XXIII

22:09 Yoshi 1 Comments

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Boobs are great, I think everyone can agree on that. What approximetely 50% of people don't know is how expensive, sometimes uncomfortable and hard to find in a right size a bra can be. Lucikly, we are living in a time of a temporary return of 90s fashion, including going braless. However, not everyone feels comfortable/confident enough doing so and on that subject I'm just gonna say: bralettes, dude. Bralettes.
They are quite popular now, pretty and super comfortable. Quite often ridiculously overpriced. On etsy.com, a website dedicated to selling handcraft (with less and less actual handmade things nowadays, unfortunately...), you can find a bralette for 150zł/£25 on average. Don't know about you, but that is a bit too much on a pricey side for me, considering there is not much craft going into that. There's no wiring, no actual cup, just sewned together lace. It's not much better when you visit a mainstream lingerie store, for research purposes I've checked Etam. Price range of a bralette? 108-142zł/£21-£28. 

Do I have to say anything else? Nah. Let's just get to sewing.

You can find plenty of tutorials on sewing a bralette on the Internet, but I myself have a few things myself, so let's just go through the whole process. I'll add a few links to video tutorials in case you still have questions how to sew, but seriously, it's no rocket science. Quite frankly, I think it's an excellent thing to start with your adventure with a sewing machine if you're a beginner.

So what are you gonna need?

- An elastic lace, min. 12cm (~4.7") wide, I found 1m (~3.3 feet) just enought to make the most basic bralette. I recommend to focus on the colour rather than the design.
- An elastic, best 2-3cm (~0.8"-1.2") wide for a steady support, I bought 1m in case anything goes wrong (most elastics double their lenght when stretched, but for comfortable wearing and visual reasons, it's best to calculate the lenght of the elastic to be half-2/3 of your underboob circumference, it varies depeding on one's comfort)

 
- A ribbon for straps, 1,5cm-2cm wide (~0.6"-0.8"). For lenght, just measure the straps in one of your old bras or buy bra straps. They will be a bit more expensive, but the bigger disadventage is the limited choice of colours. As the bralettes I am making are for my own use only, I went with simple ribbons.
- What kind of fastener you choose strongly depends if you're going for a typical bra look or something more corset-like. For the latter I would recommend either hooks (top left) or underwear snaps (bottom). For a simple bralette, ask for a bra or bikini fastener at your local haberdashery (they will most likely look very similar to the top right).


This is the pattern I have used. Unfortunately, the imagine is not up to right scale so you will most likely have to print it couple of time till you get it more or less right. Don't stress to much, remember that the lace is elastic, therefore very forgiving. The letters on the bottom are supposed to guide you through sizes, but the truth is I've used C whereas I'm 65E in most bras.

Source: jupitapraxis.com

It worked quite okay for me, but I know for sure that there are many more variations on the Internet, just waiting for you to pick them up and use!
The rule of thumb for almost every single one of them is to put the completely flat edge of the pattern (on the picture: the closest ones to right and left) next to the fancy adornment on either side. As all of my laces had quite thick arcs on both ends, I've positioned the pattern so it barely touches the closest to the middle end of an arc; the space that's left is just enough to be our reserve while sewing. You need to cut each part 2 times.


The sewing process is pretty straight forward: you sew the parts together by the arched part. However there are few things that will make sewing laces, elastics and working with ribbons much easier:
- while sewing laces together, have a piece of parchment underneath. It will prevent accidential streching while sewing and help the sewing machine to move the material along. After you finish you can easily just tear it off
- remember that while sewing delicate fabrics you shouldn't use dense stitch! This and the previous tip applies to sewing chiffon as well
- if you don't have an overlock or just don't know how to use it, you can sew your caps to the elastic by using a wide zig zag on your normal sewing machine. It will retain flexibility of both of the components.
- elastics that wide are very often quite thick as well so instead securing the end by folding it up, use a lighter to carefully heat up the end. Don't panic if it catches fire - just blow it and tap your finger on the edge. Voila! It  shouldn't cause any more problems.
- to secure the end of the ribbons use a tape that has glue on both sides. When you have that, all you have to do is mark ~1cm (~0.4") reserve on the end, fold and iron it, put cut to size tape between that and iron it again. Congrats, you've saved yourself a lot of manual sewing! (protip: for the most ribbons, 'silk' setting on an iron works just fine)


Having all that, I've dived into pinterest and looked through bralettes for some inspirations. So far, I've made 3 of these, but more are coming very soon.



All these types are a result of pure experimentation, which I highly recommend. That's the way to go, that's how you learn the fastest :) So how does it look price wise? Well, I payed ~60zł/£12 for 3 bralettes worth materials. There is literally no downside to making your own bralette - it's cheap, it's easy and fast to make, not to mention you have the freedom to make it as you want it to look. It's an obvious choice or me. Sorry, Etam and people of Etsy!

XXII

20:02 Yoshi 1 Comments

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Let's be honest, anything that involves bats is cool. Batman? Cool. Traditional vampire lore? Awesome. It's seriously no suprise I had to do something bat-related eventually.
I've been seeing this.. shoe...accessory (?) on the Internet for some time now, but for whatever reason, I never came around to making it. Only recently, when one of my friends tagged me under a picture of it, something clicked.
Do you ever get this feeling when you fall in love with a piece of clothing or an accessory and you just need it RIGHT NOW, like no matter what? The sky may crumble but you just NEED to have it on you? That's the exact moment when I know for sure the thing I'm going to make won't just lie around in my wardrobe.

The original idea(although you can never be sure about that) comes from Iron Fist clothing company and you can find the shoes here <---

As soon as I made sure I have everything I need in my workshop, I've put the project on the move.
I traced the shape of the wings in Photoshop. I measured the shoes I intend to wear them with: the distance between holes for shoelaces (vertically) and when the shoe is laced (horizontally). I printed it (couple of times until I got the size I was happy with) and glued to a cardboard so the template is stiffer, therefore easier to use and will last longer.


Me being me, after all that trouble I've realized I've done it wrong. I've traced the wings as they are, however my intention was different: I wanted it to have two pairs of holes so the whole construction doesn't tilt like on the picture. Luckily it was an easy fix, I just measured 4,5cm (~1.7") of cardboard and taped it to the pattern.



Above you have the pattern I made that you can use. However, like I said before (in case you're just skimming this post, you cheeky cheater) it's the design that you can see on the previous picture and it will tilt! Add few centimeters to make the wings more stable.



Print and glue both of them, even though they are identical. On the left you can see the reason why. To transfer the pattern onto the fake leather (which is tricky as it is), I highly recommend cutting some parts out, as shown on the picture. This way you can easily and precisely mark where the seam has to run.


As for what to mark with (soap will not work, obviously, and not all fake leathers have fabric-like back), I advice using a ball pen. It won't be very visible, but just enough to know where to sew. It's also very easy to wash off so you can draw on the right side of the fake leather.



I've used two types of material: a very thin, elastic fake leather (pic: on the top) and more firm artificial leather (pic on the bottom). I was very lucky I had both of these, as there turned out to be perfect for the task. The more elastic went on the front as it would very nicely hug the filling inside, the firmer one I've used on the back as it hold the shape and makes the whole wing stand out more.

If you can't find both, go for an elastic faux leather. You can stiffen it up with some cardboard, whereas the firm fake leather will just not work with the filling at all.




For the filling I've used a simple coat liner (not 100% sure that's what it's called), although a polyuretan foam would be better, it would stick out more. You want to cut it out in the general shape of your wing.

Now listen very carefully 'cause the next step determines how hard the sewing will be for you.



You need to glue it all together with the liner/foam in between faux leathers. It will be easier for you if you glue it to the firmer one first. When you're done, you want to squeeze the whole thing, placing it with the elastic fake leather to a flat surfice. Put something heavy on top of it and give couple of minutes for the glue to do it's thing. Worry not, the weight will not flatten what's inside! Both the liner and foam will spring right back where they were.

And now you just sew it all together!

Few tips for people who have not worked with leather before: 
- if you have such an opportiunity, use a sewing machine that is designed to sew leather. It will be much more heavy-duty (I always say it's like a tank. Watch out for your fingers!)
- use a plastic presser foot -  one of two main problems while working with leather (doesn't matter if it's a real one or fake) is that it get's stuck. Plastic presser foot will help the sewing machine move the leather and sew smoothly and so will...
-... oil. Doesn't matter what kind, you can use even the one you have in your kitchen. You want to put in on the top of the leather that's gonna be facing up while sewing. To make the whole proccess less messy, take some leftover material that you won't use, form it into a pouch (nothing too fancy, just pinch the edges together) and fill it with scrapes of materials. Now you can tap it into some oil and it will last for very long time. Using the pouch prevents you from using too much oil as well!


Congrats! You've sewed it all together!
Now all you have to do it put holes in it.


To do that you need a punch leather. On the picture you can see two of those; the more oldschool one is the second object from left, the more modern and popular in the third one from left. 
Let me tell you, oldschool rules. It's more effective most of the time, not to mention, it's SO much more satisfying to use
a hammer to do it. On the picture you can see just one, but obviously you can get them in all sizes and shapes.
Now you just mark your way on the wings where the holes will go and HULK SMASH! it.

On the very right you can see poppers - this is what you will put in the holes. You don't have to, obviously. I'm not your mother to tell you what to do, but it sure will help the wings visually. 
The poppers have these little teeth on the back that you have to push apart in order to place a popper properly in place. There is a special tool for that but I find smaller punch leathers as useful. After you put a popper through and make sure the leather is as close to the front as possible, you place a punch leather in the back of a popper and hammer it slightly. You might have to use a bigger puch leather afterwards, but ultimately the goal is to push the teeth apart evenly. Remember the very ends of the teeth must go into the leather so they don't hurt you or harm the shoe you're going to wear with the wing.




Here you can see three different methods of doing the wings.
My main technician (my dad with his ridiculously broad knowledge about leather crafts) has a soft spot for experiments so when I left him unattended for a few hours, he got bored and made two more pairs of these.

The top wing, the prototype, is made just with a liner and later on we added a copper wire inside (as shown on the illustration on the side).
The middle one is just elastic fake leather with cardboard inside.
The bottom one is also stiffened with cardboard, but has liner as well.

 

So... why the seams between poppers? One thing is that I felt it will look better this way, other, more technical, it helps the wing bend better around your ancle, much needed for the ones with cardboard inside.



End result:


Here you can see the prototype. I like it most as the wire provides this bat-like look, not everything is in one plane like in other wings we've made. I'm not going to lie to you, it makes lacing your shoes much longer and troublesome. Is it worth it? Yes. They are hella cute.

If you made it so far, congrats and THANK YOU, I hope you've enjoyed this more tutorial-y approach. :)

Cheers!
x

XXI

14:23 Yoshi 0 Comments

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Let's catch up, guys!
I know I'm not the most regular blogger on the world but there is a reason I haven't posted in over a year. As with the end of September last year I have started studying in the UK at University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield. I'm doing something I've dreamt about ever since I was 6 and that is 3D Games Art & Design.


Now, I'm not gonna go as far as saying it's all unicorns and rainbows, cause it's not. With the end of summer last year I had to deal with some personal stuff that definitely didn't make the transition to England any easier. Despite having experience with travelling and living on my own for long periods of time, it took me a good few weeks to find my way around the campus. It's worth noting that I had not touched 3D IN. MY. LIFE. I've never had time to give it a go, because of work, school and then, getting my shit together. It's only logical that I was terrified: what if I didn't like 3D modeling? what if I suck at it and for some reason won't find the strenght to learn it? what if something that until now I considered to be my calling, is simply not for me? Luckily, it turned out to not be the case, but in the beginning there was some crying involved over how much better everyone else is, I'm not gonna lie. But with time, I got used to constant working, living from one deadline to another and surviving on one meal a day and 3 hours of sleep, fueled by energy drinks and cigarettes.




It's well organized, we are provided with every software and hardware we need and the lecturers are just lovable. There is absolutely no shame in asking questions, they have a sense of humour and they feel more like friends than supervisors. Of course we have a lot of respect for them, the biggest I've ever had for any of my teachers as it's fairly earned - every single lecture they prove us they have plenty of stuff yet to teach us. They worked on productions like Harry Potter series, Chronicles of Narnia, Iron Man, The Hobbit and many more; unlike many professors in Poland, our lecturers actually do know what they are talking about. They've taught me everything I know and made me believe I might become a good 3D artist someday.


I'm very happy with where I am know. I've met amazing people, as passionate about things as I am, determined to be the very best, but in the same time, without the desire to bring others down. Thanks to all that I was able to land an internship in CI Games after only a year in 3D. It blows my mind. It's just too good to be true!

But what about this blog? Well, ladies and gentelmen, ATTN is not going anywhere. Experience with sewing has eased my way into many aspects of 3D and I do not plan on giving it up! I have 2 months left until the start of the new academic year and I will spend it on making my projects. One of them is already done, the other one is in progress and my Halloween costume is almost completed. I also have couple of things that I've made last year still waiting to be put up. This is not the end, people!
There's more to come! :)

If you want to check out more of my work, follow my 3D career (lol) or maybe you have work for me, visit my page.



Cheers for sticking by!

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