Amira's blouse

The blouse meant first bigger challenge. First of all - it had much more complex embroidery than I had done so far (and last time I ever did any embroidery was grade 8 I think almost 15 years ago.. and I was horrible at it).

Second (and much bigger problem) was that the embroidery design was not constant in manga. It looked nice and in "same style" but not the same. I was just browsing the mangas over and over again to figure out what are the common parts of the design but in the end, I just went to copy machine and copied (with magnification) around 30+ pages, set them on the floor and tried to make sense that way.

The honest answer: no - there was not a common theme or pattern. Some of the manga images, that were next to each other had same kind of pattern but from scene to scene  but they were never same from place to place in manga. Very different and varying (you could argue that she had more than one blouse put :P). Therefore.. I decided not to figure out the exact style from multiply images but I went with the cover of first volume. It only shows half of the sleeve, so.. that was my reference. I used other scenes to see how usually one side correlates to another side and "created" the parts that were not visible on the cover by myself. Let's just say - it took more time and effort than I first thought.

 Then. Starting with the blouse. To be honest, the first try was counted as failure in the end but let's go with the flow as I did. I first cut out the pieces of nice red linen, sewed them together (not the right move, will explain later) and then started doing the embroidery.

Mess in the floor when I try to figure out the pattern

The pattern was very simple as from my research into Turkmenistan national costumes, I did not find any specific patterns but what was stated was that they did not had anything too complex and usually blouses consisted of just simple slightly modified rectangles. So, I went slightly above it for better fit but I did not use any specific pattern from outside sources. From the front I have triangles at the sides to fit better with breasts and on the back, I actually used three pieces (one central, two at the sides) with slight curves for better fit in waist. I could probably have used rectangles there too but I thought, as it is going to visible anyway, that separate pieces give better fit and look nicer. Sleeves were very simple rectangle shapes with matching curves at the top to fit the bodice.

Mock-up. Looks good but way too long

Ah, I just had enough fabric :D

 For the choice of stitch for the emboridery, from my research, I thought, chain is the most suitable. On most of the images from manga the embroidery on blouse was like a line, therefore chain would fit perfectly. In very few rare pictures the embroidery on blouse did looked like satin stitch but that goes into the line of inconsistencies from author. I used the same machine embroidery thread for chain stitch as I used for underwear (3 threads together).

Putting sewn together blouse into a frame and drawing the pattern guide

I started with the blouse, did the collar first, then the bodice in front, moved to back (not the right move, will explain later).. Then I did the sleeves that were not sewn onto the bodice. As I said, the first try was failure.

Not the best embroidery..

The main reasons:
 *I had not use the specific chain stitch tool that was historically used in the area before so I would highly recommend practicing a lot. I would say my first bodice was my "trial piece" in the end.. I just wish I could have chosen easier route.. like just random straight piece of fabric

*The tambour embroidery requires it all to be very stable and tight. As in the image above- it was not. Sewing everything together was my biggest mistake in this step! Embroidery first, then cutting out.
*I tried using machine embroidery stabilizer (to overcome previous problem) but when tearing it off, it just ruined the embroidery and did not worked very well at all. Waste of time!

So, when I finally got to sleeves, my embroidery skill had developed a lot. I finally managed to have nice tight framing of the fabric (as nothing was sewn) and everything looked just so much better.

Actually, if you look one of these, the bottom embroidery around wrist is much better on left one but much lower quality of right one

Close up.

So, after I finished the sleeves, I just could not bare looking on the bodice, I went back to the fabric shop, got more of this red linen and did it all over again. Considering I spent 2-3 weeks on bodice, that was a blow but I was just so much better on this now.

So, first of all - I did not cut anything out before the embroidery. It was huge amount of fabric to move around but it worked so much better this time. Much less tearing and unevenness after the embroidery

 This is the nice compassion of the improvement of my skill. The top one is the second try, the one at the bottom is the first try

 And the back redone. Yeah, here I actually had to do some sewing as I decided to have three pieces but it was still quite flat and in some places I used smaller frame.

Then I did some sewing. First it was the top of the front and backs (and completed the lines at the sides that you can see on back but not in front). Then I sewed the sleeves into the bodice but sides and sides of the sleeves were open. I also needed to add the line for the sleeves. I did not dare to do it before sewing them together to make sure they are evenly distanced from the seam.

I sadly do not remember exactly what was the problem but those lines were huge amount of work and I redid them at least twice. I think the distance from the seam was the problem. Other than that - just stitch the line and then those little nods after some distance. Making those nods match was also not possible before sewing it together.

Then the lining. That was the moment I was heavily thinking if I would afford the silk or not. It should have been silk but silk was so expensive. I looked on artificial silk but it was not the right color, looked very weird (the quality) and was also much more expensive than I would have liked. So, in the end, it was the common lining material I used. Little unauthentic but practical thinking won - if I would have gone with silk, it would have cost a lot and noone can see it as it is lining. Probably not many people know anyway about the right materials so.. yeah.. something in me feels sad about this compromise.

Stitching the lining together (you can also see my super cute pin holder seal :D)

 

I set the lining, fixed it with pins and handsaw everything together. It all looks super nice in the end and it felt so nice to finally finish it. It took me around 2 months to do it. Most of it was embroidery that is just super time consuming. I spent all my weekend almost non-stop doing it and the first failed attempt was a blow.

The only thing left was how to close the blouse. In one or two images I can see buttons in manga. In majority of images there are nothing as it is easy to draw clothes to be "just on". Historically it is a mix. For the chyrpy it is no question - hook-and-eye closure. I found material about that. I did found other nations around the area who used hook-and-eye for most costumes around 19th century. But buttons were also heavily used on surrounding areas, specially for blouses. So, in the end, I could not find one certain answer for this and I went with "look". As on manga, you cannot see button on the cover, I use hook-and-eye to hide the openings and it would make it easier to but it on and take it off.

Posts:
*Getting started
*Underwear
*Skirt and trousers
*Blouse
*Coat
*Jewelry
*Boots
*Accessories
*At Animatsuri
*At Eurocosplay