Tag: hack

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Agent Carter

We’re in a crazy time right now, and while I’ve regained the time of my commute I’m making the most of it, trying to get my blog up to date, as well as make more stuff! According to my drafts folder, I’ve got 12 posts in the works, and that’s not counting anything I’ve made so far in 2020… Which is a fair bit.

So you’ll likely hear a lot from me in the next month or two, and maybe that’ll kickstart my old blogging energy!

And back to the regularly scheduled- Wait. This dress was made in 2017. That’s three years ago! That’s a whole blog changeover ago. While I go hang my head in shame, enjoy my post about this Peggy dress.

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A loooooooong time ago, I made a dress based off of Peggy Carter’s purple dress in Agent Carter’s episode, “A View in the Dark.”

I remember very little of making it, or the muslin that is shown here in green, but I do remember a few things.

The material that I chose for the green muslin was a relatively medium weight linen/poly blend that had some nice drape, but could hold it’s shape rather well. The purple was instead a very heavy polyester corduroy, and shed like crazy. It’s almost no wonder that the dresses didn’t fit the same.

I modified the dress from the Deer and Doe Belladone, which I had used for a binge of dresses earlier that year, by changing so much that it’s almost not the same garment. This is why I made the not-common for Jess move of making a muslin (I know, I know. Muslins are useful, but sometimes I just want to jump into the real thing and just try it!). And I love the muslin, and one day I will actually line the bodice of the muslin, so that I can wear it again.

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The belt was made out of some gorgeous lace that I inherited from one of my mom’s friends. I painstakingly cut flowers from the lace, handstitched them to a silver painted sew in interfacing in black, then attached the interfaced flowers to a fleece backing and stitched on ribbons and hooks and eyes for the closures. It’s still my go to belt for dressing up relatively plain things that need waist definition, like my Future Dress.

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I wore the costume to DragonCon in 2017, but only on Monday, when only super obvious costumes get recognized (because nearly everyone is hungover from excitement and non-stop parties and new friends), and it was too hot for Atlanta on Labor Day. Remember heavy polyester corduroy?

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Later that year, I tried to wear it to a swing dance, and it… Well, I kind of hulked out of it. It was near the end of my Master’s degree, or perhaps right after, and I had gained a bit more… numerically…  in the tummy region. I managed to slither into the dress, and then when I got into the car and drove down the block (picture reversing and the automatic twists of the torso to make sure you’re not hitting the neighbor’s car when coming out of the driveway) before the side seam split, and the waist seam gave way. Not my proudest moment. But the material lives on in my ottoman-pouf, and the green dress lives on, and is definitely more my normal style anyway… Polyester corduroy is decidedly not.

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Rust Bucket

Late last year I made my quickest sweater ever.

I mean, if we’re counting, it’s my third knitted sweater, and fourth sweater overall (after 2 crochet ones), so it’s not like this is a huge track record to beat.

But oh boy was it quick!

Two weeks.

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Feel free to laugh, but I’ll be the one laughing in an incredibly warm and squooshy alpaca sweater.

Also this sweater cost 20 dollars. And time.

Since I moved to New England in early fall, I needed to get a new driver’s license. The closest DMV to me is between 30 and 45 minutes away depending on whether I’m functionally awake, whether it’s precipitating, and how far (not) over the speed limit I want to drive on unfamiliar roads. Luckily this DMV had Saturday hours, but only until noon.

Have I ever told you that I’m not a morning person?

So the way I convinced myself to go to the DMV was to treat myself to yarn afterwards! And it was such a great store. Yarn piled taller than me, an excellent sale rack, and such nice employees! I think I spent an hour just checking out what they had!

While perusing the sale section I found a bag of multiple skeins of alpaca yarn marked at $10 in browns and greys. Then I found some coordinating rust alpaca and got 2 skeins for $5 each. So the brown is Mirasol Sulka, the rust is Mirasol K’acha, and sure the grey is Araucania Coliumo.

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And then I set out to make a sweater that did not require five billion skeins when I had six. I started out using the Chunky Knit Fisherman’s Rib Sweater by Handy Little Me before getting to the end of the first ball and realizing that I would never ever make it to the end of the sweater. So I ripped some back and started freestyling and knitted and knitted and knitted.

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The real winner here is finding the Fisherman’s Rib. I love the very squish that it makes! So stretchy too, and very plush.

I ended up with something like kimono sleeves with a tiny eyelet detail and a round neck. In the pics I’m wearing it over my first Sew Over It Vintage Shirtdress.

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And it’s warm and it’s comfy, and it’s cropped in a good way! I’ve got a few more knits for the blog, so I suppose that’ll be the plan for the next post! See you next time!

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Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind

But, you know… In summer…

I love Miyazaki films so much, and one of my first introductions to his and Studio Ghibli’s works (other than My Neighbor Totoro which I rewatched over and over on VHS as a kid) was the Nausicaa graphic novels.

And then I was introduced to all the movies. But Nausicaa is still one of my favorites…

So when my friends and I decided to do a Miyazaki day, I jumped on the chance to make a Nausicaa outfit. For one thing, Nausicaa doesn’t wear heels, so I could get away without such silly shoewear, and also I could make her outfit out of knit fabrics.

Yay for knits!

And then I realized that her full outfit would be really hot, and way too much work with about a week free before the con. So I decided to remove some items. And by some, I mean a lot.

The first item I made was some leggings using Cake Patterns’ Espresso pattern. I got this white rayon spandex knit from Joann Fabric’s. It doesn’t have a lovely amount of recovery, and its definitely translucent, but it worked well enough at the time. They certainly are warm and comfy!

Then I made the belt, mostly because I was not really looking forward to making the tunic. I got out some wide navy blue elastic, and this belt buckle I got from a trimming shop in New York City, and made the belt for my natural waist.

At some point in the last week pre-DragonCon, I decided to just go for it, and I created this new Closet Case Nettie hack (I made a muslin first, I promise!).

The neckline was adjusted to swing upwards to create that cut-on collar look, which I estimated from the crew neck version of the pattern. Then I created a “slit” down the front for a few inches. This necessitated a lining or facing of some kind, which I ended up doing as a half lining (so a kind of glorified shelf bra without the elastic) to give it a clean finished edge.

The sleeves were one thing I debated over. I originally thought short sleeves because of summer, but if I ever wanted to reuse this costume for a more comprehensive Nausicaa outfit, the sleeves needed to be longer, so I went with elbow-3/4 sleeves.

You might remember (from a long time ago) that I wasn’t sure which version of Nausicaa I wanted to create. I ended up going with “normal,” where she has ammo holders where shirt pockets would normally be, rather than trying to applique a bird emblem, for which I just took rectangles of fabric and sewed them to the proper places with spaces for three tubes on either side.

When I realized that I needed to make ammo to put in the ammo holders, I stalled. The night before I left I pulled out some dowels that I had bought with other projects in mind, cut some pieces about chapstick size in length, and then glued three together at a time. When they were dry to the touch I mixed together some cheap red and yellow acrylic to create a nice orange and I painted all of them. I made six, but when I wore the costume I used an orange chapstick in one place, which is what is sticking out a bit… It was handy but also slippy and kept slipping out of place.

Teto completed the look!

I’ve worn the tunic a few times now without costumes in mind, and I think it’ll get a lot of wear in winter. The leggings have gotten a few less wearings, but I am not the biggest fan of white clothing so it isn’t surprising. And Teto has been looking down on me from a bookcase, keeping me company!

Stay tuned for more on my Ariel costume, as well as some more TARDIS stuff! And some of those regular clothes things too. Lots of that.

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My Most Comfy Tee Ever

This fabric is one of the softest I have ever worn. Especially for a jersey.

I want to live in this fabric. Forever!

Unfortunately, I only have a finite amount, since it’s a mystery fabric find from a discount fabric store in New England.

So knowing that I only had a bit to work with, I wanted to make sure I used it well!

And I made a Nettie. Not this Nettie, which I still love dearly, and should remember to wear more often, but a Nettie shirt.

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After seeing Lauren’s Nettie shirts, I had a plan to make a few for layering shirts once winter showed up, so I’m glad I started early.

Knowing that I wanted to use the higher back, I printed out a new copy of the pattern, and glued it together. I’ve begun to glue-stick my patterns, so I can easily take them back apart for better storage. Gone are the days of folding bulky taped patterns, at least for future pattern buys!

For sizing, I ended up using a slightly odd combo. I sized up one (from my mid-back pattern) at the shoulders, and through the armscye, but cut the sleeves a little skinnier to my original size, and after the waist I swerved out to two or three sizes up. I cut the bottom off around where the front turns into the bodysuit, and I attempted elbow-length sleeves, which is what all my long sleeve shirts turn into anyway, after I push the sleeves up!. In the future versions, I might even lengthen it, but this is perfect for this version!

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I sewed it up according to the directions, but I left both the bottom and the sleeves unhemmed. I’ve given myself a policy that if it doesn’t need a hem, it shouldn’t get a hem. Most people around me already know I make my own clothes, and those that don’t will mostly not even notice!

There might even be enough fabric to squeeze out a Yellowtail, in conjunction with some other fabric, so I’m quite pleased!