Tag Archives: sewcialists

Velvet Gothic Dress: Halla Patterns dress

Posted in Completed Sewing Projects, Dresses by

Another dress that I made a while ago is this velvet dress from Halla Patterns. I don’t like the name of the pattern. A kimono is a specific cultural garment from Japan and, while this dress may have a kimono sleeve and be inspired by kimonos, it is not a kimono and I will not be referring to it as such. Please read this post and I encourage you to follow @little_kotos_closet on Instagram. In the past, I have maintained the name of the pattern, but going forward I will not. I realize that makes it more difficult for people to search for my post if they are looking for others that make the pattern. I’m just hoping that going forward, there won’t be this issue. The Wiksten jacket has already been renamed to the Wiksten Haori jacket.

In November, the Toronto Sewcialists met up and had a fancy dress party with a sewing session before. I wasn’t initially going to make a new item for the fancy dress party, but then I bought this gorgeous velvet fabric from a local store, Fabric by Designers, that was going out of business but managed to extend their lease again so they are back in business. I managed to grab 4 yards of this velvet fabric for a decent price along with some ponte and doubleknit in their sale. I love this fabric. It’s soft and drapes so nicely. It washes really well, too.

I had also just put the Halla dress pattern together and then got a vision in my head of a floor length dress with voluminous sleeves. The resulting dress is gorgeous, moody af, and makes me think that I should be wondering the North York moors of Yorkshire, England, singing Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights. Fun fact, I’m actually first gen Canadian on my dad’s side and he was born in Yorkshire. He also immigrated to Canada on a boat in the late 50s. I haven’t ever been to Yorkshire sadly. I hope to one day, though.

I made a size 28 graded to a 30 at the waist. I changed the skirt to a longer and slightly narrower skirt. It still has a lot of volume but not quite as much as the original pattern. I left off the pockets since they interrupted the drape of the skirt.

Here I am surprised by the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff.

Overall, the fit of the bodice is okay. The front needs a bit more length due to my large bust. While the pattern has different cup sizes, I do still need a bit more room to get tue waistband to sit in the correct location. You can see the waistband going up a bit as a result. I think also a shorter waistband would look better. I think this ends up being close to 3 inches long finished but waistbands work better on me when they are less than 2 inches long.

To get the longer sleeve, I just extended the sleeve by about 10 inches and added elastic to the hem. I didn’t want the elastic to be super tight just give the look of gathered cuffs.

Overall, the pattern was good. Good instructions. I like how the neckline is completely faced with self-fabric and then the whole thing is constructed together so that the facing stays in place. It’s pretty smart.

I enjoyed being moody and Gothic for this photoshoot. Makes the inner 90s goth in me feel pretty fantastic.

TL:DR Review

  • Pattern: Halla Patterns dress
  • Pros: I love this dress. The pattern went together well and the instructions were good.
  • Cons: The bust fit could be better. With HH cups, it’s difficult to get a perfect fit even with cup sizes. Next time I will lengthen the front bodice by about 2.5 inches and shorten the waistband by half.
  • Make again?: Absolutely.
  • Rating: pink-star-black-md pink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-md5/5 stars

So done with Healthcliff’s shit.

Decades of Style Ophelia Overalls

Posted in Completed Sewing Projects, Seperates (tops/skirts/pants) by

Today I am sharing my Ophelia Overalls from Decades of Style. Usual disclaimer: I was given the pattern for free to test it out and share on social media. All opinions are my own.

I’ve been wanting to make overalls for a while now. Overalls were my favourite thing to wear in the 90s. I owned a pair of wide legged overalls in a lightweight denim fabric that I absolutely loved. I wore them all the time in spite of my sister poking fun at me and saying I could be a farmer in those overalls, to quote Clueless.

I loved those overalls and was recently thinking that I needed to replicate them since the style was coming back. Let’s be honest, style be damned; overalls are super comfortable.

When Janet, the mastermind behind Decades of Style, sent me the pattern information, I said yes immediately. I also knew immediately that the polkadot chambray in my stash was perfect for it.

Before I cut anything out, I did two things: 1) I compared the crotch curve of the pattern to my Blank Slate Forsythe Trousers and 2) I did a muslin of the pattern in a shorter length since the patterns requires a lot of fabric.

The crotch curve was almost a perfect match. All I did before making the muslin was scoop out the front crotch curve.

My muslin turned out well. It revealed that I would need a full belly adjustment. I also narrowed the width at the top of the bib by about an inch to account for my narrower upper frame. I didn’t want the straps slipping off.

 

 

The result in my final version is awesome. There are still some very minor fit issues. I do think a bit more of a full belly adjustment would help it. I also forgot to adjust the side panels for the increased length so they matched correctly. I will do that for my next version.

 

The result is so adorable and reminiscent of Rosie the Riveter that I am in absolute love with it. I did red topstitching, which while not perfectly even, is perfectly acceptable. I love the loose style of the overalls with the ties to cinch in the waist. They are comfortable and flowy.

 

Of course, it being Canada and the middle of winter….I will probably not wear this outside the house until the Spring. But I can always sew in them.

The other bonus of this pattern is those massive pockets. I can definitely start a revolution with those.

 

Finally, I will leave you with this note. Unlike a onesie or jumpsuit, the overalls don’t leave you naked when you pee. Hahhah.

For the pattern launch, there is a discount for 20% on the entire purchase with code OVER20 and it will run for 2 weeks.

TL:DR Review

  • Pattern: Decades of Style Ophelia Overalls
  • Pros: I love big pockets and I can’t lie. Those wide legged pants are so fly.
  • Cons: Doing pattern adjustments are slightly tough but that’s only because of the number of pattern pieces and that my brain couldn’t remember that the sides would need adjusting. There is a sewalong that will cover some adjustments.
  • Make again?: YES! I am actually going to go back and finish the muslin shorts I made since they just need a couple minor adjustments to be wearable.
  • Rating: pink-star-black-md pink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-md5/5 stars

Fancy Pants and Burda Sweater

Posted in Completed Sewing Projects, Seperates (tops/skirts/pants) by

 

Today I am sharing two newer garments I made in January: Style Arc Misty Jeans in a houndstooth doubleknit fabric and the Off the Shoulder Sweater from Burda issue 09/2018 in a turquoise hacci knit.

There isn’t much to say about the Misty Jeans. I’ve made them several times before. The only difference with these ones is the material. The fit is okay, but the material grows over the day so I needed to take in the waistband a bit. The doubleknit is a wool blend. Possibly blended with vicose or rayon since the material is super soft and doesn’t have great recovery like most rayon/viscose blends I’ve used. If I took the pants in, though, to account for the poor recovery, they would be tight on first wear for a couple of hours. I’m just accepting it. They are soft pants and super warm for winter so I’m not super concerned about them growing as the day goes on. With the waistband a bit tighter, it keeps them in place.

 

I made these for the #sewfancypants challenge on IG. The challenge was a lot of fun. It got me to finally make more pants.

The Burda sweater is lovely with these pants. I made size 52, the largest size. The pattern fits large. I find that about most Burda patterns, though. While I am a bit outside of the measurements for 52, I don’t have an issue fitting into it. I usually do an FBA but didn’t feel the sweater would need that and it doesn’t. It has an oversized look which is perfect for a cowl neck sweater. I am not really into off the shoulder sweaters so I am wearing this as a cowl neck. TBH I would also need to increase the size of the cowl to not have trouble getting it into an off the shoulder look. It’s a bit tight due to my bust size and the length from my nape to my full bust not being very long. Otherwise, the cowl just pops up and becomes a cowl again.

 

The sweater is hella long, though. We’re talking might as well be a dress long. I shortened it by 5-6 inches and then lopped off another 4 and even made a hem band with some of the length. HELLA LONG. I get I am 5’3″ but like….sometimes plus size drafting is way too long and Burda is pretty guilty of that. It’s possibly drafted for a 6 foot person in length!

 

BUT the arms are short. What? I didn’t notice because the model’s arms are scrunched up so it’s tough to see that the arms are shorter. I usually have to shorten arms not add long bands so they are long-sleeved. I don’t understand a cowl neck sweater with shorter sleeves… I want a sweater with long sleeves. I want to be cozy af.

Other than those issues of confusion, the sweater is great. I love the oversized cowl and the shape. It’s a lovely cozy sweater in a gorgeous turquoise/teal colour.

 

The sweater actually completes one of my make nine items. Yay!

TL:DR Review

  • Pattern: Off the Shoulder Sweater from Burda issue 09/2018
  • Pros: I love the final result! Even though I am a bit outside the size 52 measurements, it fits well.
  • Cons: Super long length and then weirdly short arms.
  • Make again?: I would. However, it required a lot of fabric even after shortening it quite a bit so I won’t be making it again any time soon since I don’t have enough fabric.
  • Rating: pink-star-black-md pink-star-black-mdpink-star-black-md  3.5/5 stars

Lace Party Dress

Posted in Completed Sewing Projects, Dresses by

 

Talk about a slow sewing dress and slow to post blog (hahah), I started my lace party dress beginning of October and finished it just in time for my friends’ wedding on October 20th. And yes, it’s February and I am finally writing about it.

I love slow sewing projects. I mean don’t get me wrong, I can complete tons of fast sewing in no time, but I love being able to focus on details like handpicking a zipper, hand-basting lace to underlining, or hand stitching the lining to the skirt. My goal for this year is to focus on similar projects. I have a few planned that will be tons of fun.

Carefully pressing seams over hams with a presscloth become like meditation…

The dress uses the bodice from Simplicity 8096 and a gathered skirt plus self-drafted pockets. I draft most of my own pockets, which is not a huge skill to brag about, but I can’t stand a small pocket. I don’t have large hands (actually super tiny…like I buy kid’s size gloves to get them to fit right) but I like using pockets for my phone, kleenex, keys, key fobs, protein bars for when my food restrictions/allergies/intolerances make grabbing something to eat impossible, my kindle, a brick, etc. You know, normal things. The whole idea of tiny pockets on women’s clothing is weird and stupid and misogynistic since men’s clothing gets huge pockets all the time.

I had limited fabric for this project. I only had 2 yards of the dusty rose lace. The lace was bought many years ago through fabric.com at the same time as other orders for my wedding dress. I originally had plans to use the dusty rose lace on the bodice of my dress instead of the ivory lace and use the ivory lace instead for lingerie. My plans changed and I had this lace leftover.

With only 2 yards, there had to be some pretty good pattern tetris. I also had even less than 2 yards for the beige satin I used for the underlining AND lining…. eeep. Luckily the skirt underlining was able to get cut out using the satin, but I did need to use some other cotton pieces for the pockets and parts of the lining of the bodice. As you can see, I also needed to cut the beige skirt lining much shorter than the lace. It actually made for a lovely tiered hem look. I also used the beige satin for the straps.

The fit on this dress is similar to the fit on my crop top version. It is a bit tight at the front unlike the crop top, where I added in some inches for the overlap there and didn’t have 3 layers of fabric. I think I could benefit from adding an inch to the center panel for comfort. The back fits okay. Although the strap could be brought in on left by an inch (hello, asymmetry!).

 

As part of this outfit, I also wanted to wear a short crinoline under the dress for the wedding. I did leave it off for the pictures to show you the tiered hem. I originally thought of using tulle in my stash and making it from scratch. However, I had a crinoline from my wedding dress that was simply sitting around in a garment bag; the crinoline was longer than most of my skirts and dresses. I decided to be smart and just shorten that crinoline instead to be able to use it for other outfits. I removed the bottom panels of the two skirts of crinoline and then finished the hem with ivory hug snug.

The new shorter crinoline looks great. I have enough crinoline left from the panels I took off the bottom of both skirts to make another crinoline!

I think that some fabric dye would work great on it and then I would have 2 crinolines in different colours. I’m thinking maybe hot pink for the other one.

The result is a great party dress which I wore with some brown Doc Martens and a lovely floral shawl for the wedding. I felt pretty stylish. It was a really lovely night. I didn’t actually take any pictures, though. As a result, it took me forever to actually take blog pictures for this post.

 

Here I am accepting my fake award for being incredible.

 

To say I love this dress is an understatement.

Some Loosey Goosey Summer Sewing plans

Posted in Sewing plans by

I have a weird relationship with planning sewing. I love planning stuff out, but I hate being confined to the plans. So I am calling these “loosey goosey” plans because I don’t want to feel confined to them. I want them to inspire me but not restrict me.

I’m going to talk categories, because Me-Made-May always makes me think about the areas I really need to replenish my wardrobe or the areas I am lacking.

PJs

It’s been true for a while now that I need to make more PJs/loungewear for around the house. My current flannel pj pants and lounging shorts are getting threadbare and ratty looking after so many washes. Also, many lack pockets and that’s ridiculous to me now. I need a place to stash my phone or my tissue (sinus problems and being an empath mean I need tissues constantly…).

Since these are summer sewing plans, I have two summer pj plans.

Blank Slate Patterns Barton shorts

I know how weird it must seem to pick flannel for the summer to a lot of people. But I love flannel all year round. It’s really difficult for me to regulate my temperature so I often need sweaters all year round. Also, flannel is incredibly soft and there is nothing worse to me than having a lounge/sleepwear in a stupid scratchy fabric. I mean why choose stupid scratchy fabric for anything ever?

The flannel pictured is one of many flannels I have. I hoard that stuff. I will probably make a couple of these in different fabrics. The nice thing is this also helps me achieve a #2018MakeNine fabric objective of using my flannel. Go me!

I’ve made the Blank Slate Barton shorts many times and love them. They are super comfortable.

Hot Patterns Cupid Cami and Tap pants

This pattern is available for free on fabric.com. I have this black and white floral satin that would be great for some warm weather pjs. If these work out well, I might use some other satin I have for another pair. The only issue is that there are no side seams for pockets. I think I will probably add a patch pocket to the top. I also have the Designer Stitch Ella Cami set so I might switch the pattern out to that since it has pockets. Or not. Loosey goosey, after all.

DIYB Club Gabriela PJs

Welcome to the over the top crazy plan. I got this pattern for free since DIBY contacted the CSC editors asking us to review a few of their patterns. I immediately jumped on the Gabriela. I’ve been wanting to make a onesie for pjs for a really long time. Until this past year, there weren’t any in my size. There are now two patterns that I know of in my size and above! Gabriela is one and the other is Rad Patterns Cosplay suit. There might be more out there, but I am good with just having one for now. The Gabriela pjs are like old one piece thermal pjs and have a functional butt flap. Amazing! LOL. Perfect for pjs.

I got some Disney Princess cotton lycra from Funky Monkey Fabrics for this pattern. It’s a super indulgent and frivolous purchase for sure! I want to use a solid accent colour for the butt flap, cuffs, and pockets, but I haven’t picked that out yet since I was waiting to see the true colours in the fabric. I think I will likely make the shorts version of this pattern with no hoodie meaning that I might have enough fabric leftover for a tank top. YES!

Tops

The Peplum top is a free pattern from In the Folds is available through Peppermint Magazine. I have two linens (white and turquoise) that I want to make into Peplum tops.

I snapped this Designer Stitch Synthia ruffle top pattern as soon as it was released. Recently, I got this digital print rayon from a local store. The wrong side is a greyscale version of the print and I think that will look really neat with the pattern since the wrong side shows on the ruffles in some places.

Yes, yes, I know. I am the queen of Cashmerette Cedar Dolman hacks. I am the hack queen. ROFL. The idea of this hack is to use the leftover rayon from my M7624. I plan on using the coral to colour block the shoulders/neckline and then the tropical print for the main body.

The Style Arc Blair cropped shirt looks great for summer. I have a bit of this tropical print voile from my first Willow Kimono. I hope I can get it cut out of this fabric. If I can’t amke it work, I will pick up a solid colour and do the bottom half and the button band in the solid.

I bought this cotton lycra on a whim lately and went looking through my stash for a good pattern. Version B of Simplicity 8342 is the one I chose. I also kind of want to make the cropped pants but I would need fabric for that.

Shorts

Cake Patterns was briefly out of commission for a bit and then they were bought out so their patterns are available again. WOO! I am a big fan of the Pavlova skirt. I have so many different versions. I’ve wanted to make the Endeavour shorts for a while. I have a bunch of smaller cuts of fabric that would be perfect for it. Some with a bit of stretch for comfort. 😉

Top Layers

I made a Designer Stitch Willow Kimono for our vacation this winter. I got this idea in my head to make a super weird version using this really bright orange leopard print satin with a ridiculous red fringe trim on the hems. Um yeah, so I am making that happen. This is also a #2018MakeNine fabric!

While it might be summer, I often toss on a light jacket for cooler nights. There are a few jean jacket patterns out there but few in my size so Seamwork Audrey it is. My dream is to make a jean jacket and then put a bunch of patches on it. I want a basic jean jacket and then a ridiculous

Dresses

I need a dress that would work for a wedding and I think this rayon polkadot fabric plus the Seamwork Arden would be lovely. However, I want to swap out the sleeves for some short flutter sleeves. Another #2018MakeNine fabric.

This Burda Keyhole dress has been on my to-make list for a while. I think this polkadot chambray will look awesome with it. Another #2018MakeNine fabric.

You may remember this Designer Stitch Pippa dress and pink polkadot fabric pairing from my Miss Bossy vote! I shall make it happen since it got so many votes.

Helllooooooo mint floral eyelet! You would look lovely as Simplicity 8096 view C. Yes, yes, you would. Another #2018MakeNine fabric.

Etc.

I need to get a move on a new batch of bras. I also need underwear. And some bike shorts for under dresses and skirts would also be good.

Final thoughts

It’s a lot of plans. I definitely won’t get them all done since I have costume making to do as well this summer. But a woman can dream!

I’m Alive!!

Posted in Chronic Illness, Completed Sewing Projects, Dresses, Seperates (tops/skirts/pants), Unselfish by

The tale I have to tell you.

2017 has been horrible so far, but things are finally feeling a bit better. Back in December, I got sick. I had a cold over Christmas. I didn’t think anything of it, but then January and February I got worse and worse until I couldn’t walk in February and was having such a difficult time with breathing and I was coughing so much. I wrote about it a bit in my last post back in February. Turns out I had pneumonia, but getting to that point of diagnosis was ridiculous. I didn’t have a fever at all, but I generally have a lower body temperature than the norm. I found out my dad has that as well. In February, I saw my GP several times and saw my respiralogist. Neither of them thought I needed a chest xray because the cough has been present for 9 months and I didn’t have a fever. I told them I was sweating and having chills, but I was checking out okay at a temp of 37.5 degrees celcius, which is high for me. I’m usually around 36 and rarely up at 37.

Eventually, I got diagnosed after going to the ER because my coughing was causing pain in my abdomen, a mild hernia. I got a CT scan and a chest xray and both showed pneumonia in my left lung.

I missed a month of work in total… Not good.

I got back to work and then ended up in the ER again after 2 days back because I sneezed and pulled a muscle in my back/dislocated a rib. It was terrible. I also got costochondritis, inflammation in the rib cartilage from coughing so much, and I still have that and a sore lower back. When you have a chronic illness, getting sick is so much worse and takes so much longer to recover…

I’ve been back to work for two full weeks. I had a migraine this morning, though, but I still feel like things are getting better.

I have little to no desire to sew. It was all I thought of while I was confined to my bed, but now that I am better….meh to sewing apparently!

Here is a recap of what I have sewn this year, though, since I won’t be writing individual posts on things (sorry, I need the spoons):

A blue Cashmerette Upton dress made with the same polyester fabric I used for the Star Trek uniform I made in the fall. I had 12 yards of this fabric so you’re going to see it pop up other places. 😉 I just love this pattern. I have many more plans for it. This version uses the gored skirt. I left the zipper off, because the fabric has some mechanical stretch to it. I’m also still perfecting the length of those waist darts and the width of the neckline, but overall I am pleased with how it looks on me and how I feel in it.

I made two bullet journal pen holders. The black and white bunny one is for my friend, Selina, who loves bunnies. Her holder has velcro on the back. I didn’t have white velcro handy for mine though so it ties around the journal. I’m going to switch that out eventually since it does not sit flat. These holders are great scrapbusters and took me a half hour to make both of them.

I made several of these Burda sweatshirts, which were part of my #2017makenine. I left the zipper off, because it’s not necessary and I didn’t want to struggle with it and the knit fabric. It’s a nice boxy sweater and comfortable. I made a size 52 and graded to a 48 at the shoulders. My first version was pretty large in the shoulders.

But the versions after worked out well.

I didn’t take final pictures of two of these, but you can see the colour combos below. All are made either with sweatshirt, terry, fleece, or cotton lycra with ribbing in various colours. The blue sweatshirt material with black brush strokes is the same material as my Golden Rippy Omega Angel jacket. The material is from 1986! I’m bringing the 80s back. 😉

I designed a couple of future dream projects using my curvy sketchbook:

Mostly, I’ve been making cards and enjoying that part of my creativity and the amazing team of people I am a part of with Stampin’ Up. Yep, I signed up as a demonstrator since I kept giving them my money. Hahah. It’s also been such a positive experience being part of a great team. It’s really helped getting cards from my team members while I was sick. ❤ It’s also a really great time to craft and be social.

I’ll be doing some small cardmaking classes in Toronto. I have one coming up on April 30th. If you live close by and just want a fun easy project to work on and want to be social, you are more than welcome. Feel free to contact me for more information.

I’m hoping my sewjo returns soon, but I’m glad that I’m feeling better every day. I do tend to sew more in the summer, because I want all the summer dresses.  I am still lacking in a lot of energy, but it’s getting better especially with the weather getting better and Spring in the city. I used some precious spoons this weekend to clean up my deck and prep for the flowers and herbs I will be putting back there. I’ve been enjoying my indoor plants and finding joy in the small things.

I also really appreciate the notes I got and the well wishes. Friends sent me flowers, brought soup over, and I got a stuffed fox from one, too. It made being sick for that long easier knowing how much people cared. ❤ Thanks all for your emails, comments, and well-wishes.

 

Star Trek Insurrection Captain’s dress uniform

Posted in Completed Sewing Projects, Geek crafts, Unselfish by

Last night I finished the most involved project I’ve ever made in a short space of time.

About a year ago, my husband and I were watching Star Trek: Insurrection. Occasionally, my husband points out costumes or items of clothing that he wants me to make him. This time, he happened to point out one that I was in love with:

d42f284cf89c111eb81fc00e316c0a30 star-trek-insurrection-02 unknown-148a033730dcaf22114d78691c87eca4258c327e7

The dress uniform has quilted panels across the shoulders and in the zippered front panel, extended front tails, a cropped back, gold lame bias tape accents, red and gold piping details, red bias tape in the collar stand, and red bias tape on the deep cuffs. To my husband’s disappointment, I did not make the funky braided ceremonial hat for his head.

I definitely procrastinated on this for a while. I was a bit fearful of fitting another person in such a tailored looking jacket. I assembled the materials for it after we watched the movie, but they sat around until last week.

I was able to find gold lame bias tape from fabric.com. It has a fusible back. While it was thin (1/4 inch), I used two lines of it in most places. I got red bias tape from fabric.com as well, but it is the low quality poly/cotton stuff. I should have bought the good stuff locally, but it is just a costume piece. I also got white poly cotton twill from fabric.com, but the grey stuff to eventually make a lower rank dress uniform for myself with the grey zippered panel. I did not find a good choice for the red and gold piping. Most stuff I found was thicker, upholstery grade and would have been difficult to sew in because of the many many layers of fabric. I decided to leave it off.

I started with M7216 for my pattern. PSA to all, it’s so easy to fit someone else, especially a guy! I started with a tissue fit to see if the pattern out of the envelope would fit him. There were some adjustments to make: full belly adjustment and a narrow shoulder adjustment, but overall it fit him really well. After those adjustments, I modified the pattern to have a front panel, as well as a bit of a curved side panel to make the fit over the stomach a lot cleaner looking. I raised the neckline and then used the collar stand piece from my M6696, because it was the closest pattern with a stand. Collar stands are pretty universal. I also added shoulder pads to give more structure to the shoulders.

Instead of adding panels for the quilting to the shoulders, I just sewed detail lines there and in the front zipper panel, too.

The sewing process was quite involved with all the lines and bias tape that needed to be matched as well as the cuff and collar.

The construction on the collar was a bit rushed as it was a half hour before we left for Fan Expo to perform, but I am not going to beat myself up on it.

I love the cuffs.

My husband looks absolutely fantastic in it and it showed in his improv last night, because he kicked ass.

We performed last night at Fan Expo with PJ Phil from YTV’s the Zone. He was PJ in the 90s and I came rushing home from high school to watch Sailor Moon during the Zone every day. PJ Phil is a Canadian celebrity, especially for us 90s kids.

It was a lot of fun and Phil was a great Admiral Sulu!

I made the other uniforms excluding the other female performers’ uniforms which they purchased on their own. You can read about the guys uniforms here.

The jacket is my crowning achievement, though, and has given me so much confidence with sewing going forward.

Star Trek Insurrection Captain's dress uniform

Star Trek Insurrection Captain's dress uniform

The back fits incredibly well, but you will have to take my word for it since I didn’t take a picture of it.

Next up is to adapt this pattern into a Captain Kirk uniform from the early Star Trek movies for our performance at C4 in Winnipeg in October opening the Con and for William Shatner:

Kirk-Uniform-022614

My husband is eventually going to have an entire Star Trek cosplay closet along with his TNG uniform. It’s going to be great. I need to get business cards with my blog so when people ask him who made his spiffy costumes, he can pimp my blog. 😉

If you are in Toronto, come see the Dandies perform Star Trek improv at Fan Expo again at 5:30pm tonight in 701B. If you can’t make it to that, we also have our regular show Holodeck Follies on Wednesday night at Social Capital Theatre.

In terms of the pattern and giving it proper review, I feel I can’t really rate it fairly since I changed it so much. I do think, though, that the mark of a good pattern is being able to adapt and change it without the fit falling apart.

Live long and prosper or, as we say in the comedy business, Laugh Long and Prosper!