Haruno Sakura: Bent Zippers for the Drafting-Impaired

[footlongneedles]

Greetings.

This forum seems to be a lot more concise and helpful than the ones on cosplay.com, so I'm posting here first! You guys rock!

For starters, I can sew, but I don't know pattern drafting . . . and my ego tells me I could successfully fudge a pre-existing one. I'm putting together a dress for a Haruno Sakura (from Naruto, they have lots of good pics from this series on animegalleries.net) cosplayer, and I'd like to use a pre-existing pattern as a base. The best candidate I've found so far is . . .

Simplicity #9868
http://www.simplicity.com/index.cfm?pag ... tartRow=37

The tunic they have photographed as an example was actually the main design type I wanted to use. Since the angles of the bottom flaps were good, I was hoping to just make the bottom hem a bit lower before I cut out the fabric. The main thing was that the dress would still have this diagonal hem along the front chest, even if you used hooks-and-eyes as opposed to the Chinese buttons pictured. So, what I'd really like to know is . . .

1) Is it possible to alter the pattern to have a vertical zipper that goes down to the place just before it bends?

2) How would one actually accomplish the drafting for the bent separating zipper?

I'd really like to do a bent zipper on this dress. My best idea was to
1) cut the pattern out in the cosplayer's size
2) lay the pattern pieces over newpaper and cut out the newpaper as I would the fabric
3) tape the newspaper "fabric" along it's seamlines as if it were sewn
4) put the newpaper dress on the cosplayer or a dressmaker's dummy (if the theater people will let me use it)
5) mark where the zipper will go with a marker
6) take the newspaper dress off of the model and cut the front pieces along the zipper line and make two new front pattern pieces by using the original seam markings from the orginal patterns as guides

I'm thinking that the front part of the dress is made of two different patterns, one for the over-flap and one for the under-flap. Has anyone sewn cheongsams before? Is my deduction correct? However, will the two post-alteration front flaps fit the cosplayer's bust right, or are there more factors I need to take into account? How much seam allowance to you have to allow for separating zippers? How do you get the zipper handle to move smoothly around the bent angle? How do I make sure the white bias tape (or whatever it is) sticks out along the zipper line properly. I know I may sound kind of crazy right now, but I've seen the bent zipper thing done in pictures.

Also, the pattern calls for linen, linen blends, laundered silks/rayons, etc. Since I really doubt that the local Wal-Mart sells red linen, will this kind of pattern work just as well for your standard 100% cotton?

Sorry if I've killed you guys with questions. *^_^* Your comments and advice are much appreciated! Have a good day!

[Tia]

Hiya. Welcome to ACP, and I hope we'll be able to help ya. A few of us I think are also on Cosplay.com(I'm on like six different cosplay/convention forums myself), but yeah it is really, really easy to drown in those forums, and that's probably why it's sometimes hard to get help. But there are people on there 24/7. It's creepy, but when I couldn't sleep last night and needed a break from working on my homework at like 5 am, there were still people on and even one of the people I usually chat about sailor moon stuff with was on. This only leads to prove that we're all insane. XD

That pattern's dress looks a tad bit short. You might need to add a few inches to the bottom of it to make it accurate. I'm not sure about the collar either. I know somebody who recently did this costume and she modified an existing pattern, too. On cosplay.com she is MasterofthePen.

[footlongneedles]

Yeah, I was going to make it a bit longer. Sorry if I didn't mention that right. Thanks for posting! At last - a response!

[Tia]

It's cool. Lol. I saw your thread right when you posted it, but I got overwhelmed by trying to think about all the details... that's probably why you didn't get much response...

[footlongneedles]

I find that when people don't put much information into their initial posts, the thread becomes a long string of question-response-question-response, and the question takes a week to get some decent answers.

[mrs.tomoe]

Hi there. People here are very nice and helpful. ^_^

Let's see... The pattern you chose is good for the lower portion of the dress but not very good for the top. If you can find something with a center opening, I think it would serve you better. Altering patterns usually works best when moving seams a few inches to the left or right/up or down instead of drastic changes like what you'd have to do.
Butterick 3345 view C is an example of a jacket that might work if you combine it with the lower half of your Simplicity dress. The neckline is a little high, but that can be adjusted. The Butterick pattern uses buttons, but I put in a zipper when I made a jacket from it. Tracing paper is great for altering patterns and melding multiple patterns into one. That way, you don't destroy the originals in case you make a mistake or if you need them later for other costumes.

I think the bent zipper is a fine idea because the angle isn't overly sharp. If you use a white zipper, you won't need to bother with white bias which will be a pain in the butt for this particular application. Just allow the white zipper to be the white line on the front of the dress. There's a name for this type of zipper installation (with the teeth showing), but I can't remember what it is.

Seam allowance for zippers is generally the same as for a regular seam: 5/8 to 1/2 inch.

Cotton will be a fine substitution for linen in this case. Look for a medium-thick type, but if there's only thin, just double it into 2 layers. You may need 2 layers anyway (one red and one white) because it looks like Sakura's tunic is entirely lined in white.

I hope that helps a bit. Ask more questions if I've just said a lot of weird stuff. ^^;

[Tia]

Nah, I think the white bias tape is required. It's very obvious in Sakura's costume that there's bias tape on that seam. For the fabric, I guess you could use some cheaper cotton. Please don't use broadcloth! Cosplay sin! You could probably find what you need and have it be good quality for like five bucks a yard. Hancock would probably be a good place to check if you have any near you. I find they're better for regular cloth and JoAnn's is better for trippy stuff.

[footlongneedles]

Please don't use broadcloth! Cosplay sin! You could probably find what you need and have it be good quality for like five bucks a yard. Hancock would probably be a good place to check if you have any near you. I find they're better for regular cloth and JoAnn's is better for trippy stuff.

Maybe I should've qualified: "Bent Zippers for the Drafting-Impaired who live in a small university town where the largest building is the Wal-Mart Supercenter". *^_^* The only places to buy fabric are the aforementioned Wal-Mart and a Ben Franklin outlet. I call it an outlet because it really doesn't have that much to offer. So, should I double over the 100% cotton I panned on getting? Buying nicer cloth isn't really going to be an option because of the scarcity (nearest place with any decent offerings is an hour away) and because all of us are strapped-for-cash university students. I don't think the costumes will look that bad, but translucency might be a problem.

Cotton will be a fine substitution for linen in this case. Look for a medium-thick type, but if there's only thin, just double it into 2 layers. You may need 2 layers anyway (one red and one white) because it looks like Sakura's tunic is entirely lined in white.

How can I tell which is "thin" and which is "medium-thick"? Is there an actual scale or just use intuition?

I think the white bias tape is required. It's very obvious in Sakura's costume that there's bias tape on that seam.

So, just sew it on the fabric that lies over the zipper then?

Tracing paper is great for altering patterns and melding multiple patterns into one.

Where can I buy tracing paper wide enough to trace pattern sheets with?

Butterick 3345 view C is an example of a jacket that might work if you combine it with the lower half of your Simplicity dress. The neckline is a little high, but that can be adjusted.

Where would I "meld" the two pattern designs together? At the hip line? How do I adjust the neckline? I wasn't orginally planning on doing anything to it, but if I could get some pointers that'd be great.

Hm. So one person didn't say anything about whether or not my original idea would do, and another says to graft it with another pattern. Noooo, getting confuuuuuuused. Ack. Third opinion anyone?

[Tia]

Damn. I don't know. Maybe you should double. I don't know how it'd look, though. You can buy the newsprint for making patterns at most craft stores. I got mine for two bucks, and its fifteen inches by thirty feet. It might be easiest to just make the pattern yourself from scratch. But that depends on how much experience you have with sewing and stuff. For the zipper, it'll kind of be like a sandwich. You'll have your line marked at 1/4" where the seam allowance ends and that's where you put the zipper. You might want to make the allowance a little larger and then trim later if you have trouble with straight seams or zippers. The zippers give a lot of people trouble. Then, when you have the zipper on, you just fold the white bias tape over the edge of the fabric and stitch that on. Or if you're afraid it will leave a nasty seam/don't feel like it, buy some of the seaming heat bond and apply it that way. I think your best option out of all the patterns is to make a pattern from scratch.

[mrs.tomoe]

How can I tell which is "thin" and which is "medium-thick"? Is there an actual scale or just use intuition?

Intuition mostly. You just feel it and put your hand behind a layer of it to see how transparent it is. The medium-thick is, of course, less transparent and sturdier. I think lining your red fabric with white would work well for this costume especially if thin fabric is the only thing available.

I think the white bias tape is required. It's very obvious in Sakura's costume that there's bias tape on that seam.

If it were a normal seam, I'd agree that white bias tape would be necessary to create the white line. But in this case, we might as well let the zipper itself do the work for us -- less fuss, less to go wrong, less bulk.

Where can I buy tracing paper wide enough to trace pattern sheets with?

If there's an art supply store in your college town, they should have tracing paper in rolls for $5 or less designed for art & architecture students. You may have to tape sections together here & there, but it's not a big deal. Otherwise, it's also sold in pads of 19x24 inches and other sizes. Pads can be found in office supply stores too.

Where would I "meld" the two pattern designs together? At the hip line? How do I adjust the neckline? I wasn't orginally planning on doing anything to it, but if I could get some pointers that'd be great.

The waistline or hipline would be a good place to join the patterns. Center them according to the printed markings and also level the waist marks, then draw a smooth line connecting the side seams. The patterns may be an inch or two off from each other, so you may need to "take the middle road" to make a smooth line between them. You don't have to adjust the neckline if you don't want to. It was just that the pattern comes up close to the neck while the drawings of Sakura look like the front point (where the zipper pull is) sits a couple of inches lower. To change the pattern, find the center line of the jacket and put a dot 1-1/2 to 2 inches lower than where the top of the neckline originally is. Then draw a line from the shoulder dot to your new dot. Next, you need to either lengthen the collar slightly or use the collar from a larger size so that it'll fit correctly in the altered neckline (i.e. if using the size 10 pattern, try the size 12 or 14 collar). If you don't feel like messing around with it, don't bother because it's not something that affects the look of the character in a major way.

Hm. So one person didn't say anything about whether or not my original idea would do, and another says to graft it with another pattern. Noooo, getting confuuuuuuused. Ack. Third opinion anyone?

Well, it sounded to me like your original idea involved redrawing the one pattern into something completely different. After much measuring & guessing, you'd end up with a drawing that looked remarkably like the pattern I suggested. That's why I suggested it: it would save you a lot of hassle. It's not a bad idea getting both patterns anyway because they (especially the one you chose) are very basic and useful for many other costumes. Regarding making a dummy version, yes, always make a practice version first, especially when a pattern requires altering.