Just Like Fabric Chrismukkah

(Note: I did not know until now that there was a roughly "official" spelling for the portmanteau of Christmas and Hanukkah. I've never actually typed it out before, and I typically don't even say it as I don't mind just going "Yeah, I celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah." Who knew!)

I got five package notification emails from my campus' post office today. Five! In one day! That's the magic of ordering the materials for two projects all at once, I guess, and having all of the vendors have incredibly speedy shipping at that. (Seriously, two of the Etsy stores I bought from shipped off so fast that Etsy won't even let me leave them feedback yet!) These five packages contained almost all the materials I'd need for both the Newcastle Cardigan I'm making for my boyfriend (including main fabric, contrast fabric, buttons- which I have a somewhat silly story about, but more on that latter -and interfacing) and the Cooper messenger bag I'm making for myself (including main fabric, contrast fabric, and lining- still waiting on the hardware kit and the pattern itself, but since that's coming from literally across the country I'm not surprised it didn't arrive on the same day as everything else.)

I wish I'd thought to take a photo of all the envelopes (plus one box- sweatshirt fleece gets bulky when folded up), but I didn't have that kind of self restraint. I tore into everything about as soon as I got back to my dorm.

Look at how perfectly the main body fabric matches the green square part of the contrast fabric pattern! I'm a little apprehensive about using the oilcloth, but as far as overall look goes I love it. Also yes, I still haven't taken the main fabrics out of their protective plastic shipping material, shh.

THIS SWEATSHIRT FLEECE IS SO SOFT AND SNUGLY I'm going to steal this from my boyfriend all the damn time.

I can't wait for my Cooper pattern to get here so I can tackle both of these projects. I'm printing out the Newcastle pattern tonight, but since I've two papers due tomorrow, well... probably not getting to cutting anything out until tomorrow at the earliest.

Now, for that silly story about buttons I mentioned. I guess I temporarily forgot how to read descriptions, but I somehow got it into my head that "Quantity: 1" meant one singular button. In reality, the website very clearly states that "There are 3 buttons per card", so obviously "Quantity: 1" really means one order of three buttons.

I, er, ordered quantity: 5, which translates to 15 buttons.

Some day I'll be able to take non-phone pictures in which you can actually see some semblance of detail!

The good news: I really like these buttons, so I guess I now have some direction as to what I'm going to make my Mathilde blouse out of: something that matches the buttons in my stash! Maybe I'll go for a black main body with blue sleeves to echo the navy-and-black of the buttons... and maybe with a peter pan collar added, as I've a major weakness for those. But that's not going to be for a while, no more projects for me for now!

I ordered all the Cooper fabric from Etsy. The main fabric came from Bratpacks Fabric, the lining was from Oilcloth by the Yard and the contrast fabric (that made this whole project need to happen) was from Fabric Supply. Fabric Supply also included a whole bunch of adorable fabric swatches- they have such cute import fabrics. The Newcastle Cardigan fabric and buttons all came from Fabric.com. I was really hesitant about ordering from them as when I looked up reviews of them in advance (as I always do with online sites I haven't used before) it was fairly predominantly negative reviews, but they were the only place I could find with the exact fabric I wanted and the price was incredibly right. I took a chance, and either I got very lucky (which is possible- some of the reviews, both positive and negative, said it tended to be luck of the draw) or they've shaped up a bit. Whatever it was, I'm incredibly pleased with the fabric I got from them (and again, the button confusion was entirely on me- their site VERY clearly says one order is a card of three buttons).

Now if only I could pause academics and just sew... If only.

Cooper Sew-Along Planning

My favorite thing about sewing is fabric, and that can cause a bit of a problem. If I see fabric I like, I basically feel compelled to figure out something to make with it, just because I must have that fabric in my life. Now, I'm pretty good at resisting my impulses, but sometimes the most perfect fabric in the world appears and I suddenly find myself with a new project on the table when I really didn't intend to have one or honestly have the time for one.

Which brings me to the Colette Cooper Sew-Along, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Canvas. (Link in sidebar!)

Girliest interpretation of a unisex pattern ever. Well, probably not girliest, as I considered a Hello Kitty oilcloth lining, which definitely would've been a bit more girly. Left: main body fabric. Right: contrast flap fabric. Tiny center: adorable oilcloth lining.

I found the canvas on the right first, and everything snowballed from there. I needed that adorable patchwork mess of cuteness in my life. I already have a Cambridge Satchel Co. backpack (I know they call it a batchel but I can't bring myself to do that...) that was a gift from my grandfather and which I adore beyond words, but its limitation is that I really can't shove it full of books and be about my merry way. My laptop and a notebook pretty much fill it to capacity. This is a problem when you're a history major working on an honors thesis and constantly carting around books by the dozens- my poor Josh Groban tote bag can only take so much! And besides, it constantly slips off my shoulders, particularly in the winter when it can't get traction on my peacoat, which gets mad annoying. (The tote bag, I mean, not the backpack.)

I love messenger bags, though, and have been idly looking for a new one for, well, ages. I had a Ghost in the Shell one that I adored beyond words, but, uh, I kind of wore out the corners of it in high school. I don't know what it was that did the poor thing in, but something ate through the corners like a monster. Someday I'll get around to patching that up, maybe with some faux leather in a matching shade of blue as the Laughing Man (because of course I still have it even if it's useless right now, that bag is awesome), but even once I fix it I doubt I'll be loading it up with anything too heavy and it's not really the right size for loading up on the library books.

Anyway, the combination of Pattern I Really Like with Cutest Canvas Ever That I Must Own resulted in my jumping on this sew-along bandwagon and ordering, well, everything possible last night (main fabric, contrast fabric, lining fabric, pattern, and hardware kit- I decided to be lazy and just order one of the pre-made bronze kits from Gifts for Crafters along with my Cooper pattern, although I'll make up for my laziness by making a matching-fabric strap and key chain). Cannot wait to get started on this- the goal is to have it done before my trip to Los Alamos so I can use it as my plane bag, and so I can enter it in the sew-along contest. The fabric combo prize would be amazing- $200 at Spoonflower would mean one of my dream cosplays, Tali'zorah vas Normandy from Mass Effect, would be financially possible as I could get the really nice printed fabrics by eixyn, and that would just be all shades of magic.

Tali is probably my favorite of my (somewhat embarrassing) figure collection. I also swear I did not buy that glass pumpkin to match her, it just worked out that way.

The main reason I jumped on this, though, is because I know my dad's been looking for a specific type of satchel for the longest time, but can't find anything that's precisely right. Depending on how my whipping up the messenger bag goes, I might see about using this pattern to make him his ideal bag as a Christmas present, although I'd definitely have to get creative for it. You know those doctor's medical satchels that open up and then stay opened up, like they've got reinforcement in the bag or something, like this one? He wants one of those, but in a larger size and ideally not black. If I could make it in burgundy and brown with antique gold hardware, it would be absolutely perfect. But I figure I should probably not dive straight into that more complicated project, so starting off with the messenger bag makes a lot of sense to me. Depending on how this goes I can already see myself making my sister a backpack with camera-print canvas (she's a photographer) and my mom and downsized messenger or satchel of her own to use as a purse in a turquoise faux leather striped ticking... this could be the birth of a monster.

So, yes, I am now in that simultaneously delightful and agonizing period of waiting for new fabrics to come in so I can get to work on my new not-researching-or-writing downtime project of the Walden by Colette Cooper bag. Gonna be fun.

And no, I did not forget about the Newcastle Cardigan I'll be making my boyfriend for Christmas- I'm waiting on that fabric, too. It should be here Monday!

Totally nailed it with that rib knit jacquard as far as the Deux Ex inspiration jacket goes, so pleased with myself right now.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get as much work done as humanly possible before these fabrics arrive and the desire to immediately start playing with them overrides whatever vestiges of academic responsibility I have left to my name.

Projects in the Works

I'd hoped to have a new project to show off today (a view C Simplicity 1609 in powder blue to by my Syfy Alice dress- yes, I recognize that dress is actually probably a knit, but this isn't a cosplay I'm taking too seriously accuracy-wise and I really wanted to give this pattern a go), but I didn't have enough time between when I started it and now to whip up some bias binding for the arms and neck and the lace I'm waiting on hasn't even shipped yet. I know the pattern uses facings, but bias binding is definitely more reference accurate, so I'm going to take the time to make some matching bias tape out of the copious amounts of leftover fabric I have.

Here's the WIP teaser I tweeted a few days ago- still need to get those unfinished sleeves bound, cut the neck deeper then bind it, and sew on the lace... and maybe take it in at the sides. I cut a 16 but I think a 14 would've done me just fine.

Seriously, I don't know if I just always buy a bit more out of some nervousness that I'm going to mess up or the packages lie to me, but I always end up having a ton of remainder fabric. Weird, that.

Anyway, since I don't have a project to show off today, I figured I'd instead do a bit of an inventory of what, precisely, I'll be working on. Heads up, this is mostly going to be cosplay-related with a dash of Christmas gift sewing and maybe one or two things for myself.

1. A Newcastle Cardigan

One of my boyfriend's absolute favorite games is Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The main character, Adam Jensen, has a particularly stylish black leather coat with black  brocade-looking shoulder panels. Now, I'm not about to make a leather jacket, and I really don't think my boyfriend would have many places he could wear one anyway without drawing a lot of attention (sadly), but when I saw the Newcastle Cardigan pattern by Thread Theory my first thought went to this coat.

From the Deus Ex wiki

I'm on the hunt for the perfect black knit and brocade fabrics for it now (if anyone has any recommendations, please feel free to share, right now I'm considering this for the bulk of the cardigan with this as the shoulder detail, and ignoring how ungodly expensive it would be in the process), but man, this should end up being one of the better holiday gifts I've gotten him. Funny how the past few have involved clothing (well, and Munchkin Cthulhu, but.) Also yes, I will be making myself one of these, because I am addicted to cardigans and this looks like it's going to be comfy as hell. And/or I'll end up stealing this a lot from him once I make it.

UPDATE: Just picked out the fabrics for this! I'm going a little off the cuff from the inspiration and going with navy rather than black, mainly because I found the most perfect dark navy knit jacquard and coordinating sweatshirt fleece. So looking forward to playing with this. I have some slate blue faux leather in my stash, so depending on how his goes I might make up one of my own utilizing that leather for the shoulder detail and maybe some elbow patches, as I am a sucker for elbow patches...

2. Priestess Yui from Fushigi Yuugi

At some point I went temporary over-optimistic and agreed to far too many cosplays for Katsucon. This is one of them.

Yes, that skirt is basically a very long draped loincloth... eek. Funny how a priestess outfit is going to be my most revealing cosplay to date, huh? I already have all the fabric for this, some beautiful faux-dupioni silk for the main part of the top, the top collar, and the "skirt" plus some organza for the sleeves (I'll just make an underjacket) and the bow detail, and I've got the perfect bolero pattern to modify for the top. I'll hand-mebroider the vine and flower detail on, maybe using some seed beads for the flowers if I get really ambitious.The bottom is entirely just draping it until it hangs right and then body gluing EVERYTHING in place. I'll also be making the necklace out of probably sculpy or primo clay. Hemming all that organza could get old fast, but since my friend (doing Priestess Miaka, naturally) and I hope to compete in these, I'll be paying extremely careful attention to this one.

Did I mention I'll also be styling her Miaka wig? 'Cause that's a thing that will be happening. I might document that on here- I really enjoy styling cosplay wigs, so it'll definitely pop up from time to time. We're also doing the school uniforms, but the priority is definitely the priestess outfit so that's the one I'm focusing on first.

3. A Zinnia Skirt

I found some absolutely beautiful forest green chiffon on sale while looking for cosplay fabric (of course) and couldn't resist the thought of a Zinnia in it, especially as I had some cotton batiste in my stash that'd go perfectly with it. The main reason I had to snatch up the Zinnia pattern was so I could make my own lined sheer skirts, as they're one of my absolute favorite things to wear, so it only makes sense that it'd be my first priority.

Outside of these priority projects, I've also got a simple A-line plaid skirt already cut out, so that'll get sewn up soon enough. I was just waiting on the invisible zipper foot I'd ordered for my machine before finishing it off. I found this fabulous purple, teal, navy and gold fabric and had to get it, it'll make for such a nice winter skirt. I do say winter lightly, though, as I live in Virginia where even once it gets cold it's not THAT cold... then again I think we might get flurries this week, so shows what I know, right? I also have the fabric lurking about for a Sailor Mercury cosplay and an Athena Cykes cosplay (I just finished Dual Destinies but I knew the instant I saw Athena that I HAD to cosplay her- I've always wanted to do an Ace Attorney cosplay but never had a character that grabbed me until Athena, but man did she more than make up for the wait!). I'll work on those piecemeal, but since I'm getting closer and closer to finals (and more and more behind on my thesis...) I probably won't get too far on them with everything else going on.

I'll try to update once that Alice dress is done as well, just because man I want it done and it documents a first of mine- an invisible zipper! It didn't go in perfectly because I made a bit of a stupid mistake but, all things considered, I'm pleased with the outcome.