Game of Thrones Inspired Messenger Style Bag

I love the costumes from Game of Thrones, embellished elaborately with detailed hand embroidery, 3D embroidery and bead work. Michelle Carragher is a true artist. I have arthritis, so I do most of my embroidery by machine these days. The good news is that you don't always need an embroidery machine for this. You can do a lot with the basic and embroidery stitches on regular sewing machines, as I have here. I made my version of Cersei Lannister's red dress a while back. This time I decided to try something different. I love this dress worn by Sansa Stark, especially the neckline.  I thought something similar might look good on a bag.

I started by creating embroidered fabric, using the straight and leaf stitches on my Bernina and several different thread colors.  This took several hours, as the fabric is thick and dense, and some of the stitches just sank in to the nap. I embellished the pieces for the sides and the flap in this manner.

 The bag construction was fairly easy. I added a zippered pocket and an open, divided pocket to the lining as well as a cellphone pocket and magnetic snap under the flap.

 Once I had constructed the bag and inserted the lining, I added rolled roses, rosebuds, and leaves to the flap.

 I learned to make rolled roses years ago from the works of  Elly Sienkiewicz, who has written many books on Baltimore Album Quilts and dimensional applique. My roses were made using two different fabrics, both to reduce bulk(the bag fabric is very heavy) and to create depth. 

I made raw edged leaves by sewing two velvety leaf pieces together, right sides facing outwards. Stitched leaf veins add texture.

I am pleased with the finished bag. It is big enough to hold my stuff and my iPad if necessary, and small enough for a person (like me) who prefers small purses.

Make a Man's Tailcoat the Easy Way

Do you need a man's tailcoat for a play, historical, or steampunk event? Do you have basic sewing skills? If so, creating a man's tailcoat is easily within your grasp.

I start with a thrift store suit coat. The coat should fit it's intended wearer well in the shoulders. Fully lined coats are best. Avoid coats with patch pockets, as you will have to remove them and sometimes the fabric underneath the pocket is darker, or otherwise leaves a mark. A jacket without a vent in the back will make your job even easier.

Have someone put the coat on for you, and mark the desired front length. This is usually 1"- 2" above the welt pocket. You can complete the marking while the jacket is on the person, or place it neatly on a table, front side up. Using a piece of tailor's chalk, draw a line straight back from the center front to the side front seam. From this point, curve the line down around the welt pocket, and just before you get to the side seam, drop it down a couple inches. Repeat on the other side and join your lines in the back. Align the coat layers so that they are perfectly smooth. Pin generously above and below the lines. 

Cut through all the layers about 1/2" below your chalk line. The only section you discard is the area around the welt pocket.

Save what you cut off for the tails. If your jacket, like this one, did not have a back vent, cut it in half to create two tails. If it had a back vent you will either have two pieces or one piece that is partially attached which will need to be detached and trimmed. 

Press all layers to the inside of the jacket on the chalk line and pin in place.
Insert the tails between the lining and outer layers of the jacket back, with the curved corner facing out. Pin in place. Top stitch all the way around with matching thread.

The jacket pictured below only had a front lining, but was otherwise perfect so I opted to use it. The brown binding was used to finish the seams and the hems, so you can see that the bottom edge of the original jacket faces outward on the tails.

Instead of inserting the tails between the layers, I hemmed the back of the jacket and attached the tails with two layers of stitching about an inch apart to make them hang better. I overlapped these a little. It looks nicer, I think, unless there is too much bulk.

And here it is on the hanger. Many thanks to my friend Katie for taking this series of pictures for me.

I usually remove all the sleeve buttons (as that is a modern thing) and put buttons over the buttonholes. It is also possible, with a good steam iron and a little patience, to reshape the collar and change the size of the lapels.

You can add stripes, extra buttons, cuffs, and epaluettes for different character and military looks. 

There are usually more colors available in ladies clothing, so don't restrict your hunt for the right color jacket to the men's department. If the coat is the right size in the shoulders you are probably good. Occasionally the sleeves of ladies jackets are a little short on men. You can either let them down, or wear them with a shirt featuring longer cuffs or ruffles. All of the red jackets I made the guys for Les Miserables came from the ladies department of the Thrift Store.

Once I got a system in place, I could transform a suit jacket into a tail coat in half an hour or less. 

I made a dark green steampunk version for the Wizard in the Wizard of Oz, too.

  To see more photos of these jackets in action, go to my Les Miserables Pinterest Board.

When she's not blogging, Nancy does alterations, makes custom wedding gowns, clothing, and costumes. She also operates three etsy stores- Embroidery as Art, Retro Sewing Patterns, and Great East Emporium. Follow her on Pinterest to see what inspires her.

Catching Up With Myself

I went for 13 months without blogging- from September 2013 to October 2014- not because I wasn't doing anything, but because I was doing too much to keep up with the blog. During those months, I did three shows, a couple comicon costumes, and several weddings among other things. As a quick catch up, I thought I would do a photo essay of those 13 months. 

The Gifts of the Magi

November/December 2013

Wedding- January 2014

Les Miserables- March 2014

The Wizard of Oz

May 2014-

with a touch of Steampunk

A Doctor Who costume, including a very long hand knitted scarf

 a Kaylee costume

some awesome aprons and towels for our Annual Honey Harvest Open House

...and another wedding dress, which I blogged about in October 2014.

I left out a lot, but these are the high points. I haven't stopped working, but have slowed the pace a bit. More soon!

The Anatomy of a Pirate Costume

You are staging Peter Pan or some other show featuring pirates. Captain Hook is a pirate, and everyone knows what he looks like.  But what about Smee, or other pirates with less name recognition? How does the audience know for sure that they are pirates, too? The obvious answer is that they look like pirates.  Here are some hints on how to make that happen, even if you are on a tight budget.

Most pirates- and their costumes- are a form of historical fiction. While there is some truth in this image, there is more that is the product of the imagination. If you do it well, your show should carry its audience off into the world you have created. Bad costumes are a distraction and an impediment to this.  Since most Americans think “Disney Captain Hook” or “Johnny Depp” when you say the word pirate, sticking to this sort of imagery works well.   Without buying cheaply made and expensively priced commercial costumes, how do you accomplish this?

Start by looking at pictures of pirates and visually dissect what they are wearing.  Some of the things I noted were blousy shirts, open at the throat, knee breeches or pants tucked into boots, heavy belts, sashes, vests, long coats, things that lace up, ragged edges, stripes, eye patches, bandanas, earrings, and hats.  I also used billowy skirts and corset style belts for some of the lady pirates.

Go thrift store shopping and start looking for these elements. Almost all of the guys wore something from the ladies rack, because in our culture, women generally wear more varied and interesting clothing than men do.  One day I went looking just for pants. I found stretch leggings with pleather on the front of the thighs, loose fitting heavy knit pants with faux diamond trim down the sides, and flared capris with eyelets and lacing on the outside of the leg. The leggings and blingy pants were worn with high boots or boot tops, and the pirate wearing the leggings also wore a coat that covered his thighs.  

The next time I hit pay dirt on belts- most of them heavy leather, studded with metal brads. Another day I went looking for vests.  I was amazed at what I found when I walked through the store thinking “pirate vest.”

 Bandanas can be cut, raw edged, out of suitable fabric.  I made a lot of hats (that is a blog entry unto itself) but I was also able to turn dollar store straw hats and a couple thrift store wool felt hats into pirate hats with minimal work. 

 Once you set your mind on the pirate channel you begin to see pirate in clothing items you might not have considered before.