Supergirl CW Build Details

[illumis]

Hi all! Long time lurker, first time poster

I just finished a Supergirl build for a friend of mine and thought I would share some WIP photos and build details as I haven't seen many around.



FABRIC:
- Screen printed stretch (My friend purchased it from In Disguise Designs). I think she purchased 5 tiles of the blue and red + the tile with the chest logo. They come in 50cm x 70cm tiles. Print quality is amazing and it stretches well with the fabric. The only downside with it was that it had a sticky residue (almost like a glue? I'm assuming it's from the treatment process) on the back of the fabric which made it difficult to sew with at times and left my hands feeling kind of gross after handling it for a while. You definitely need to pre-wash it (cold gentle machine wash) which managed to remove most of it, but there were still patches which would stick to my machine feet... :/
- non-stretch pleather for the cape (approx. 1.2m @ 150cm wide) + cotton lining (1m)
- belt was provided

I relied on a lot of the promotional images for most of the build as well as a BTS video of the wardrobe tour on YT, and eventually screencaps (more on that below).

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BUILD

Leotard:



I started off with a basic dance leotard pattern with a skirt from Kwik Sew. I made a toile out of lycra and drew in the panels on the front side, as well as the sleeve seams and altered the neckline. The pattern doesn't have a zip or any sort of closure, so I split the back piece in half and added an invisible zip. I left out the skirt on the pattern, and modified the crotch to make it a flap (for easy bathroom visits!). Early on, we weren't sure whether to sew the skirt into the leotard, or keep it separate. We ended up keeping it separate. I used an overlocker, but you can also use a zig-zag stitch or stretch stitch if you don't have an overlocker/serger.

The neckline has a red facing which peeks over the edge.

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Sleeves:


I struggled for a long time with how to do the sleeves with the top stitch detailing. It then occurred to me that the sleeve would have to have 2 vertical seams - one running down the top/outside of the arm, and another running down the underside. I had been trying to do it with 1 vertical seam. Essentially, the sleeve is made up of 4 pattern pieces.



The top stitching was another challenge. I rarely use use stretch fabrics. I prefer my wovens. I've always been told never to use straight stitch on stretch fabric because it doesn't stretch and I didn't want stitches to snap, but I asked a friend of mine who makes a lot of dance wear and she mentioned lowering the thread tension.

I increased the stitch length and lowered tension. Normal tension on my machine is 5.5. I lowered it to about 4, which was also buttonhole tension. It may differ for your own machine, so best to test it!



<< test

For the thumbhole, I lengthened the sleeve cuff, shaped it and cut a small circle approximately where my thumb was. The way I originally made it, I found it gaped in the area between thumb and fingers so I cut the excess and added another seam which worked perfectly. The edges were folded over by a couple of mm and zig-zag stitched.

 

[illumis]

Skirt:



The front centre panel is pleated and slightly longer than the rest of the skirt with a zip running down the centre back. I used an invisible zip and moved it to the side seam instead.

I used Simplicity 1282 (E) as a base, completely removing the waistband and cutting the top of it to fit the shape of the belt and shortening the length. The skirt sits pretty well on its own as the friction of the screen print against each other helps stop it from moving too much. The skirt has a facing instead of a waistband. The skirt fabric is stretchy as well so you can make it a fraction smaller than needed so it sits snugly.

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Cape:



Her cape has been pieced together from panels, but there weren't many promo images of the back. I managed to find screencaps of all the episodes on Screencapped.net and trawled through all of them. This was the best reference I could find which shows the cape is made up of 6 panels + the zig-zag pattern on the bottom. The hem of the lining also looks like it's not sewn to the hem of the cape.



I used another basic superhero cape pattern as a base and widened the centre and the shoulder straps to be able to create the pleats.



An easy way of joining these pieces together is to measure and mark the seam allowance at the centre points (in this case, 1 cm up from the point). Overlay the pieces and use your pencil as a pivot point to get the correct placement when you sew it together. Use bulldog clips or quilting clips to hold the pieces together when sewing instead of pins. Once sewn, clip the point on the piece with the triangle cut into it (hard to describe. Inverted triangle? The one that's facing up in the 2nd and 3rd pic). Top stitch. Repeat for each panel, and then sew the cape together. Top stitch the vertical seams.

It should look like this:


The lining was about 2cm narrower on both sides than the cape so the inside should look like this:
When sewing in the lining, only sew the side seams and the neckline, not the hem or ends of the shoulder straps. You'll see why below.

To get the crisp edges, I used fusible hemming tape and ironed the edges using a press cloth (otherwise you will melt the pleather). I hand stitched the hem of the lining to the cape. I couldn't leave it floating because the back of the pleather is bright white, and that won't look good.


The shoulders were pleated while sitting on the mannequin, and I hand-stitched the pleating folds on the lining underneath so they wouldn't shift. The pleats will add a lot of bulk to the ends of the shoulder straps which is why you don't want to fold under the seams. If they're too bulky, they'll also create a bump underneath the leotard and you don't want that. I cut the ends straight and then zig-zagged the edges. I covered the ends with the same fabric as the lining.

The original suit has the cape attached to an undersuit. I attached the cape with press studs to a cotton crop top. I was concerned the press studs wouldn't hold, but she has assured me they do. She wore it 2 days at con recently and had no problems.



I don't have as many gathers in the cape as the original as I didn't have enough material, so I just did a single pleat in the centre back. My friend was only able to get 1.2m of the pleather which was just enough to get all the panels.

You can see some photos of her wearing it @belle_cosplay on IG.


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I hope this has been helpful and makes sense!

 

[MattMunson]

amazing work

 

[13doctorwho]

Excellent work. It came out awesome! You need some pictures of someone wearing it.

 

[illumis]

Excellent work. It came out awesome! You need some pictures of someone wearing it.

Thanks. I haven't taken any photos of her wearing it myself, but here's some from other photographers on her IG @belle_cosplay that have been posted so far. She only wore it out for the first time this weekend just past.

Photo: Jess Gleeson

Photo: Crisp Photography

Photo: ?

Photo: Aris

 

[Doh2]

That came out... well, super!

 

[xoxbreyoxo]

Illumis! Your build is amazing. Thank you so much for posting it! I was researching a TON at the end of June and just about gave up on finding a build for it when I started mine.

One question, roughly how deep did you cut the neck shape in the cape? I have my panels all sewn together but am scared to cut into it lol. Thanks in advance, if you have a chance to respond

Either way, thanks for sharing!

 

[Rickhemingway]

Wow this did turn out amazing! Nice work!

 

[GodlessMimicry]

Looks great. Looked into getting that fabric from the same company and my, it does cost a pretty penny for so little material.