Now for a few entries about Zia’s costume, starting with how I made her jacket! I know a lot of people see the pink part around Zia’s neck as a scarf, but I really think it’s a cowl neck on a shirt she’s wearing underneath. That’s the way I decided to do it.
Materials
Fabrics:
- Shirt = pink ribbed knit
- Jacket = twill and lined with broadcloth
- Jacket collar = yellow ribbed knit
All of the fabric used for Zia’s jacket were actually custom dyed. I couldn’t find the right colors, so I used liquid Rit dye.
- Blue part = mostly teal and a bit of royal blue
- Brown part = 4 parts sunshine yellow to 1 part navy
- Pink part = a bit of wine (the color… not the drink)
Pattern
The shirt was just based off of one of my shirts, except I didn’t put in sleeves. I then followed a simple cowl neck tutorial.
I used Simplicity 2151 for the jacket.
Though, I only used a few pieces, and they were all altered. I’ve marked my alterations with blue lines.
The Making Of…
The jacket body is lined, mostly with blue broadcloth. The brown part in the front is lined with the same fabric.
I drafted the collar while the jacket was on a dress form, similar to how I do sailor collars. This took me 2 tries because I made the collar too small the first time.
Edit: I actually did the above twice (so 2 back pieces and 4 front pieces), so that I could line the collar with the same fabric.
I cut the front and back parts separately and then sewed them back together. This allowed the ribbing on the front part to be horizontal, while the ribbing on the back is vertical.
The pink part on the sleeve was a separate pink fabric. I just sewed it onto the sleeves before pleating them.
Because I made the sleeves wider, I was able to put in more pleats, giving it a poofier look.
At the end of the sleeves, I sewed on the brown bracers part. The end of the bracers have a button; otherwise, it was too narrow to get my hands in and out.
The belt is actually removable because there are button holes on each end. It just wraps around the back part of the jacket.
The front of the jacket has 4 buttons with matching button holes, so they are actually functional. There’s also a bit of velcro to keep the top corner together.
And that’s it for Zia’s jacket and shirt. Next up will be an entry about Zia’s pants :)