There are few things I love more than costume parties. I’m always waiting for Hallowe’en, and any other time I’m able to wear a costume. The most recent instance was a 1920s-inspired lawn party, for which I decided to attempt to make my own suit. I haven’t made any complex clothing pieces, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. The jacket took me somewhere around 15 hours to make. Sadly I ran out of time before the party to make the pants, so I went with the odd trousers look. Now, after the party, I plan to finish the pants.
Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out
Planning
The planning phase began with searching for inspiration images. After collecting about 10 images and thinking of a color palette, I started searching for patterns on Etsy. A pattern is a collection of outlines of parts of a garment that you can print out and trace onto fabric. Then you cut out the fabric along the outlines and sew the pieces together to get the garment. Once I found a jacket and trousers I liked, I printed out the patterns on letter-sized paper. It’s important to print at 100% scale so that you get the proper sizing of the pattern. Once I got the patterns printed, I glued and taped the pages together.
Pattern printed, outlines assembled
To buy the fabric, I went to Mood Fabrics in the Garment District. They have many options of most fabric types. I went with a sand-color linen.
Mood Fabrics
Creating
I cut the outlines along the seam allowance, which is the part of fabric along which two pieces are sewn together. After I had the outlines cut out, I ironed the fabric and folded the fabric in half, removing any bubbling I saw. I placed the pattern on the fabric and traced the outline using a pen. It’s important to mark the notches. These indicate alignment when sewing fabric together.
A notch on the pattern
Once I had all of the pieces cut out, it was just a matter of sewing them together. The pattern I bought had instructions, although they were somewhat vague. I sewed all the pieces together through a combination of trial and error (with a seam ripper) and clipping the fabric pieces together and seeing how it looked. The most difficult part was the collar, it took me a couple hours to figure out how to attach it.
Part of pattern on fabric (pre-ironed)
Also, I recommend clips over needles, as I pricked myself many times when using needles. It was challenging to reason about how two pieces go together, because it must be sewn inside out and mirrored for the left and right sides. The notches were the biggest help for assembling. I made a mockup first, before using the good fabric.
Mostly done, just one more sleeve and hemming left
Overall I had a lot of fun and hope to continue making clothes.
