Tag: onyx hack

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Alanna the Lioness

Happy Halloween everyone!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!))

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TnT (n TnT n TnT n TnT)

I count four TnT’s in my arsenal. And my trusty circle skirt. Though that’s more of a formula than a pattern.

I count a TnT as a pattern that I’ve played with and probably altered to fit me better, and that I’ve made over and over with no intention of stopping.

So first a quick overview, and then I’ll do some more explaining.

The Nettie bodysuit pattern is my go to t-shirt pattern, though I do like the bodysuits too. I just wear them less. I’ve been playing with it for about 3 and a half years now.

The Onyx woven shirt pattern is much newer to me, but I made just a couple of alterations to it, and I’ve made so many since! I think I’ve been playing with it for about a year.

The Ginger jeans pattern has given me four pairs of great jeans, and I’ve now got an idea on what I like in jeans fit, and I have an idea of what options I like best for what type of denim.  I’ve had the pattern for about three years.

The Belladone dress pattern is so chic and comfortable for me, and I’ve made about 5 variations, with others planned out. I’ve been using it for about 10 months.

So starting at the beginning…

A small selection of the Nettie’s I’ve made

When I was a newbie sewist at the end of college/beginning of grad school, I spent a summer unemployed in an unfamiliar new city/town and basically learned how to live with myself. And living with myself means I made a fair amount of clothes. But because I was unemployed, I treated myself to one pattern, and otherwise drafted my own. And that one pattern was the Nettie bodysuit from Closet Case Patterns.

I made two bodysuits, then a t-shirt or two (after I saw someone else hack it into a shirt and fell in love). And then another bodysuit, and then some more shirts. Most of them didn’t even make it to the blog. Then there were the hacks. I hacked it to be colorblocked, like the Little Mermaid corset outfit (twice!). I hacked it into a cross-back, semi cut out dress. I hacked it into a sleeveless dress with a handkerchief hem circle skirt. I hacked it into a tunic for my Nausicaa outfit with a high mandarin collar neck. I then hacked that last hack into a sleeveless mandarin neck shirt for my TARDIS costume (2016 DragonCon MVPattern).  Last summer I hacked it into a Kiki’s Delivery Service dress for a friend, and recently I hacked it into basically the same dress for me, though I don’t have pictures yet. I do have another hacked dress cut out, though.

Basically the Nettie has been such a powerhouse pattern for me that my friend (with a keen eye for detail) realized that most of the things I wore to my first DragonCon were made with the Nettie pattern in some part.

After spending time making so many knit tees, I knew I wanted to try out a woven pattern, so I compared every boxy woven tee pattern that I found on the internet, and chose the Onyx one. I had made the tutorial Jade skirt from Paprika right before she made the company, and loved it. Though I loved the act of making it more than wearing it, since I had forgotten that I don’t wear tight skirts, especially out of knit. I made one out of lace last fall, but I had sized up since I was worried and it didn’t fit nicely. Lace ones will be revisited in the future.

The first real one was made out of the skirt I used for Ariel at my first DragonCon, once I realized that was not the proper material for a skirt. I altered the pattern to take in the shoulders, and then I made another. (And then there was the fail). And then I cut two identical black Onyx’s and embroidered them both (pictures of the second to come when I really finish the embroidery).  I also hacked it to have longer and slightly fuller sleeves for my update to my Ariel costume, with embroidery. For my updated TARDIS costume this year, I also used a hacked Onyx for a more boatneck front with a  deeper back, and long sleeves with ruffles. And when I made a costume for the Moment from Doctor Who, I used the Onyx pattern. So I guess this year’s DragonCon MVPattern was Onyx.

Then the Ginger Jeans pattern. I’ve always struggled with jeans, going straight from kids to misses, because I’m petite and curvy. So making mine seemed to be logical. I’ve learned which type of denim will work best for me for the super skinny (thinner) versus my favored bootcut look (thicker).

My first pair was terrible, due entirely to the lack of stretch in the denim. RIP. The second, third, and fourth pairs still serve me well, and I have plans to make jean shorts with it too!

Belladone is a pattern I received from Deer and Doe as a prize for a Monthly Stitch contest, which I was excited about because at the time it was only available printed. I had been wanting to make it, and being unable to afford the cost plus shipping, for almost four years.

It is the newest of my TnT’s to me, but I’ve made two versions with the cut out back and a skirt version out of my favorite (and only up till now) wax print. Then I hacked the solid back version into my Peggy Carter dress (though I only have a post of my muslin). I already have the fabric and plans to make the skirt version in one or two fabrics, and really, I could wear this pattern nearly every day.

Much like every pattern talked about thus far.

Circle skirts, though not a real pattern, make up the other segment of what you might call my “daily uniform.” If not wearing jeans and a shirt, then I tend to be wearing a skirt and a shirt, and that skirt is either a circle skirt or a Belladone skirt. So mostly 3/4 to full circle skirts. I think I have about 4 of them, and they’re my favorite thing to add to bodices for dresses as well. Because swingy skirts are my jam.

I’m never going to say that again.

That’s a lie. I’ll probably say that again, but each time I’ll regret it immediately. Unlike making any of these TnT’s probably ever.