Sewing Sub-dye Spandex Suits

When I first started sewing printed spandex suits, or "subdyes" two years ago, all I had to go off of as a guide was one simple graphic. 

Along the way I made a lot of mistakes and eventually found a process that works for me. So I'm putting it into what I hope is a detailed guide so that the next person, whoever you are, can have an easier sewing experience.

First you want to use a strong poly thread and a machine with a stretch stitch. I recommend creating a double seam, just in case something pops open during wear. But if you use a good thread with the stretch stitch, that shouldn't happen.

It all starts with the "butt seam". Don't sew up the leg inseam until you sew that butt seam, this prevents ugly bunching of the fabric in the crotch area and if you are sewing a male suit this makes putting a zipper into the inseam for ease of toileting easier.

After the butt seam, you should be able to sew the leg inseams from one toe all the way up then down to the next toe.

After this you can attach the back pieces to the tops of the bottom portion in the back.

Next, sew up the side seams and attach the shoulder pieces (if you are doing a mask you should have it done, I don't sew suits with masks).  The curvier part of the shoulder pieces attaches to the back and the straighter edge attaches to the front.

After that you will have your arm opening ready to attach the sleeves. This is also when you would add 7" zippers to the sleeves

After the sleeves are attached, put in your back zipper.  Every suit I have sewn has used a 22" hidden zipper.  I use the back waist seam to tack down the end of the zipper.  For more info on sewing hidden zippers into stretch fabrics, check out this video, it was by far the most helpful one I've seen,

Once the sleeves are on, you can begin the gloves.  The gloves are the most generously sized part of the costume and have the biggest seam allowance. Sew the thumb pieces to the palms, then pin the palms to the back.  

If you have a sold colored suit with no stitch lines, place a  hand on the wrong side of the palm and mark or trace your hand to make a guide. You can go bigger and resize them smaller. The 4 way stretch makes godets unnecessary.  Sew the fingers and DO NOT cut them apart, slip the opposite hand inside and see how it fits and adjust it if you need to.  Once you like the fit you can cut them apart and trim the excess off. 

Next attach the other half of the thumbs to the back of the glove and them you can sew the inside seam on the thumb and connect it to the index finger. Put your hand in and mark this area if the seam is deep enough and adjust as needed. 

Now you are ready to close off the sleeves at the wrists, there is usually some extra fabric here or there, and some last adjustments on the fit. 

If your suit is maskless, then now is the time to create the neck hem and adjust the fit if it needs to be tighter and more fitted.

And you're done!  The suit is ready to wear. It's ready to install shoes in or paint.

My Video for adding Shoes to a suit on Tiktok

My First Snow White Costume

So I went to my first Comic Con- The Phoenix ComicCon (2014).  I've always wanted to go to a Con but stuff keeps coming up and happening and I do this thing several days a week called "work" and it can interfere.  I only went Saturday because the husband "wasn't sure" back in December that we'd be able to make it and made me wait to buy the tickets (Hey, guess what? Our Saturday passes bought in June 2014 cost as much as four day passes did in December 2013 so we saved $0 by waiting!  Never again!)

I went as Snow White.  Of course I had to go in costume.  I already had a Snow White costume planned because I work part time as a face painter and there had been past requests for a Disney Princess painter.  And seeing as how of all the princesses I probably look the most like Snow.  Also, I already had this red bow headband . . .

I wanted to put a spin on my costume and do a 1950's style dress (I'm not sure everyone got that at the Con though)  I choose vintage Simplicity 3780.  Puffy sleeves, sweetheart neckline, full skirt- everything you need in a princess dress!

I also took loads of step by step pictures of how I did the red tear drop inserts on the sleeves.  On my cell phone.  Which I dropped while working at the Pima County Fair- and was subsequently stolen (if you don't turn a found cell phone in to Lost And Found, or leave it where it lies- you're stealing!).

I'd like point out that this dress has a very unusual sleeve design that requires the use of gussets under the arms.  Several people said for continuities sake I use the baby blue satin.  I went with the dark blue bodice velvet because it's stretchy (more arm mobility) and also, sweaty under arms (unavoidable in Phoenix in June) are more obvious on pastel satin and less so on dark velvet.

I had to re-work the neck line THREE times.  The first time I was lazy and didn't use a stiff facing along the neck line but attempted to attach the trim (as seen on the grey dress) in yellow left over from the skirt.  The second time I used a flimsy facing cut from the velvet.  My used pattern actually had a facing cut from a stiff felt-like material tucked inside that the previous owner had cut- so I used it to line the neck, then added the velvet facing.  So the neckline finally kept its shape!  And finally, because after extensive research of other Snow White costumes I found on Google, I put white eyelet around the neck instead of the big stand-up collar.  And I pleated one of the sleeves the wrong direction, but I really don't think anyone noticed.

I'm not to thrilled with the skirt.  It was meant to be a three panel pleated thing and I was working with a pattern that was about 3 sizes too small.  I had cut the bodice larger but because of the stretch in the velvet- I had to take it all back in (you can use a pattern that is a bit too small if you use stretch material!)  The yellow glitter satin on the skirt was not stretchy.  I cut all three pieces bigger and had plenty to work with on the skirt, but I really think it would have looked better if I'd cut 4 pieces in the original size because I have seams in weird, off places and seams should line up nice with other seams, it just looks better.  Also I got a little food on the skirt at lunch and a water mark from leaning over the bathroom counter at the Con and I'm pretty sure that it has to be dry cleaned or all the glitter will wash off.  And finally when you have a dark blue bodice and a pale yellow skirt- what color zipper do you use?  I went with dark blue (because I had one and didn't have to run back to the store).  I can't sew the hidden zippers.  Snaps would have been another option but the fit was snug and snaps can pop open.  Also, I should have cut the sleeves much bigger, I have "fat" arms and they're a pretty tight fit.

My petticoat I ordered directly from Malco Modes.  Amazon is cheaper, but I couldn't order until the week before the Con and all the places on Amazon say that it takes 17-28 days just to ship and I couldn't wait that long.  Malco had the best price (even with a 2 day shipping splurge I spent less then the local costume shops charge!), they had the lace trimmed, soft nylon type I wanted and I could pick the right length.  Which happened to be the 26" Petites "Tea Length".  I'm not very short but my skirt was just over 26" and everything else was either too long or too short.  They have a great color selection too.  The shipping invoices they sent were confusing and the item arrives a day later then expected- but it was still quick shipping!  Ultimately, the petticoat was the most expensive part, it cost more then the fabric I used on the dress.

And finally, I made a necklace.  I got the pendant at Hobby Lobby and added "S" and "W" charms.  Coincidentally- my actual initials are "SW"

So, how was the Con?  Crowded, overwhelming, and really fun!  I got up at 5am so we could leave early and be in Phoenix by 8am, but our ride slept in.  Then we decided to go get breakfast.  Then my husband knocked a baby bird out of a tree and I wouldn't leave until (true to Snow White character) they found a tall enough ladder to put the bird back in its nest.  So we were pretty late leaving.

I forgot my pain meds and spent most of the day reeling from pain in my left shoulder and hip, and I'm sorry to say I think it shows in the pictures.  I'm not smile-y enough.  Never leave the meds at home!  (SMH)  My false eye lashes started to come loose and had to be removed halfway though the day because I put them on so early- so that won't be happening again.  The headband started to pinch after a few hours so I think I need to find a new sort of red bow.  I also attempted to wear what I though was a "low" heel and didn't make it past the building where you pick up badges before I switched to my ugly flats- so I was stuck hauling heels around in my tote all day.  I really need to get a good pair of flats for this costume next year.

I had lots of people ask for photos so I think my costume was a success.  My camera is not working very well so I didn't take any myself.  One little girl named Gracie in a Cinderella dress chased after me twice for photos and she was the cutest thing ever!  Another woman told me Snow White is her favorite!  The only picture I've managed to find was posted to Tumblr by Dani.  So she's my favorite person from the Con for using social media and just being really sweet in general.  My "annoyed" face is purely me trying to smile even though I'm hurting, I really did like taking pictures with people! I really did have fun!  We went to the Bruce Campbell panel (my husbands favorite actor ever) and waited in line for the Nathan Fillion panel, but we were idiots and didn't get the hand stamp when we left Bruce's panel and everyone that went to the panel before Nathan's (the panel after Bruce) was actually camped out to see him and didn't leave so there was no room for the rest of us (and it was a HUGE line).  We should have camped out too.  But the best part was my husband saying that we will do all four days and get a hotel next year!

Making an Infamous 2 T-Shirt

Our friend is attending Phoenix Comicon this weekend and choose to go as Cole MacGrath.  After looking for a baseball sleeved tee (my first suggestion- to weasel out of sewing) at the sporting goods stores and coming up with nothing in the right color combination, he brought me two basic Old Navy shirts and asked if I could sew the sleeves and collar of one onto the other, but to not worry myself about the stripes down the back.  Ha!  Don't challenge me like that.  So here's some photos of how I did this.

You'll need two t-shirts, same size and preferably the same brand, or density of fabric.  Thread.  And a sewing machine that does a straight stretch stitch.

 

^ Cut up the side seam and diagonally to the collar from the armpit, then halfway to the center along the collar line outside the seam.

 

 

^ This way it can be folded over and used as a cutting guide so that the angles on both sides match.

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ Then fold the shirt in half and cut out the back leaving the two strips needed for the back stripes.

 

 

 

^ There will be a little piece in the back, along the collar to cut off as well.

 

 

^ Next I cut off the collar off the other shirt- but ONLY the ribbed part outside the seam.  And also cut the sleeves off the other shirt.  (Just the sleeves, don't cut it on an angle like the first shirt- unless you're feeling creative)

 

 

^ Starting with the collar area, I top stitched the grey shirt to the yellow shirt with the stretch stitch following the top stitching already present on the shirt.  The center collar area in the front between the grey shirt was hand basted, which was time consuming but looks very clean and neat in the end as there really was no way to topstitch them together and it not look messy.

 

 

^ Some wrong-side-out photos show where I top stitched.  The sleeves were top stitched along the shoulder to tack them down, and along the original seams at the shoulder and the extra fabric was top stitched in place.  The stripes down the back were also top stitched in place.

 

 

 

 

 

And there it is.  It isn't perfect, but its not half bad!  One mistake I made- I had a needle for thick fabrics in the machine, which was fine for the collar and the shoulders where the fabric was several layers, but when doing the top stitching- I forgot to switch back to a regular needle and it put a couple holes in the fabric.  Keep an eye on which needle is in the machine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Cautionary Consignment Tale

In my last blog I went into detail about where a buyer's money goes when they shop on Etsy and where a crafter's money goes when they produce an item.  I also mentioned that for a year I made the majority of my sales on the sock monkeys I design and make in a little local consignment store and that I no longer sell there.  I also said I'd blog about that.

Consignment is a great way to get a handmade product into the hands of a buyer.  Unlike a web store, the customer can see it, touch it, in the case of a stuffed animal, hold it and look it over carefully.  Colors are more accurate (I once sold one simply because the socks I chose were the same color as a family was using in the nursery for the new baby!).  I made between $50-$90 a month selling in a consignment store, which is far more then I have ever made online in even a year!  It doesn't pay the bills, but it does keep production going.  So why did I ever stop?

Early on in the brief existence of my online shop, I was contacted by a friend of the owner who told me she was looking for new sellers for her children's store.  Tucson has an excellent reputation for "buy local" awareness and I really did want to have a few of my monkeys in a store where the customer could see them because I think tangible purchases you don't have to wait two weeks or so to enjoy give a lot of people more satisfaction then items purchased through the Internet (even though it is exciting to get a package in the mail).  So I took a few by.

The owner was a nice lady with a store full of used and handmade items for children (great idea!).  The consignment rate wasn't too bad.  60-40 is better then 50-50 by far, after all who's buying supplies and assembling the item anyhow?  So I agreed to leave something like four monkey in the store.  I went back one or two months later to discover they had all sold and she made a check out to me for a nice little sum of money, which I spent buying more supplies and I brought her more monkeys.  And so it went for a whole year.  Normally she does 6 month runs on consignment items, but after 6 months they were still selling, and there are two street fairs where the store was located which draws in buyers, as well as the impending event of Christmas.  So she kept taking monkeys.  And they kept selling.  Some of the employees at the shop regularly told me that not only were my monkeys their favorites- but favorites of most customers as well.  Whether that was totally true or not, it was nice and encouraging to hear.

Whenever the owner would cut me my check, she also would send me an invoice via e-mail for what was sold, for how much each item was and what her cut was for my records.   I don't always get the e-mail.  But I always get paid, and since I don't make enough selling the monkeys, I don't have to pay taxes and therefore the records are irrelevant to me.

But as spring was on the way it seemed like coming by to see if anything sold and collect payment due was becoming an irritation to her.  And I assumed for my own peace of mind that she had her own worries.  And I was right, the lease was coming up, and there were sentiments in the selling "district" that a children's store was not right for the area and rather then pack up and move (for a second time) she was thinking on closing and moving away to a new opportunity.  Then someone with money, seeing the stores potential and the market for a children's clothing exchange and all the great locally made items stepped in and offered to buy the "store" from her.

At this point the consignors were asked to retrieve their merchandise and I came by several times trying to do so and each time the store was closed and I only was able to get them the very day before the doors on that location were closed forever.  I had sold two monkeys since my last payment and she told me she owed me something like $33 and some change.  But- she wasn't paying consignors right now, she'd send me my e-mail invoice and then the check would be in the mail in the next week.  I was unemployed and could sorely use $33, but it was not a large sum and I could see that she was extremely preoccupied and was content to wait a week.  I took my merchandise and she told me that the new owner has my e-mail address and would contact me if they wished to have the monkeys in the new location.  This was back in February, which as fall approaches, feels like an eternity ago.

I never got my check or my invoice confirming the two sales.  Weeks passed and I noticed on the Facebook Page for the store that there were a few other consignors trying to appeal to her to send them their checks (some were clearly angry and impatient) and the former shop owner herself had completely disappeared from Facebook.  I commented that I was in the same boat with them.  The new owner deleted our comments.  The new owner sent out a mass e-mail inviting all consignors to come by with their merchandise for them to look over.  Included in this message was a note that they were aware that the last owner had not yet paid several people and that complaints should be made to her personally, not to this new owner because that was none of her business and not her problem.

I can't sue for $33.  That would be ludicrous.  And I wanted to message her, but seeing as how I was not alone in being stiffed- what's the point?  To my knowledge, she has moved to South Korea to teach anyway.

I can see the point of view of this new business owner.  She can easily say it wasn't She who kept our money and that it is not her responsibility to pay us.  I might take up the same stance if I were in her shoes.  From where I stand, this person purchased- not just a store (because the location itself moved) but a Label.  A Brand Name.  An Icon.  A Landmark.  Something a lot of locals know.  And while it was an individual that stole money- they did so under the guise of this business.  If the shop name, licence, bank account, tax ID changed hands in the transaction (and maybe I am ignorant of business practices here) then why not the money that was owed to the consignors?  And therefore- why not the responsibility to pay?   Most of the merchandise moved with the store, why not checks for each consignor?

Its the "I don't care if she didn't pay you, that's not my problem" attitude that leaves a bad taste in my mouth toward taking my products to the new location and the new owner.  I still receive a mass e-mail asking for consignment merchandise, and in the last message a specific request for hand made toys, though nothing addressed specifically to me.  I would prefer to see a gesture of good will of some kind, maybe a little compassion and certainly concern for how cheating us makes the store as a whole look to the community.  Also perhaps the the assurance that this new owner has a more efficient system of payment in place to prevent "stealing" from consignors in the future.  Until then I'd rather be without that potential $50 a month because somewhere out there are two monkeys someone paid for thinking they were supporting an artist- and that artist never got paid.  And I will freely admit that I am angry every time I think about it, partly on the principal of it, and partly because $33 to an unemployed artist is like $300 to an ordinary person.

The High Cost of Etsy-ing

I sell on Etsy.  It began as a way to rid myself of the numerous sock monkeys I started making when I quit this awful job I had and needed a new hobby to fill my time.  Later I was asked to help a friend sell off her grandmother's vintage jewelry and so as it stands, my shop mostly sells jewelry.

I occasionally get some rather wild questions from buyers that have lead me to realize that buyers on Etsy have a lot of misconceptions about Etsy sellers.  So I blog today to enlighten- not to sell my readers vintage jewelry or sock monkeys.

I do not make a living doing this and I think over half the people selling on Etsy work a day job.   I make just enough on a sock monkey sale to go out and buy more stuffing, thread, socks, buttons, felt, or whatever else I need to make them.  A sock monkey purchase is simply financial support of a hobby.  I don't make anything on jewelry sales- I give all of that if there is any left to my friend who owns the jewelry.

Let me break down costs for you on the jewelry first.  

If I am charging $30 for a necklace + $8 for shipping: once PayPal takes their cut I'll have about $37 in there.  I ship with insurance in the $5.35 flat rate box.  I ship in a box because I have had jewelry stolen out of envelopes and the buyer had to be reimbursed, so I insist on insurance.  USPS does not insure envelopes- only boxes.  With insurance, the shipping is $7.95.  So now there is $29.05 in the PayPal account.  Then of course there's the Etsy bill which is always between $7 - $18.  I sell- if I am lucky- one item a month.  So at the end of it all my store has made a whopping $22 for a necklace I wanted $30 for, IF I don't list too many things.  I'd make a little more on it if I didn't do the one week promotional runs- but those usually help draw in buyers.  (Since publishing this blog, USPS has made insurance included on flat rate boxes, up to $50, so this math is a bit irrelevant now)

Why not raise my prices?  Well lately I have been asked by more then one person to lower my shipping costs!  It is completely inappropriate to suggest someone ship something in easy to open packaging without insuring it and then expect to get your money back when the item is stolen and fails to arrive. Not only does the seller loose their money, but also the opportunity to sell the item ever again. Both parties deserve to have reimbursement in the event of theft- so buyers need to be respectful of sellers that use insurance. That being said- it is affordable in my own mind- to insure the pricey jewelry- especially since it doesn't belong to me. I do not however insure the monkeys because they are so big- no one would pay the shipping costs!  (I can always make more monkeys- the jewelry is more irreplaceable)

I also get the impression that buyers do not realize that once an item is relinquished to USPS- they consider the ownership of the package to be the recipient.  In other words- its not my property anymore- its the buyer's property.  It is really the responsibility of the buyer to make inquires about missing packages.  But they make it my problem, so I make my own inquires to please my unhappy buyers when something fails to be delivered.  People need to remember that the seller is not flying personally on a plane and delivering this package by their own hand (can you just imagine paying for that?)  The package is entrusted to strangers- untrustworthy strangers as I have learned.  Strangers that will steal or accidentally route an item to the wrong zip code where it will be delayed for three weeks (when the buyer could just drive to their post office or to the nearby town it ended up in and demand it from that post office)- but instead asks me to look into it from clear across the country- so I do because I aim to please when I can do so. 

I want people to buy and I- as a consumer- understand that what people expect to have to pay for something differs greatly from the value a seller places on the item.  An item priced to high greatly limits your clientele. At that point the seller is using the online shop simply to show off merchandise they are proud to have aquired and they don't really want to part with unless its for the "right" price.

In a perfect world (or in the past where I often wish I could live) everyone would have an artistic craftsman hobby/occupation and understand the costs of buying supplies and the time spent crafting the item.  Then everyone would be more willing to support each other and willing to pay what an item is reasonably worth.

So heres a breakdown of production costs on the sock monkeys:

What does it cost to make said monkey?  First of all that depends on the socks.  Most pairs I get for about $2.50.  For Tie-dyed socks I have to buy a dye kit, but it will dye 4 pairs of socks.  For designer socks I have to spend about $7, but one designer demanded Etsy pull those monkeys on the basis I didn't have permission to use their logo (which is a the print on the socks and hard to avoid photographing)- so I can't sell those online. I have seen some really great socks out there for $10- but I won't use them because the cost of the monkey would increase significantly.  The stuffing I prefer (after trying a few brands) is $10 a bag and will stuff about 3 large monkeys.  I use embroidery floss and one roll of it will sew up one monkey.  I often use a second color on the face but thats a small amount of thread.  Buttons are about $5 a bag, with multiple colors and I don't really count this cost because after the first three bags or so, I haven't had to buy more yet.  So a monkey costs roughly $7 or $8. 

It takes me 3 hours to make one.  And that is if I don't make wings or costuming for it (another hour of work and about $2 worth of felt for wings because THAT has gotten expensive to buy since I started making them in 2011)  What should I pay myself per hour to sew the monkey?  I have to hand sew them since I use embroidery floss.  Should I get minimum wage?  That's $22 for 3 hours of work.  Plus supplies: a sock monkey SHOULD cost $30!?!  I sell a basic monkey for $15 plus shipping- AND that would bring us back to the first half of this blog about PayPal and Etsy fees.  Why sell them for so little?  Because that's what Target sells them for and while mine are so much cooler and more unique then Target's- how can I expect anyone to find mine affordable and buy them with the cheap crap coming here from Asia?  (Ironically Target is where I buy most of my socks) 

This guy sold for $50 and is the only monkey to fetch such a high price.

This guy is an example of a simpler "decorated" monkey.

When I began making the sock monkeys and it was suggested I sell them (probably because its weird to have 12 monkeys sitting around your house) a friend that was completing high school asked me to make her one and I was only too happy to make one for her as a graduation gift. She wanted to pay and I said "no" because I always intended to make a gift of it. But I did ask her what she'd pay for one. "$10" she said. When I brought them to a store for consignment, I asked the shop owner what seemed reasonable to charge. "$40, but no one would pay that. What do YOU want for them?" I wanted to make between $15 and $25 on a monkey. We priced them there at that- plus the additional cost of the cut she'd take- which made them cost between $5 and $10 more then I normally charge. For about a year that is where most of my sales came from. Now I don't sell there, and that is a long story about the woes of shop consignment I could blog about later. Most monkey sales lately come from random people I meet that see them and just have to have them. This circumvents the shipping issues I've already mentioned.

And once again- this isn't how I earn a living.  I am an idle housewife and the purchase only helps me buy more supplies to fuel my crafty hobbies.  To make a living I would have to sell two monkeys a day, 5 days a week- and they just don't sell that fast even priced as low as I have them.

An item is really only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, but hopefully I've raised a small amount of awareness about what it costs to make and sell things online, and about shipping woes.  And if you've read this hopefully you will consider more carefully before you try to haggle with us simple online artisans about our "extreme" prices.

Agave Sweetened Brownies

I ran out of sugar and do not live in the sort of neighborhood in which one goes door to door asking for sugar.  But I did have plenty of agave nectar.  I searched online in vain for a recipe for brownies that not only substitute agave for sugar, but also uses cocoa powder instead of baking chocolate.  I was forced to make suggested substitutions, which meant reducing the oil.  So not only are these sugar free, they contain very little oil and are dairy free as well.  My brownies came out tasty, but they rose less then normal and were more chewy and less cake-y.  I like chewy!  I like sugar free too!

Preheat your oven to 350 F
Mix well:
6 tbsp. of cocoa powder
4 tbsp of vegetable oil

Add:
2/3 c agave nectar
2 eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour

Bake in a 9x9 inch pan at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, test with a knife before removing from the oven.