c.c. [black lily] | day… something. thirty-five?

Oh man. December is always super busy for me but I have surprisingly been keeping on top of things regarding C.C. Maybe not as much as I should have but… there is only so much I can take before I go crazy.

I am pretty much done with machine work at this point. The only things left to sew by machine are ribbons for the front of the corset and the armbands. I also need to fix one side of the waist on the main dress because it’s like half an inch too long. Then… it’s hand stitching galore!

Finished sewing the binding on the corset and inserted the bands for the puff sleeve. Just need to adjust the creases of the ribbons in the front and figure out how I’m going to close it in the back.

I scrapped putting in a full lining in the skirt, having it be redundant with a trained petticoat. My attempt to make a ruffled petticoat as per Joshua Hart’s instructions [see his extremely helpful tutorial on his Facebook!] were an epic failure but it wasn’t for naught. Instead of making a removable baleyeuse, I stitched ruffles to the underside of my trained petticoat and put in the failed ruffled petticoat as part of the baleyeuse. It have me a good amount of puff in an otherwise late train. I could put in another layer of tulle/ruffles to help even out the flow a little better but I decided to first fix my cheap-ass crinoline.

Ugh. I should have been done with this dress by now and started work on Lelouch but honestly, it’s so close to being done, I just can’t stop now….

lelouch [black lily] | day one + two

After the disaster that was C.C.’s corset, I knew I needed to take a break before I did something stupid. I had been putting off Lelouch in favor of finishing C.C. but now… it was time.

Sarah had a tailed coat in the closet so I took off C.C. and put it on my form. I had practiced draping on a summer blazer for Gou,but now it was time to see if I remembered how to do it. I draped muslin over the tails and started drawing with my pen.

To my utter delight, I had a perfect replica of her tails with the modifications to the front for Lelouch.

However, I forgot to add seam allowance and it was a little tight.

I redid my mockup with a 1-inch addition. It needed to be taken in at the center back seam but we decided it was okay to have the coat a little roomy to account for the layers underneath.

Then came the hardest part: the train.

Sarah wanted a cathedral train because of her tendency to trip, but we both knew deep deep inside that the coat would have a monarch train because of the way it drapes in Lelouch’s arms. We played around with extra muslin until we had a length long enough to drape in her arms and wide enough to get it through both arms. A little bit of pattern manipulation meant that I could cut one half of the coat out of a single piece of unfolded lining with darting to true it size and enough fabric to have a single seam running down the back.

Unfortunately, that meant buying more very expensive fabric.

One half of the back of her coat took three yard of fabric, meaning there is six yards of fabric in the back alone. I wanted us to make the most of pre-Thanksgiving sales and we managed to get another four yards of empire velvet and three yards of anti-static lining for $52. We discovered that velvet has a smaller width than lining (44″ to 58″) so we have to take in the lining  somewhere.

I cut out all the velvet pieces of the coat, sans the trim and collar, and was delighted to find my calculations were correct and I had enough velvet blocks to cut my missing pieces.

I still have to cut the last piece of lining and stitch the shells together but I’m ready to start on the collar, cuffs, and appliques!

c.c. [black lily] | day sixteen + seventeen + eighteen + nineteen + twenty

A long time ago, a girl gave me a bag of materials she no longer needed. It was filled with beautiful trim, plush velveteen, and this strange stiff interface-like material.

That strange interfacing completely saved my ass for Rachel.

I’ve used most of it up and thought it would make a wonderful interfacing for my corset. While going about my weekly build research, I came across this strange material called buckram that used mostly in hats. It required water to mold it over a hat form and I knew it was the material given to me a long time ago due to an unfortunate accident involving Luke and a cup of water.

To my luck, the Stillwater Hobby Lobby carried buckram at a lower price than Jo-ann’s.

I purchased two yards, went home, and cut out the satin, lining, and buckram of my corset. Then, I spent the next day cutting the bodice out of lining. I always struggle with shaping and I still don’t think I got it right, but this is only acting as a support under the loose crepe+organza layer.

The next day, I sewed it each section together and layered them together. Instead of attaching boning to my corset, I sewed it to the lining of my bodice.. I had enough leftover from making my crinoline to put in six bones, but I’m think I need to add more boning to help shape me further. The only way this could have been better is if I used steel spring boning, but I am broke so whatever.

I also serged the crepe+organza bodice and attached the sleeves.

Finally, I could no longer avoid it. It was time to draft the dreaded bell sleeves.

I made four different mockups until I got one I was semi-satisfied with. I went back and forth about a lettuce hem before I just decided to go for it. Unfortunately, I miscalculated and ended up not cutting the edge of my sleeve on the bias. Whoops.

Luckily, I had enough test scraps to see what a lettuce hem looked like. It was exactly what I needed but… I didn’t cut my bodice and sleeves on the bias either.

I had enough crepe+organza to redo the sleeves, bell sleeves, and bodice. At this point, I decided to make the bodice separate from the corset.

Pinned everything up on my form and noticed with a little bit of horror that my corset sleeves are way too high on my shoulders. I now have to cut off the shoulders and reshape them to hit the tip of my shoulders instead. Because I have to add the flounce at the bottom of my corset, add lacing, and bind the edges with satin bias tape, I decided to stop working on the corset until my dress was entirely put together.

It’s so close to being done, and yet so far! T_T

c.c. [black lily] | day… thirteen + fourteen + fifteen

On day thirteen, I bought more organza+crepe and finished cutting out the side panels of my skirts. I held off on cutting out the bell sleeves because I still haven’t gotten a shape that flows the way I want it to. That same day, I serged together the crepe skirt and pinned it to my dress form.

On day fourteen, I serged the organza layer and pinned it over my crepe skirt. After seeing it on my form, I realized I needed a balayeuse for the train and a petticoat that extends further back than I anticipated to give some body to the train. And I really really really need to fix that crinoline.

A helpful link for those wondering what the hell a balayeuse is and how to make one.

I’ll be making a paneled balayeuse and attaching it to my trained petticoat.

Yesterday, day fifteen, I left my skirt alone and started work on my underbust corset with shoulder straps (UBCSS). This was the part of the dress I had struggled with the most. Do I attach it to my dress and zip it up in the back? Do I make it a separate piece entirely? What about that that ridiculous flouncy ruffle layer over my skirts–do I attach that to the corset or to the dress itself?

More importantly, how the hell was I going to make one when every previous attempt ended in embarrassing failure?

I had seen this type of corset in cheap Halloween costumes but was this actually a thing people wanted to make? A couple different search string combinations finally yielded results. This instructable gave detailed instructions on how to make the very thing I needed.

Did I follow the directions? Goodness no. I didn’t have steel spring boning or busks–instead I have an abundance of polyester boning from making my crinoline. Should I have used steel boning? Probably but I am a cheapass and this is cosplay, and I spend more money than I should on the hobby.

So what did I do? I am a notorious for being able to draft patterns by studying finished clothing or pictures. I knew from previous experience that corsets required shaped panels; simply darting the hell out of my mockup would not work. I deduced that the UBCSS would be cut like a shirt in the shoulders, sweep down under the bust, and have panels like a corset and the above instructable confirmed that.

Oh pride, you shall be the death of me.

I had a previously made a pseudo-mockup to test the shape of the bottom hem of the corset against the skirt and ruffle flounce. My pseudo-mockup also included where I wanted the boning channels to be as dictated by the reference image.

I marked the boning channels on the pseudo-mockup, laid it out on new muslin, drew the bottom hem and started shaping the top hem. I happen to be lucky enough where my entire torso from shoulder seam to hip is the same width as my muslin folded. No redrawing of patterns for me!

Holding it up to myself, I marked underneath my bust. Using a curved ruler (mine is a Dritz Style Design ruler–expensive as hell but an overall steal since it is four rulers in one), I drew my arm hole. Then, I started sweeping the front of my UBCSS to curve up and around my bust to meet the shoulder seam and create a shoulder strap.

I held it up to myself again to check the measurement and once I was happy with the shape, I cut it out.

The next part was the hardest part because the shape of the panels is everything. Having previously marked my boning channels in my pseudo-mockup, I transferred those markings to my new mockup. At this point, my mockup is too loose.

Using the center of the channel as a reference, I used my curved ruler to draw outward curved lines so that all my panels ended up being hourglass in shape. I tried to line up the foci of the curve to where my waist was but I was eyeballing it and probably ended up nowhere close. I cut out the panels and started pinning them together.

HOLY SHIT, IT WORKED.

I had to take in the shoulder seams and adjust the cut of the bottom of the armhole because the fabric bunched up in the most unsightly fashion and would not lie flat. I haven’t shaped the center back seam because I’m still toying with how I want the UBCSS to sit on the bodice.

The overall result:

c.c. [black lily] | day… something. Let’s say twelve

Bought the satin and lining I needed for the corset and bodice of the dress yesterday. I toyed with buying horsehair braid too but I decided to hold off until I knew how much I needed.

Then, I started working on my crepe satin and organza layers. Initially, I was going to cut everything on the bias so I could lettuce hem everything but upon studying C.C.’s dress a little bit more, I realized that it wasn’t going to matter because her hems are rather fluid in the skirts, not flouncy like Euphemia’s. Plus, cutting it across the grain like normal would have saved me a ton of fabric.

To cut those layers, I put the organza underneath the crepe, pinned it, marked my pattern in chalk, and cut them both out. There is a trick I heard of where you sandwich slippery fabric in between layers of paper but I gave my newsprint to Austin to pattern his Hiccup costume and my knee worked perfectly fine to keep my layers together. Surprisingly enough, I did get identical cuts on both fabrics so meh.

I cut the front and back panels of the skirts but had to make a choice regarding the side panels. I only had enough organza+crepe to cut one panel so I held off until I could get more fabric. Not cutting on the bias also allowed me to cut out the gathered bodice of my dress and the puff sleeves in the remnant.

Originally, my sleeves were going to be constructed in four pieces (the organza+crepe puff, the satin corset sleeve bands, the lower bicep, and the bell sleeve) but after drafting a muslin for the bell sleeve, I realized I usually pattern those types of sleeves to include the lower bicep and can construct these sleeves in three pieces. I’m still unhappy with the drape of my muslin so I have to try a different pattern tonight. These bell sleeves will be cut on the bias because I’m not lining these sleeves; I’m finishing the edges with a lettuce hem and need the stretch.

In my research and referencing other cosplayers, C.C.’s dresses always dip below her shoulder blades. my current design has the top of my corset sitting right underneath my shoulder blades, which is fine, but I may need to recut the back of my gathered organza+crepe layer to dip below my shoulder blades as well instead of cutting straight across my back. I might get lucky and be able to pull the layer to sweep downwards though.

Tonight, I am working on the inner bodice and corset layers! If any of you have seen Joshua Hart’s C.C. dress, I’m going to do something similar to what he did for the bodice where there is a fitted bodice and gathered fabric on top. For my corset, it is going to be a weird mash-up between a regular dress pattern and a corset to accommodate for the sleeves and the ruffled flounce.

Speaking of which, I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do about that flounce. Satin is too heavy and flat but crepe satin is too light and still flat. I will probably end up doing it in satin with horsehair braid in the hem to keep the edges stiff.

autumn | judging + projects

Woah, long time no see, WordPress! It has been a busy fall so far and it is only going to get busier! I was a guest judge for the Tulsa Cosplay Celebration with Hikaruhime and Saya of Mythos Creations. I wore Lucy for the first time at TCC.

Right now, I am working on a joint project with Portal’s Sarah, and Rin and Savii of Hikaru Creations! We are recreating the Code Geass DVD Box Art drawn by my forever-favorite CLAMP. I call this “black lily” instead of “Mutuality” as it is more commonly known because the entire CLAMP Code Geass art book is called “Mutuality.”

I’ve been trying to get into the habit of spending more time on mock-ups rather than playing with fabric but sometimes, you just gotta do it. The last month and a half was spent slowly creating a muslin of C.C.’s dress and she was nearly done before I just threw my hands up in the air today and said, “Fuck it all!”

Ironically, I did not cut a single piece of fabric. I continued to slave away over my mock-up.

Rin and Savii have already made their Euphemia and Suzaku outfits so Sarah and I really need to catch up! Rin and I chose to work with crepe satin and organza but I am going to have to add satin into my fabric pile to add some weight to my very fluffy dress.

In all honesty, my mock-up is near perfect. Just need to fix the way I cut the corset and sleeves, which I planned to make a muslin of when I get to that part of my dress, and add some body to the ruffles at the bottom of the corset. Currently, I’m switching back and forth between using cotton sateen and satin as the backing.

I’m very excited to work on this dress as a means of trying out some new techniques. I’m going to attempt a lettuce hem on the sleeves, collar, and skirt, make ribbons, and create the illusion of having a loose bodice (I’m slip stitching the crepe/organza to the fitted lining!). For Rachel, I played with different fabrics to achieve texture and that prior experience is going to help a ton.

For Sarah, I’m delighted that she went the whole nine yards and purchased royal velveteen for her jacket! Next week, I’m going to make a complete muslin because that stuff is super expensive and I don’t want to mess up! Her jacket will be lined with anti-static lining to reduce static electricity build-up from the velveteen and her vest will be made of suiting. We haven’t decided what fabric to make the crimson designs on her cosplay out of, but it will most likely be suiting. We’re also going to be constructing that scepter.

Luckily for us, we already have wigs and contacts!

This is supposed to be done for a winter shoot and I’m really starting to feel the pressure with autumn coming to a fast close.