fun to swish around in.

Cake Patterns has always been a favorite of mine, even if I haven’t made much from them. I love the designs, even if I don’t want to wear all of them. So when they put out a woven pants pattern, I knew that I had to have it. Plus, they’re wide legged, and I wanted to try that style.

I had just cut into some fabric for a Ginger Jeans muslin (the fabric of which was a bad choice because it had no stretch. Trust me, you want some stretch for that.), and after getting some whiskering, I wanted to take a break before cutting into my really expensive denim.

There’s been this brown twill sitting on my shelf for at least half a year. I’m not even sure where I got it, but it was perfect for the Endeavor Trousers. Just a little stretch, and its quite a lovely bottomweight. I realized that it was the perfect color for a Peggy costume, and these wide legged trousers fit into that theme too. So on the 4th of July, I started this Endeavor. Hee hee. Puns.

I made up the pattern with the side zipper, and pretty much followed the pattern exactly. It’s very high waisted, which is a lot on my small frame, but that made it a little easier to fit, since the way the waist laid made the crotch drop just a smidge, and that solved the fitting problems there. I did take off around 3 inches from the side seams, and the pockets are much too deep for me, so I’m going to need to shorten them on future pairs. The side seams might have been because of the stretch, though. And I had to use a normal zipper, so eventually I’ll need to find a heavy duty invisible zipper. It bubbles a bit, which creates these weird bumps, as you can see on the right side below.

I was also getting some creasing at the back yoke, so I ended up making a horizontal dart. My swayback game seems quite strong.

The waistband and pocket lining are the same quilting cotton as my project satchel, and I love it!

The hem requires some sort of heel, though, since I knew I’d want to wear heels for a costume. It doesn’t limit them, but it does limit my comfy footwear. Gave me a chance to wear my original Belle heels! The hem is only held up by Steam a seam, though, and it might not be holding up well, so I could shorten it if I want.

I also did a makeup test, and it was my first time contouring. Not sure it worked/was worth the effort, but I think it’s a snazzy face. The red lips are definitely fun, at least. I’m working on pin curls, but I will probably want to do one of her ponytail styles anyway. This was not a good hair day, and without pin curls, but it is generally what I’ll probably be doing. The makeup might also work for Belle, though I need to decide if a more costumey contouring could give me more rounded cheeks… Choices…

The week that I decided to do this costume, I found a lovely red fedora on Ebay, and I couldn’t let it go, so with a blouse and a satchel, I could complete this costume. Sure, the red hat would be a little out of place for that outfit, but it would be a valid way to identify as Peggy! Once I get a bit further into the costume, I’ll show you the hat… AKA I forgot to take a picture…

Blouse draping is hard, though, so it might be awhile before the next update on this costume. But is that news for anyone?

July 20, 2015

Evolution of Me

The past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about my style, and how its evolved over the past few years.

There’s some things that haven’t changed.

I still don’t wear much makeup. Much is even an overstatement. Really, if I’m wearing makeup, its because I was playing with makeup and couldn’t get it all off, so I had to compensate. Or I was dressing up for something. If you see me wearing contacts, that’s even more rare, but often overlaps with these same reasons. I am better at makeup, but that’s because I’ve been practicing for cosplaying reasons.

I still love jeans. I need to get better at either picking better fitting ones, or just suck it up and make them. I’ve got the Ginger Jeans pattern, and the denim, so its a matter of time. Maybe I’ll be motivated when it isn’t summer.

But it is summer, and even though its my second summer in the South, I still can’t handle it. Granted, last summer I spent it hiding in my house making stuff. It was a productive summer, but it was nice when I left the house before 7pm, or more often than twice a week.

I’ve mentioned it before, but this summer I’m kinda working in an office, and unfortunately, shorts are not exactly appropriate attire. My boss wears them, but he’s the only one I’ve seen in the whole office building in them.

Skirts and jeans are my go to choices this summer, which I bet are not surprising, as its kinda (casual) office attire. But it was a revelation for me. Why, I’ll never know.

But two years ago, when I was really starting to get going with this blog, I would never have dreamed of wearing a maxi skirt, or a short skirt really, or dresses half the week. I knew I started this blog for costuming, but by now its been a few costume pieces, and lots of other clothing and stuff. And I’m okay with that.

I definitely never thought I’d be making myself t-shirts. I do think that culottes are pretty resourceful. Who doesn’t like “skirts” that don’t have Marilyn moments? And last year’s bodysuits? Rarely worn, but for all the shirts I’ve been making from the same pattern, totally worth it.

I have two distinctly different looks during the school year. Either really put together on tutoring/presentation days. The days where I’m really making an effort to look my age. Instead of teenager-college aged. Because that’s the other set of days. Jeans and t-shirt days. Or snuggly sweaters, when the weather is appropriate.

And my wardrobe is evolving to reflect this.

I haven’t bought clothes (excluding undergarments) from a (non-thrift) store in over a year now, and I’m extremely proud of that. Until I remember that I have some shorts and jeans to replace.

I’m learning, and loving it. My knowledge of sewing comes from quilting, so I still have a problem remembering seam allowances bigger than quarter inch. My knowledge of clothing, though, comes from costuming, so the inside of my makes may not be pretty, but if my shape fluctuates, I know I can fix it. I will say that I miss costuming weekly, if not daily, which has led to binge watches of musicals on Youtube.

Let me tell you, Legally Blonde the Musical is perfection.

My average backup is 5 projects that don’t make it to the blog ‘on time.’ It’s even better when I get them posted in the same season.

So what is my current 5 project backup? You should expect to see these soon:

1. A tote bag to rectify my two laptops situation.

2. A second maxi skirt. This one is closer to satisfying my wearable blanket ideal.

3. Wide legged trousers for a new cosplay/Halloween plan

4. Two black t-shirts again made from the Nettie pattern

5. A knit Dandelion dress. Also a subtle Merida based dress

And a bonus:

6. My first pair of Tania culottes, which I still haven’t managed to show you.

These are all made, but its the photographing and writing stages that I haven’t quite gotten to.

Okay, reflection time is over. I’ve got a shirt to fit, and some (paying) work to get to.

But I hope you enjoyed the ramblings!

July 1, 2015August 19, 2018

Miter by the Sea

To end the old backlog, I’ve come to show you my awesome shell.

In March, about a week before Spring Break, I was on Facebook well past my bedtime, and I saw that Cake Patterns was looking for testers for some of their new tops. I jumped at the chance, especially because I knew I’d have some built in sewing time. I jumped on board with their Miter Shell.

Of course, then the envelope with the pattern arrived and I sat there staring at it.

Firstly, I was facing the fact that my perfect week off had to include a Chemical Oceanography take home midterm, as well as a math program in Matlab that I had been already putting off for a week.

So of course, after putting off all of these things until the end of the week, I spent the Friday before school started back up not doing homework, but instead working on this new pattern.

I made the Espresso leggings a few years ago, and it was lovely. I’m not a leggings person… at least not unless their a pajama replacement. Or a replacement for tights in winter. But I still wear these leggings, and as soon as the inspiration strikes, I’ll take the pattern out again.

This means I was already familiar with the type of pattern, with the sizing and the connecting the dots loveliness.

I connected the appropriate dots, pulled out my roll of IKEA drawing paper that I use for patterns, and I traced and cut to my heart’s delight.

First I made it up in this orange mystery athletic wear knit that I had just received in a mystery fabric bundle thing. To be honest, the stuff had very little recovery, I used a stitch that was waaaaaay to small, and I found the back “laces” too large, so along with the lack of recovery, they were sagging (and they felt even more saggy). Also, with the square neckline, and my arguably large bra cup size, and therefore high “cut” of a bra, there was an inch of bra showing at the corners.

At that point, I kinda hated my creation. In a Frankenstein sort of way. Let’s start with the fact that it was bright neon orange. I’m not a bright orange kind of person. So I had very little interest in making this draft work, especially fiddling with it all day. (Also my day probably started at 11am. So all day may be misleading).

I went back to my homework until Sunday.

After spending all that time musing, in between chem and math, I realized that the only thing that I really needed to do to fix this was raise the neckline. I did that a little bit in the drafting, but mostly by taking up the shoulder seams. After that I shortened the neckline and arm binding to match, and cut the fabric. (I cut this one, the top of my Nettie dress, and my Nettie top all at once, so I knew for a fact that I didn’t have enough for the back weave, since I was eeking out everything I could just to get all three). I still needed something for the back weave, so I pulled out my collection of vintage notions, and found these lovely seam binding laces in the perfect colors. Of course, I didn’t have enough of either color, but I did have enough for a cool looking pattern!

This is such a comfy shirt. In reality, the weave rarely sees the light of day, mostly due to my cardigan obsession no matter what the outside temperature, but I think its such a nice touch. In the future, I might take in the back a smidge, to reduce the draping a bit. It’s nice when I’m not standing straight, which if I truly face it is most of the time, but it looks so loose in pictures. And the shoulders are quite wide on my uber narrow ones, so I might skinny those up too. Who knows, though. I might forget!

I’ve been waiting to share this with you for over three months, but I can now share that all of the Tidepool Collection, including this one, the Miter Shell, is up for sale on SewingCake.com. I’m definitely getting the Endeavor Trousers soon.

**I’d like to reiterate that all of these opinions are based on the testing copy, and I am unable to make remarks on the final product. But I’m sure its fabulous!