Team Fortress 2 Sniper Vest

Besides Comic-Con, I've also been busy the last week with my in-laws in town. My husband's parents and younger sister live in the outskirts of Philly, so we don't get to see them too often. Since Pennsylvania isn't exactly known for lots of Asian things, we've spent the last several days going to every Asian thing possible -- Japanese markets, Ranch 99, and Vietnamese markets, as well as eating pho, ramen, Thai food, dim sum, wonton mein, and 粥. I think the only thing we missed out on was Korean food, and that's only because KBBQ is too 熱氣. Anyway, while my husband was at work and my parents-in-law were going nuts over Walnut (he's so cute; how could they not?), Ashley and I worked on a sewing project! Having seen my Bellatrix costume, she had asked me before they arrived if I could help her with a Team Fortress 2 Sniper cosplay. She wanted the vest, and, being a teacher, I would much rather teach someone how to do something than just do it for them. (This is my concession to The Selfish Seamstress' tips for selfish seamstressing.)

We went to Yardage Town and bought dark brown and tan cotton broadcloth, as well as two packages of light gray extra-wide bias tape and a package of heavy duty snaps. We began by drawing a pattern based off of a button-up shirt that she had -- easy, since there were no sleeves involved. I love how fast it is to make patterns for relatively shapeless, loose-fitting costumes. No darts and the construction is so simple! The pocket she sketched based on the character drawing, and then the collar was a simple rectangle the length of the neckline.

Notice the use of the back of wrapping paper and a can of garbanzo beans. This is nothing if not a professional operation.

Measuring out bias tape strips.

The other beautiful thing about making somebody else's clothing is that you can tell them to do the tedious parts themselves. I didn't have to do any of the pattern tracing or fabric cutting, and all those endless seams on bias tape...here! it's your vest! Although, I can see how tricky it must be for parents, trying to make sure that children learn how to do something themselves while resisting the urge to step in and just do it since it will be faster and better managed. Anyway, for having only used a sewing machine a couple times before a long time ago, Ashley did an excellent job with all the topstitching in a straight line on a relatively narrow piece of bias tape. She also put in the pocket snaps herself and attached the collar (straight edge to a curved edge? what a pro!). All I had to do was give directions about what order to sew/iron pieces and then sew the bias tape around the armholes. After three days of sporadic work, we have a vest! And I must say, I think it looks pretty good! She even wore it right away to church; it looks that much like a real vest.

And to think she'd never really sewed before! Amazing!

As a teacher, one of my favorite things is seeing a student learn and succeed and then feel proud of a finished product. As a seamstress (dare I call myself that?), one of my favorite things is thinking through a project and successfully planning how to put a piece of clothing together from scratch. All in all, even though it wasn't sewing for me (me! me! me! See, I'm practicing my Selfish Seamstress mantras), it was a fun and fulfilling project and I'm happy to enable others to sew.