CRL-Sinya - WIP-documentation back in 2013

[Tlana]

I had noticed there are still so many people out there with questions about my Sinya costume; I decided to load up now the WIP-steps I did in 2013 to get her approved. I hope it'll help you further and give answer to some questions you have.

 

Let's start with the skirt:

 

The skirt is made of heavy linen in the same colour (we call it olive brown) as shown in the comic book. It has a flared form and the six segments make a three-fourths of a whole circle so it swings nicely when you walk. The under edge reaches to the calves and it fits the waist high and very tight to get this “wasp waist” (well, breathing is optional in this costume). I used a solid vilene to keep it in form and sewed a zipper in it.

I sewed the skirt together before I painted it, because I didn’t want to have any differences in the design on every sewing line. The pointed anthracite spirals are dabbed with a little sponge by different stencils on the fabric.

 

PS: I’m very sorry about my creepy English – I’m still learning it at an evening school. So if I write something completely wrong, please feel free to correct me, thank you.

 

Edited January 13, 2016 by Tlana

[Tlana]

Shirt:

 

If there is any chance to borrow a dummy in your size during the sewing process, please do it. It’s almost impossible to get a proper result without it, especially later, when you start with the corsage.

The shirt is made of a solid jersey fabric, matched to the colour of the Skirt. The v-line turtleneck and the puff sleeves are made of the same material like the skirt, but without spiral paintings. Because I couldn’t find a pattern I liked online, I decided to design the puff sleeves by myself. I underlaid the v-line and the armholes with some fusible fleece to reduce the deforming of the flexible jersey while I was stitching down the inflexible turtleneck and the puff sleeves.

 

I would highly recommend to sew a zipper in the back of the turtleneck. It’s much more comfortable when you dress on.

 

The lower part of the very, VERY(!!!) tight fitting sleeves is made of black faux leather. I choosed faux leather because it’s much more flexible than real leather and it’s washable. It’s quilted in horizontally lines from the backside, spaced one inch apart.

 

After I blurred my costume at every event on and on again (because of my white painted left forearm) I decided to sew on a white nylon stocking. It also saves time when I dress up, because there is much less skin to paint.

[Tlana]

Corsage:

 

 

The corsage was an extra challenge, because I’ve never ever done something like this before. It’s made of dark brown faux buckskin (alcantara). Primarily I wanted to use real buckskin (hush-hush, I love the smell of leather, yeah-yeah-yeah) but I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. At least I bought this fabric in a curtain shop.

 

The corsage is sewed together of 22 vertical segments. It is extremely close fitting (the dimensions on the sketch are just a raw guess).

 

I made the pattern of kraft paper, which I wrapped around my dummy, dressed with skirt and shirt. Unfortunately I didn’t make any picture of this process (but here is a picture of the pattern I took later).

 

First I measured breast, weist and hip circumference. Than I cut a big sheet of kraft paper in exactly the same length of the largest circumference (in this case the hips). After this I divided that length by 22. The result was the maximal width of every segment, so I drew a continuous vertical marking line after each space. I folded the paper on each marking line and fixed it with some tape and pins on the dummy. Than, I started to pin the superplus paper carefully on every prefolded crease. I just did the half, because it has to be symmetrical anyway. After this, I just had to cut away the superplus paper and got my pattern.

 

I took the Material double, because it was not as thick as it should be and I used a solid fusible fleece to make it stiffer.

 

It is very necessary to label each piece with a number. Otherwise you will loose the overview completely.

[Tlana]

Shoulderbells – First part

 

The shoulder bells are made of 3-millimeter PVC sheet and the same faux buckskin as used for the corsage.  Every shoulder bell shows two overlapping segments. The outer/higher segment overlaps the inner/lower one by 15 or 20 millimetres.

 

For a first step I sewed a velcro fastener on each shoulder and on front of the lower edge of the corsage. The Velcro Fastener will help to keep the shoulder Bells and the bucklet of the belt in position. Be sure that you’re sewing the “loop”-side on the corsage.

 

After that I created a paper pattern to get the shape and transferred it on thin paperboard. Don’t forget to chart the 15 millimeter under lap on the inner/lower segment. Than I transferred the pattern on PVC sheet twice and cut it out.

 

Next I transferred each pattern on the faux buckskin. I did four parts of each segment – two of them are exactly the same size as the pattern and two of them are bigger and show a 15 or 20 mm glue allowance. All in all there should be 8 buckskin pieces.

 

Than I applied contact adhesive on the underside of the PVC sheets and the smaller faux buckskin pieces (without glue allowance) and agglutinated it. To plunge the socket of the (BIG) snap fastener, I made a small hole on each corner of the inner/lower segments. Using a strong thread I sewed the sockets on the underside if the inner/lower part. I also sewed some velcro fastener (“hook” side) on the inner edge of the underside. I used a small pilers to get the needle trough the material. I know, it’s unusual to sew something on PVC sheet, but it is one of the most solid ways to attach something when glue doesn’t work. As long as the stitches aren’t to close to each other, the PVC sheet will not break at the perforation.

[Tlana]

Shoulderbells – Second part

 

Before I applied the faux buckskin pieces on the upper side of the lower/inner segment I filled the holes I did for the snap fasteners with some acrylic sealant from the upper side. In the meantime I was able to apply the under and the upper side of the outer/higher segments and grinded the edges with the glue allowance. It is necessary to apply the smaller buckskin pieces on the underside, before applying the bigger pieces on the upper side.

 

… after the sealant was dry, I applied the bigger buckskin pieces on the upper side of the lower/inner segments and grinded the edges accurately. A screw driver assisted me to place the glue allowance carefully under the snap fastener.

 

I applied contact adhesive along the inner edge of the underside of the outer/higher segment and along the under lapping edge of the upper side of the inner/lower segment. Be careful that you apply the contact adhesive just to the overlapping line. Than I positioned the two segments and pressed together. With a stitching awl I pre-stung small holes along the under lapping edge. After that I used tiny countersunk head screws to connect the two segments firmly.

 

Well, the next step is a little bit tricky. I used a small stainless steel IKEA serving bowl and a heat gun to warm up the shoulder bells carefully. It needs some intuition to not overheat the material. I had to do it step by step and the bowl and the dummy helped to bend the shoulder bells into it’s round shape.

 

For the last step I had to sew the stud of the snap fastener on the corsage. It’s necessary to identify the correct snap fastener position while you wear the corsage on your body and not on the dummy.

 

So far so good for the shoulder bells ...

[Tlana]

Belt and belt buckle

 

The crosswise worn dark grey belts are made of solid 40 mm wide (faux) leather. I bought two identical faux leather belts in over length. Unfortunately the inner edge of the lower worn belt part started to tilt outward on my thighs, so I had to curve them. I cut out five slim wedges on each strap and sewed them together again. I got an angle of around 95°. To cover the stiches I had to sew two overlays of thin faux leather. Of course I also didn’t got any faux leather in the colour I wanted, so I had to paint it in dark grey. Well, I had to weathering it anyway … Acrylic colour seems to be a good idea to paint faux leather, as long the surface is made of vinyl …

 

The buckle is made of 3 layers of 3 mm PVC sheet. It builds a point-down right-angled pentagon of 92 x 86 mm. I used the buckles of the belts I bought and sawed them in half because I needed two identical pieces with a bolt. I had to drill some holes in it to fix it with the PVC sheets and the upper belt loops from the backside.

 

I used an acrylic colour mix of different gold and brown shades and dabbed it with a sponge on the PVC. If you dab in half dried color in various layers you’ll get a kind of hammer paint look. I sealed it with some clear acrylic enamel.

 

If you have the chance to make the belt and the buckle of real thick and solid leather and metal, please do it! I'm sure it’ll turn out great!

[Tlana]

Bracelet

 

The bracelet is made of my favourite and hot loved 3 mm PVC sheet. I heated it carefully with the hot airgun and sewed the open gap together. Then I filled the gap with acrylic sealant. Of course, it’s a little bit tricky to come in (I use a rolled piece of PET-foil) and out (with soap or Vaseline) but it works. I can’t recommend Vaseline to come in - the colour on your hands wouldn’t hold and look properly anymore. After a troop, It doesn’t matter. The eight buttons are “real” metal buttons 12 mm in average. The embossments at the edges are 10 mm wide. I used a 10 mm strip of PVC sheet and grinded it in the right shape. Then I heated it and sewed it down on the edges. Make sure, that you’ll build a pipes for the thread, so it’ll be easier to spackle the roughness whith the acrylic sealant.

 

And again: Of corse, real metal would be more “chic”!

Edited January 24, 2016 by Tlana

[Tlana]

Right vambrace

 

I attached a scanned design of the shape and the technical elements on the lower part. The upper part is not really spectacular - just a plain tube with some scores. The technique is the same I used for the bracelet. The upper part is made of grey PVC sheet. There's no deeper meaning of it, it’s just because I ran out of the black one …

Here you can see a little bit more detailed how I sew the two edges together.

The vambrace fits very tight around the right forearm, it’s just wide enough to slip in and out. It shows two colours, while the lower part is almost smooth  brighter and more golden, while the upper part shows the same colour and structure as the bracelet. For the comlink like detail i used the structure of a gillette lady shave as a sample. It took me an afternoon just to carve the structure into the PVC sheet, because the original was to big to use.