Hyperjapan outfit in the making

We planned a trip to Hyperjapan, Earls Court, this year and my lovely husband, Simon, decided he wanted to go in cosplay as one of his favourite characters, Choji from Naruto.

Time again was running short so he decided to help!

Actually he took to sewing like a duck to water and the costume came together beautifully.

We used his basic shirt pattern putting the yoke and back piece together cutting it as one, lengthening it and shaping the fronts.  Some of the front band was removed, the basic sleeve pattern used and I drew a pattern for the lengthened and shaped cuffs.

The main jacket was sewn using red sheeting with the rectangle embellishments being sewn as separate shapes so that they could be wadded and then appliqued on and it fastened with an open-ended zip. The front grey piece needed to be separate so he could get in and out of the costume easily and I again used his shirt pattern to get the correct size.  This was cut in three pieces which were sewn together with wadding. Originally we thought that we could attach each grey strip to the jacket with velcro but as things evolved we realised that this wasnt practical so to make it one total piece we placed it onto a rectangle of red fabric and sewed each piece down.

Straps were added to the front grey piece which was then sewn to the shoulders and to make it stay flat and still on the front, it was fastened with velcro and poppers.  My husband drew out the front symbol and I painted it on with fabric paints.  It was a bit of a rush job but the end result was worth it.

The wig was bought by from a local fancy dress shop and my sister cut and styled it. Lots of people said that it was the best Choji costume they had seen.

Simon now has the sewing bug and is currently planning his next cosplay outfit and also some everyday clothes, nothing simple though!

The Anonymous Travelling Market at Wilton Shopping Village

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since the Vintage Market in Boscombe. We had booked an inside stand at The Anonymous Travelling Market on Saturday 24th November and because this wasnt solely ‘vintage’ we could add in items from my Shinkurose, Etsy shop as well as taking home items such as upcycled cushion covers, some framed photos and a couple of candlesticks made from brass plumbing fittings.

Wilton Shopping Village is a lovely venue but the flood and strong weather warnings did keep some people at home.  Those that came were lovely and we had a good time.  We had learnt a lot from our first market and our stand looked much more inviting.   We had two tables placed in an L shape and covered them with a beautiful crochet cover and a patchwork quilt.  We set up the younger, cuter more everyday wear first at one end and moved round the table gradually changing the feel with the steampunk fascinators in the middle on my steampunk cake stand made from old cymbals, copper pipe and some other plumbing oddments I had found at the Steam Fair in Blandford.  The end of the table had the small bridal selection and the cushions were on the floor as if they were on a settee.

There were two indoor rooms where stands were situated

As well as stands selling all sorts of beautiful items there was food stalls where you could buy fish burgers, hog roast, crepes, wonderful artisan bread and lovely looking cakes.  In the food marquee there was entertainment, it was such a shame that the weather was so bad.

The Anonymous travelling market likes colour, creativity and quirkiness and keeing in line with this theme I wore my  yukata and during the afternoon a canotier and I really needed the muff as it was a bit chilly.

It was a fun day and we did make some money and therefore can invest in more materials but more importantly I learn a lot at each fair and am gradually working out the best way to proceed and make my small business grow.

Strawberry Bag

I needed a bag to go with my outfit for MCM and as I am on a strict budget I had to be creative.

My husband is a chef and had left an old chef jacket in our studio which I asked my mum to dye for me.

He was very surprised to see pink ‘whites’ hanging on the washing line one day when he came home.

I had made a heart bag previously and the pattern for this was ideal for a strawberry.

I traced the top of the heart pattern onto another piece of paper and drew the leaves for the top so I could cut out them out of a scrap of green fabric which was then appliqued onto the heart shape using a small zigzag stitch.  The main pieces were backed on coutil to make them firmer and the straps had rigilene in to make them strong.  Inside I used the pockets from the jacket to make pockets on the lining for my phone etc and to make the bag large enough to carry everything I needed on the day it had a gusset and was fastened with a zip for safety.  I had some little green leaves left over  from a previous project and I sewed these on to finish the strawberry and I thought it looked great with my outfit.