Thursday, May 2, 2013

Meet Sakari

Since the great Eye Swap, Kyla has been standing around, doing her upmost to look like the character she was meant to be. That is, my Avatar roleplay character, Sakari.

Sakari - Age 13


Kyla with Blue Eyes

I did some research and found a pattern to help me figure out how to construct Sakari's tunic. I chose It's A Wrap, an Ardently Admire pattern sold on Liberty Jane's Patterns. In the end, it was heavily altered for my dress, but I'm glad I had something to give me a start.

When I got the chance, I went to the fabric store to scout out what I'd need. I came home with a pile of supplies.


First, I opened up the colored wire and twisted together Sakari's bracelets. This was a pretty easy, mindless job, and by far the easiest part of the project.

I altered and cut out the pieces, embroidered the sleeves, then began my first ever attempt to make (and use) bias tape. It did not go well. While the pattern guide was helpful overall, its instructions for making bias tape went way over my head. Instead, I youtubed instructions. They were helpful, but my fabric strips were still rough and I couldn't iron straight. Giving up, I returned to the fabric store to buy the pre-made kind.

Then I sat down to sew.

The thread broke.

I tried again. It broke again. This went on for... every single time I tried. Re-threading didn't help, messing with the tension dial didn't help. I eventually gave up and did this:

Now all of facebook knows my sewing machine's shame.
The next day, though, I figured out I had the stupid needle in backwards. After that my machine sort of worked, but still jammed. I took yet another trip to the store to buy some new needles, some specifically for knit fabric, and voila!

Two days of sewing later, I finished Sakari's tunic. By explaining all its many faults away by saying the original was sewn by an emotionally distraught eleven-year-old girl with no mother figure and I feel a little better.

Sakari Waterbending

Embroidery

Bracelets
There's still more to do, including finding the perfect wig, but for now I'm done!

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