Neko

Sewing endeavours, first half of 2024

Reccently I've been getting into sewing! I'm not making masterpieces, but I've had some projects I'm quite pleased with. The main thing I made is a corset-style top based on this 90s tank top I got from my mum:

Image of me wearing a red corset-style top

This is the first piece of clothing I've actually finished to a wearable state, which is so much fun! The process was quite simple, too. First, I just... traced the top I wanted to mirror.

Image of a messy assortment of pattern pieces, a pen, scissors and a door handle

The pattern turned out simple enough, consisting of four pieces that need to be cut out twice. I made a quick mockup to make sure I got it right enough for my tastes before making anything more serious. Fortunately, I was pleased with the results!

The red top next to a gray, low-quality imitation

The result was good! However, I realised that I needed to either use a similar material to what the OG top was made with or add some kind of closures, since the design is for a quite stretchy fabric. This wasn't bad news in any way, shape or form, though, seeing as that meant I could add lacing in the back! The best feature of any top, and a leading factor in this design. With that settled, I moved on to cutting out my fabric.

A pattern piece pinned to a jean leg My cat laying on a piece of fabric in order to get cuddles

Fortunately, my cat was present to assist me. I made the top out of a pair of jeans that were long-since worn through in some places, making the top half into a skirt (not too pleased with that project, but it is wearable!). After assembling the pieces (by hand, which is best explained by a certain level of machochism, I guess...) I found myself with something resembling the top I began with.

The red, gray and black top layed out so they can be compared
A black top laying flat. It is not hemmed

For the "final touches" I hemmed everything (again, by hand) and added the shoulder bands. For these, I chose a (kinda shitty) satin band that I had on hand. I also added eyelets to the back (which I had folded to make it more sturdy) and used the same lace to tie that. For some reason I took really bad pictures of the back, but the point gets across:

A front view of the top
A back view of the top

Mind you, the bra I'm wearing underneath is lace, giving it that nice border at the top! It's not just like that. One of the times I've worn it out I was approached by a street photographer (which is wild) which means I can give an idea of what it looks like in an outfit!

The top worn over a short white dress and paired with a mesh jacket. All accessories are heart-themed

(Mind, the point at the bottom is tucked into the top for style's sake!) Can you tell I like heart imagery? And that I was fidgeting because I'm not very used to being photographed? loll. Anyway, I am pleased with the end result, and even ended up making a second one for my little sister. That one is slightly better quality, which also makes me really happy since that means that I already am making progress in my sewing skills!

One day make: simple dress

I worked at a gig with a hot pink tee as the uniform, which we were allowed to keep. I chose to make mine into a little dress the night before going to a club where I insisted on wearing it.

Me wearing a hot pink dress with black straps. The tights and necklace have heart details

While it could've been more flattering it's something I have worn out and am likely to wear again! When I asked for thoughts on it people commented on it being very short (I mean, it's half a T-shirt...) rather than the sewing, which frustrated me a bit until I was told it was because they didn't actually realise I had made it. A win is a win, I guess. The outfits I wanted it for came together nicely, too. The dress also does feel like a nice Draculaura-esque addition to my closet. A strong win for a one night make! (also I made that strap out of scraps from another project where I got strips of another tee... Don't do that. It was awful.)

Pirate undergarnment/poet shirt

This August I'm going to a pirate LARP, so I took the chance to make one of those neat pirate shirts. More info about that in a future update, probably, but for now here are some pictures :)

Me in a so called pirate shirt. It goes down to the thighs The same top styled with the corset top from before and a black skirt

The shirt is still not fully done (ugh, buttons). What is done was made by hand and was guided by a Bernadette Banner and Ora Lin video. I have also already worn it an absurd amount...

Two tees

These were just adjustments to make some tees more form-fitting.

A black tee with a sigil saying Alpha male A MCR tee with the

The alpha male one I just found really funny (I'm 162 cm/5'4? and not very strong, for context) while the MCR one actually very quickly turned into a staple of my warderobe. The adjustments were made by tracing a tank top I liked the fit of, cutting off the collar to a point I thought looked decent and then just. Wearing that. It's honestly a really lazy fix, but as I'm pleased with the results anyway I don't see a need for any more effort haha