warrior princess (xena), skirting the issue

The skirt is easier than the bodice, but with all the studs and pieces that comprise the skirt, there was a lot more time involved.

I used masking tape to secure the pieces I was going to sew together (below).

Permanent marker to trace the shapes.

Secured with masking tape

More wax paper for sewing.

So... much... topstitching...

Tacky glue to secure the pieces before studding

2 down, 8 more to go...

warrior princess (xena), wrap your arms around this

I didn't use leather for the wristbands and armbands. I used a faux leather that is typically used for upholstery and backed it with a vinyl (also used for upholstery). I simply used tacky glue for the bonding--you will see that I used a TON of tacky glue on this project.

I pressed these overnight to ensure a secure bond.

I only had red vinyl :(

In order to recreate the raised gold motifs, I simply used fabric paint and an EXTREMELY steady hand. I first drew in the design using a permanent marker, then retraced with the gold fabric paint. I kept the lines a little uneven and bumpy to stay true to the nature of Xena's cuffs.

You can see where I made my lines with permanent marker.

For the armbands, I set flat-backed rhinestones into the wet fabric paint.

For the wristbands, I actually masked the border and used some of clay sculpting tools to flatten the paint. I suggest peeling the tape off after 5 minutes of applying the paint, otherwise the paint will come off with the tape if you wait until the paint is 100% dry.

The final step was "weathering". I brushed on some brown acrylic paint very quickly to the dried fabric paint to create more "depth", wiping away the raised areas. You can see what a big difference it makes on the shoulder pad design below.

Before

After

warrior princess (xena), second skin

Hello, dear readers! I haven't disappeared. I've been struggling to juggle my job, my new geek-centric blog, my social life and a start-up clothing line I'm consulting on... ! I'm still working on costumes though!!

If you are my friend on Facebook you've seen two new albums from me--Xena/Warrior Princess, and Haruhi Suzumiya. Xena is for Halloween. Because simply put, she was one of my very first heroines growing up.. and despite all that sheisty CGI monsters in the series, she was badass.

Like every Halloween, I always come up with my costume idea a few weeks before, and basically stay up late every single night trying to finish. This year is the same but I think this costume is far more complicated than last year's GaGa ordeal.

Not surprisingly I did not finish this costume in time. Which is fine because I did not have time to make the chakram or the sword, which are both central to Xena's entire getup, anyway, so I will have this costume done in time for Comic-Con next July. Yes, next July. Because I'm sure this costume will take far more than the 85 hours minimum I usually put into each costume...

The bodice itself is requiring quite a bit of meticulous sewing and detailing on my part already, as I've had to use my wax paper (typically used for baking) to sew each piece of leather.

It was an ordeal trying to find a screenshot of the leather bustier minus the armor. I cannot even remember where I found this picture, now, so if this is your image please let me know so I can properly credit you.



I used my Xianghua bustier pattern as a base as it fit perfectly, and simply shifted the style lines to match the shape of the Xena bustier. I also marked where I would need to add the bra cups, and roughly cut out that area, after I mocked up the first sample. I then took the actual bra cup I would be using, and draped muslin over the cup, pinning the cup to the bustier to make sure everything would fit in place during the sewing process. Draping the muslin took forever as I wanted to make sure the style lines would match Xena's exactly--1 piece at the top, 2 pieces at the bottom. I kept this pattern in fabric form and did not transfer to paper.

I did not line the bustier this time. The inside actually looks slightly unfinished but I tried to keep it as clean as possible.

Sewing leather without a leather sewing machine is very tedious. You need to use wax paper to sandwich the leather in order for it to properly feed through the sewing foot. My stitch lengths were not 100% uniform, which irritated my OCD self but what can you do? I switched to a thicker thread and achieved better results.

Welcome to my apartment. Please be wary of the wax paper so you don't slip and fall. :(

I sewed the entire bustier minus the bra cups, and added a zipper to the side seam. The back will have a faux lace-up look--fun times ahead =_=... ready to become best friends with my leather punch.

I then sewed the leather pieces for the bra cup TO the bra cup itself, even securing with tacky glue. I had to hand-tack the leather-covered bra cups to the bustier, then sew it a second time through the machine. This was extremely difficult as I had to carefully walk my hand along the joining seam to make sure I was still sewing 1/4" away from where I needed to be. Not the best sewing job in the world, I can honestly say, but with leather, you can't rip out the seams and start over, as the leather has already been pierced.

I still have to add the straps (didn't buy the rings yet) and add the piping to the bottom edge!