Jalie 2792 becomes Wonder Woman!

This Halloween I only did one costume. My boys went with storebought costumes, which was actually kind of a relief, but Myra really wanted me to make her a Wonder Woman costume.

I'm so glad I did. I think her costume ended up much  nicer than the storebought Wonder Woman costumes we saw. She was very happy, All of the fabrics came from Cali Fabrics. I can't tell you how thrilled I was to find star printed metallic lycra!! And the service at Cali Fabrics is always excellent.

The base for the leotard is Jalie 2792. It's pretty much perfect for a Wonder Woman costume, since the bodice already has the yoke built in. Myra is long but lean, so she needed a 104 in width, but a 116 in length, Rather than tracing two sizes, I just added the gold band, since we needed a gold belt anyway.

The only other change I made to the pattern was to lower the leg opening for more coverage. Myra has a ghetto booty, and we were going for the Linda Evans Wonder Woman with a lower cut leg anyway.

The scariest part of the costume was the Wonder Woman insignia that I appliqued to the front. These fabrics are incredibly thin and stretchy, which made them tricky to stitch. I used my favorite knit applique trick and used a glue stick to adhere the gold applique to the leotard. Then I sandwiched the whole thing between two layers of wash away stabilizer. I used a triple stretch stitch to outline the W's and define the logo inside. This fabric doesn't fray, so I left the edges raw.

To complete the outfit, I made a set of gauntlets and a crown out of the metallic lycras. I backed the pieces with fleece for stability and comfort. The gauntlets close with velcro and the crown has wide elastic in the back under her hair. Myra loves the bling on the crown! I appliqued a small star with the red metallic lycra and decorated it with HotFix crystals and rhinestuds.

Myra loves her costume, and she was the perfect addition to our little Justice League.

Jalie 2792 leotard, but with legs

Last week at gymnastics, Myra managed to put a hole in her old leo (which was also getting small). I am darn pleased we actually got an entire year's worth of wear out of it actually, but it was time for a new one.

Despite the fact that it is actively snowing outside, Myra had to try it out immediately.

I blended two Jalie patterns to get the final look that I wanted. The bodice (above the waist) is from Jalie 2792 and the legs (below the waist) is from Jalie 2105 (OOP). Both patterns had the waistline marked, which made blending them very easy.

I really like the upper bodice of 2792, particularly the option of the keyhole in back. It's so pretty! 2105 is a great basic leotard, but the neckline is wide and a bit low in back and tended to slip down Myra's shoulders. This one seems more secure.

Up close, you can see that the back keyhole actually has a closure at the neckline that allows for ease of dressing. I elected to use my coverstitch binder on the openings, rather than the stitched on bands from the pattern. In retrospect, I should have cut off the seam allowances of the neckline and keyhole, at least right at the area where they insert into the clasp. As you can see, they are all bunched up in there, and getting them in was a bit challenging. 

Since Myra chose a solid pink for her fabric, I added a little stretch piping (from Sew Sassy) to make it a little more interesting. I sewed it between the yoke seams on front and back, then sewed up the side seams. The piping matched up beautifully with just a little basting. I am very pleased.

Myra gave it a workout in the living room and says she likes it. We'll see how it performs on Monday at the gym, but for now I think we have a winner!

Linked up!

Jalie 2792

Myra just started gymnastics classes last week, which naturally means she needs something to wear. While the boys generally just wear knit shorts and tees, a leotard is de rigeur for the girls. And can we talk about how expensive these little leotards are?? Despite my trepidation about sewing this, there was no way I was paying that much for less than a quarter yard of spandex.

Not too shabby for my first attempt at what is essentially swimwear (yikes!).

The pattern is Jalie 2792. This is the simplest view, scoop neck and back without sleeves. All of the openings are elasticated. The fabric is a midweight poly Spandex from Spandex World. I went with a basic cotton candy pink for my first attempt, but once I get the bugs ironed out, there is some pink and purple hologram that she's going to LOVE.

Here is the back. For the leg openings, I used a trick that my friend Beth has had good luck with. Instead of evenly stretching the elastic to fit the leg opening, I left it unstretched on the front half and then stretched the back half only. This really makes sense if you think about it, since most of the roundness in the body is in the back. In the interest of decency, I won't provide an image of that area, but it fits her really well, and after wearing it all day, it didn't ride up at all.

For the topstitching, I was initially planning to coverstitch,but I noticed that the other girls leotards had a three step zigzag, so that is what I used. I think I may try the coverstitch to see how it looks on the next one, but the zigzag is nice and sturdy.

Fit-wise, Myra is long and skinny, so I used the width from the smallest size (F) and lengthened it to the next length (G) in the body section only. Like me, she is smaller in her upper torso, so I left the bodice sections the size F. This seems to have worked well. It looks good, and she was comfortable and had plenty of room to move in it.

Overall, I'm pleased with it, particularly as it is a first attempt. There are a couple of things I didn't like. Mostly they were due to my own inexperience. First was the way the neckline sits.

See how it sticks straight out from her body? I did use regular 1/4 inch elastic, since I haven't yet found the box with my clear elastic in it. The armholes and leg openings, which use the same elastic, lie nice and flat. What did I do? Anyone have any insights into how I can make that look better?

The other thing I didn't love is the wee crotch lining. Since this isn't swimwear, and she wears underthings with it, it doesn't really matter, but it really doesn't provide any coverage. The spandex I used is a little sheer and Myra kept pointing out the Micky Mouse printed on her diaper that you could see right through it. I think I'll line the entire front bodice next time around, at least when using fabric this relatively sheer. the crotch lining is applied by just basting it along the leg holes, so the two ends are not attached to anything and are unfinished. I stitched the back end into the seam, but the front end is flapping free; another argument for a full bodice lining.

Look at that form! She's a natural! And I am really happy with this first attempt. I'm pleased with how well the sizing worked out. Once I figure out the elastic thing, maybe it'll be time to attempt a suit for me? There may be more challenges fitting my figure...

Linked up at The Train to Crazy...