Pattern Review: Butterick 4954

After looking at a pattern I thought could use some help, I wanted to switch gears to one that I found to be helpful for quite a few costumes.

As most Butterick (and Simplicity & McCall) patterns go, 4954 isn't a bastion of historical accuracy. However, I've found that the pattern is a great catch-all when I'm in need of a high-necked jacket or a pretty skirt.

My first experience with the pattern was my Queen of Hearts costume. I used the jacket part.


I changed up the pattern some, pinning up the flaps in the back rather than the front (for the butt hearts and to make room for the bustle), and not including lace around the sleeves and neck.


Butt heart ahoy!
The jacket pattern was fairly easy to follow, and ended up being completely lined. It had a very polished look and I can tell that some care was put into the pattern creation. I've also found that the high collar is a go-to part of the pattern for me when I run across other costumes that need that particular shape and type of collar. I've cobbled it onto a few dresses now, and I'm using it in the Gankutsuou costume.

I sewed the skirt (the black and white striped skirt in the pattern image) for a steampunk birthday party last year, and found that it also fit nicely and came together just as I wanted. I don't have a photo of the completed item, but I would recommend the pattern if you're looking for that specific shape.

Butterick 4954
Rating: 8/10

Pattern Review: Simplicity 2777

Recently I came upon the fact that two of my costumes would be needing bloomers (in two different colors, no less), so I had to find a good bloomer pattern. As a costumer and seamstress, I like to snap up patterns at the fabric store when they go on super sale, since I never know when I'll come across one that is perfect for an odd shape.

I pulled Simplicity 2777 out of the pattern box, excited that I had something at my fingertips. The pattern looked fairly slender along the legs, and from the images on the pattern cover, I figured that I'd be able to tighten bottom edge of the bloomers at my whim. I chose to cut out the pattern for C/D, which is for a length right at the knee.

Sadly, this was not the case. The ribbon detailing at the tight portion of the bloomers is for show only; the pattern leaves no way to make a fairly wide leg hole any smaller. If you have slender legs, you're going to be left with a very floppy leg area unless you add some elastic or make a casing for ribbon.

I haven't quite finished sewing the first pair of bloomers yet, and I think I'm going to have to make a waistband from my extra fabric so I can put elastic inside the waist, rather than using the very thin 3/8" ribbon the pattern calls for. I don't like the feel of thin ribbon holding up an item on my waist; at that width it feels like it cuts into my skin. A good waistband of non-roll elastic is much preferred.

I also found that the ruffle at the bottom of the legs was overly large - costumey large, if you will. I'm going to finish making this pattern tonight to see if I can improve upon it, but I'm doubtful it will really meet my expectations.

Here is my final opinion on this pattern.

Simplicity 2777
Pattern Option: C/D
Cloth: Linen
Rating: 4/10
Alterations: Elastic into leg bottom, new waistband, elastic into waistband.

Has anyone else had better luck with a different bloomer pattern?

A Friday Shindig

Darkain released a new photo from our 2009 Shindig Kaylee photoshoot.

Technology R Hard

Sometimes technology makes life so easy - it's remembering to USE the technology that gets me.

I've struggled for many years to remember to make notes about how to wash the fabric I buy. The instructions are available on the cardboard the fabric bolt comes on, and there are a lot of times I get home and realize I don't know if my fabric is machine washable, hang dry, dry clean, what-have-you.

The silly part is that I've been carrying my iPhone with me for years, bringing it to hold the reference photos I use to choose my fabrics, and until recently, never once just took a photo of the end of the bolt roll.

Really, was that so hard?

Cheating

Sometimes I think I sew too much for masquerades and not enough for myself. I'll pick costumes and then begin planning the process of how I will document my work, show the effort -- and then remember that I'm not planning on competing, so I don't NEED to do any of those things.

I volunteered to make a costume from the anime Gankutsuou - a lesser-known character (and let's admit it, I haven't seen the show). I'm also slightly unfamiliar with the entire character design, so my work is based off two small photos.

Awww, color vomit!

I spent a lot of time stressing over the dress being high-necked since I don't have a good pattern for it. I'm not a natural when sewing - I have to combine patterns and make sure that I can get similar shapes. Let me be the first one to announce my envy that some people can just throw fabric on a dress form and end up with a perfect result.

However, this past weekend I forced myself to sit back and realize that I was not going to be competing in this green monstrosity. It was going to be for convention wear and photos only, so why did it have to be a) historically accurate, and b) under-the-jacket accurate? I marched out, found myself a great dress pattern that fit my needed shape, and got to work on cutting fabric.

Nobody's going to know (ok, except you guys) that I'm not wearing a high-necked, long-sleeved dress. I feel kind of gleeful about doing it the easy way, but a bit guilty too.

How do you cheat at cosplay?

This is now a two-hoop house.

Note: hoop skirts are so much easier to buy than to make. If you're not going for historical accuracy, e-bay is your best friend.

Another note: Yeah, I'm a kangaroo.

It's only me, then?

I'm not sure how everyone else dries 8 yards of hang-dry only fabric.

Artistic License

Recently I stumbled across a trailer from an ElfQuest fan film that I had donated some money to help fund about six months ago. The trailer is complete, and at this time of writing, only 50 seconds of the 5-minute piece have been released. (The whole trailer is due to be released on April 6, 2011. Link here.

However, one thing I noticed was that the characters didn't have the exact same costumes that the comic book portrays. There are subtle differences here and there, and in some cases the costume looks like it was changed quite dramatically.

There are questions to be asked.

a. Would the original authors (Wendy and Richard Pini) be angry or litigious should the fan film reproduce the costumes in their exact nature? In this case, no. The fan film has been giving the creators' blessing, so there's no good reason to fix what wasn't broken.

b. Would a budget constraint affect the way the costume was built? Quite possibly - the fan film was hoping to raise five thousand dollars to cover costumes, filming, etc. The main characters start out living in a forest. They wear dyed leather from the animals they've killed. Clothing a whole crew in leather scraps adds up fast.

As a costumer, I think that I notice details like this more than a regular person, and I imagine that the rest of the cosplayers out there do too. It's our nature to see a movie or show and analyze how the costume was made and what it was made of. Figuring out integral details like that can make or break a replica piece, especially from something live action.

This is the costume that the character Clearbrook wears pretty religiously throughout the first four ElfQuest bound collections. Several years of work makes a pretty consistent costume design.

Source

This is the costume used in the fan film.

See the larger version here.
Is it fair to critique this version? I find myself wondering if the fan film owes something to its viewers - simply because it is for the fans, by the fans. Should they have stuck to the original design, or do you think that liberties are ok to be taken?

How would you as a costumer choose to handle a question such as this? If you think that a professional film or effort must follow the costume design to the letter, do you hold yourself to the same standards, or is there a line?