Hi all! I'm at it again...
It's time for another Captain America project! This time, I'm working on a version of the suit from the upcoming Avengers 2: Age of Ultron movie. After gathering as much reference material as I could from various sources, I began drafting the costume.
The last Captain America project I drafted, I used a quick-and-easy body mold technique to make a very form-fitted pattern. For this one, I'm taking a more traditional approach and using a basic pattern, called a sloper, to define the shape and then I'll create the specific pattern for the costume from that. I began by creating the basic body of the suit. This will form the chest and torso for the suit. Here are pictures of the assembled sloper on my form and one side marked up for the torso. The other side will be used to create the under shirt that will contain the sleeves and collar (more on the reasons for this design aspect later).
Next, I needed to draft the sleeves. Generally, to get an initial sleeve, I'll just draft a flat, one-piece sleeve based on the size of the armscye, like this:
This is fine and will serve the purpose, but sometimes you want more shape and movement. This is where a two-piece sleeve comes into play. Almost all tailored garment like suit jackets, topcoats, motorcycle jackets and higher-end casual jackets and sport coats have two-piece sleeves. These sleeves are designed with a slight bend in the elbow and ease on the outside of the back of the sleeve that allows the sleeve to hang perfectly with the natural hang of the arm and turn in toward the body.
While some people find these sleeves a bit daunting (especially if they have to draft one), there's a quite simple process for turning a one-piece sleeve into a two-piece. I didn't take any pictures until I'd slashed the sleeve apart, but I did try to diagram this picture to explain it (hopefully) clearly.
Here's how it breaks down: Once the one-piece sleeve is sewn (the seam more often than not right at the underarm), the sleeve is cut into two pieces. The first cut is down the back at pretty much the exact back (line the seam up with the center of the piece and press - cut down that line). The second cut is on the front of the sleeve roughly 1/3 of the way from the seam to the center. The red lines above show these cut lines. The new under sleeve piece will be narrower than the new upper sleeve piece. Then, the two pieces are slashed at the elbow point (pre-mark this on your one-piece sleeve before cutting it apart) and spread about 1" - 1.5" at the back edge. Draw out the new pieces (don't forget seam allowance) and you've got a two-piece sleeve pattern!
Once sewn together and added to the sloper, you should have a nice, smooth sleeve that hangs perfectly with the body. If the sleeve pulls at all, it's set too far forward or back. Take it out and rotate it in the armscye until it hangs correctly and mark that position for cutting the finished project.
Here's the sleeve with the torso sloper trimmed and added on top.
For this project, I wanted the sleeve to have even more sculptural definition and form to the body a bit more. So I added in some darts and extra curves based on the client's measurements and now have a body-conscious sleeve shape to draft out the Cap sleeve.
Here's the sleeve fully mapped out.
With all the pieces mapped onto the muslin, it was time to cut it all apart, trace the pattern onto paper and then build the mock up from remnants of the same fabrics that will be used in the final piece. For the mock up, I just grab any remnants I have of the proper fabrics (in this case, cordura, jumbo spandex and lightweight faux leather) so that I can see how they will all work together in combination. Here are some pictures on the sleeve mock up.
The rest of the undershirt needs to be completed in mock up as well as the torso. I'll be covering those pieces next time and then it's off to the client for fitting.
Stay tuned!
It's time for another Captain America project! This time, I'm working on a version of the suit from the upcoming Avengers 2: Age of Ultron movie. After gathering as much reference material as I could from various sources, I began drafting the costume.
The last Captain America project I drafted, I used a quick-and-easy body mold technique to make a very form-fitted pattern. For this one, I'm taking a more traditional approach and using a basic pattern, called a sloper, to define the shape and then I'll create the specific pattern for the costume from that. I began by creating the basic body of the suit. This will form the chest and torso for the suit. Here are pictures of the assembled sloper on my form and one side marked up for the torso. The other side will be used to create the under shirt that will contain the sleeves and collar (more on the reasons for this design aspect later).
Next, I needed to draft the sleeves. Generally, to get an initial sleeve, I'll just draft a flat, one-piece sleeve based on the size of the armscye, like this:
This is fine and will serve the purpose, but sometimes you want more shape and movement. This is where a two-piece sleeve comes into play. Almost all tailored garment like suit jackets, topcoats, motorcycle jackets and higher-end casual jackets and sport coats have two-piece sleeves. These sleeves are designed with a slight bend in the elbow and ease on the outside of the back of the sleeve that allows the sleeve to hang perfectly with the natural hang of the arm and turn in toward the body.
While some people find these sleeves a bit daunting (especially if they have to draft one), there's a quite simple process for turning a one-piece sleeve into a two-piece. I didn't take any pictures until I'd slashed the sleeve apart, but I did try to diagram this picture to explain it (hopefully) clearly.
Here's how it breaks down: Once the one-piece sleeve is sewn (the seam more often than not right at the underarm), the sleeve is cut into two pieces. The first cut is down the back at pretty much the exact back (line the seam up with the center of the piece and press - cut down that line). The second cut is on the front of the sleeve roughly 1/3 of the way from the seam to the center. The red lines above show these cut lines. The new under sleeve piece will be narrower than the new upper sleeve piece. Then, the two pieces are slashed at the elbow point (pre-mark this on your one-piece sleeve before cutting it apart) and spread about 1" - 1.5" at the back edge. Draw out the new pieces (don't forget seam allowance) and you've got a two-piece sleeve pattern!
Once sewn together and added to the sloper, you should have a nice, smooth sleeve that hangs perfectly with the body. If the sleeve pulls at all, it's set too far forward or back. Take it out and rotate it in the armscye until it hangs correctly and mark that position for cutting the finished project.
Here's the sleeve with the torso sloper trimmed and added on top.
For this project, I wanted the sleeve to have even more sculptural definition and form to the body a bit more. So I added in some darts and extra curves based on the client's measurements and now have a body-conscious sleeve shape to draft out the Cap sleeve.
Here's the sleeve fully mapped out.
With all the pieces mapped onto the muslin, it was time to cut it all apart, trace the pattern onto paper and then build the mock up from remnants of the same fabrics that will be used in the final piece. For the mock up, I just grab any remnants I have of the proper fabrics (in this case, cordura, jumbo spandex and lightweight faux leather) so that I can see how they will all work together in combination. Here are some pictures on the sleeve mock up.
The rest of the undershirt needs to be completed in mock up as well as the torso. I'll be covering those pieces next time and then it's off to the client for fitting.
Stay tuned!
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