Archive for the 'Neku' Category

Heart charm and the start of pockets

I really don’t have much experience with clay, so this could have been better, but I think it’s good enough! It’s made with some air dry clay:

beat_heart_charm_01

It’s already sanded down a little, but I may try to get the edges nicer. It still needs to be painted to a gray/silver color.

I was hoping to show a finished Neku shorts today, but a little accident happened. As I was hand sewing something, I pricked my finger and BLED ON THE SHORTS. I immediately soaked it with some water, so I think I got most of the blood out. I have to wait for them to dry before finishing with the pockets.

I’ll show some in progress pictures in the mean time. I decided to put a smaller pocket inside the bigger ones. Since I’ll actually be using those pockets during cons, I was afraid they’d begin to sag. The smaller pocket on the inside adds extra support and will be taking most of the stress.

neku_pockets_01

Here are the actual pockets.

neku_pockets_02

The purple part was put on using Heat n Bond, which is an iron-on adhesive. You basically iron the adhesive sheet onto one fabric, then cut out the shapes you need. The other side of the adhesive is covered with paper that you peel off. Place that on the fabric it needs to stick to, iron, and tada! They’re stuck together. I love that stuff and already had a roll of it laying around.

All of the pockets are also backed with fusible lightweight interfacing, which are also iron-on.

The air dry clay costed $9.99. The total for Beat is now $12.98.

The light weight interfacing was $1.59, which was $1.25 after 20% off. The total for Neku is now $17.22.

Finally learned button holes

Since my last post, I’ve finished off the top of the shorts and then added a button and button hole.

neku_shorts_button

I ended up not learning how to use the buttonhole foot for my sewing machine. Instead I looked up a way to do it with the normal foot, and it seemed to have worked well. I used the smallest zig-zag stitch and did 2 parallel lines of close together stitches. I then finished each side with a wider zig-zag stitch. As interfacing for the back, I tried some stay tape, which was pretty much a perfect size for the button hole. It was something I bought a while back, thinking it might be useful later. Glad I did ;)

Here are the shorts now!

>neku_shorts_04
I’m currently working on the pockets. I’ll add belt loops whenever the belt I ordered arrives.

The button was in a pack of 3 for $1.50, which was $1.20 after 20% off. Total cost for Neku is now $17.17.

More Neku, start of Beat

I have status updates on two different parts today! Let’s start with Neku. In the past, I usually go the easy way out and use velcro instead of dealing with zippers. Well, it wouldn’t be right if his shorts didn’t have zippers. I studied how jeans do zippers, then sewed them onto the shorts, including the flaps behind the zippers. I’m happy with how they came out!

neku_shorts_zipper

I’m making test buttons holes right now, so adding a button above the zipper and belt loops is next on my list.

I also finally started on Jack’s costume, which will be Beat. I’ve realized that the chain on his pants are drawn in 2 different ways depending on which image you’re looking at.

beat_chain_comparison

I decided to go with ‘A’ mainly because it’s simpler and uses less materials. My first thought was to use keychain rings, and I’m actually liking the result.

beat_chain_01

Each ring on the chain is actually 3 keychain rings. That used a whole pack of 48 rings, and I still need more!

The cost of the white Kona cotton is $5.99/yd. With 3 yards, that comes out to $17.97. With a 20% off coupon, it is $14.38. The zipper was $1.99 but was $1.59 with %20 off. The total for Neku so far is $15.97.

The pack of keychain rings was $2.99, which is the current total for Beat.