Jessica Owen

Illustration / Costumes / Music

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Custom suits in so many styles!

www.etsy.com/shop/ShopJessicaOwen

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Sequin swimwear now available by Jessica Owen at:

easy.com/shop/ShopJessicaOwen

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Cute print bathing suits now available by Jessica Owen at:

easy.com/shop/ShopJessicaOwen

Custom sizes available!

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Hello! I'm excited to announce that I recently opened a clothing shop on Etsy, now carrying tons of cute swimsuits for summer. For all you curvy gals who are one size on top and another on the bottom (like me), I do custom one-piece suits so you can get one that fits you just right. You can choose your favorite style and fabric and have one made just for you. I'll be adding dresses and such in the near future, but for now, get your suit, and get to the beach! Visit: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShopJessicaOwen

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Happy belated birthday to Naoko Takeuchi, who forever changed my life with the things she drew and invented. So much love for this lady. 

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Rainy day dreaming

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You know when you get really excited to have a free second to do something creative and then you sit down to do something, and you totally draw a blank? Me always.

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I have never-ending love for all the crafty ladies of the world. It feels so good to make stuff, and I feel so lucky to be able to work on projects as often as I do. There’s nothing like staying in to sew or paint on the weekends, especially when it’s rainy or cold. 

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This is fun! I love time-lapse videos, so I’m trying them out.

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Lunchbreak photoshop painting is where it’s at.

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I’m super excited to share Ty Segall playing on Colbert in two parts of the new three piece hand painted corduroy suit I made him. It looks so cool and weird with the nails and makeup under those lights. Couldn’t be happier to work with him and see things I make go to places I love.

http://m.pitchfork.com/news/63489-ty-segall-and-the-muggers-perform-candy-sam-on-colbert/

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Suit #2 for Ty Segall’s performance on Late Night with Colbert! Handmade three-piece red corduroy with handprinted patches, studs, and  rhinestones. Oh and a bolo tie. This might be the most fun project I’ve done until now. I got to tailor, sew, paint, and bedazzle, all in one project. What could be better? Ty is so incredibly nice to work with and his performance is out of this world.

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The suit I made for Ty is on the cover of LA Weekly! So cool! I feel so lucky to have worked with him and brought to life some of his crazy suit ideas. Coolest dude ever. More to come in the near future!

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I’m starting a new blog!

I’ve been talking about doing this for years, but I’ve finally started a blog dedicated to the process of designing and creating costumes and clothing. I’m excited to share tutorials and talk about experiences of mine in the world of costumes, including when I saw my first Bob Mackie Barbie doll at 8 years old and knew I wanted to be a designer.

Check it out at jessicaowencostumes.tumblr.com, and as always you can see my costume portfolio at jessicaowencostumes.com and my illustration work at jessicaowenart.com. I’m so excited to share some things with you!

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Shorts Drafting Tutoiral - Part 2

Okay now we turn the draped fabric into a pattern. Begin by laying your draped fabric onto paper. I’m using dotted paper, but plain thin paper works just fine. 

I use a tracing wheel to carefully trace the lines I drew on the fabric. I think you can get these at most fabric and sewing machine supply stores. Pretty sure Jo-Anne’s has them. Once you’ve traced your pattern, follow the lines with a marker, using a ruler to make straight edges straighter. You can use a french curve to make curved lines smoother, but I usually just freehand. You don’t want to stray from your marked line too much, except to make it less wobbly. You don’t want to be sewing wobbles. Wobbles turn into puckers. 

Notches are important when sewing. They help curved lines match up as well as long seams that may accidentally stretch while sewing. Notches are your friend. It took me awhile to learn how important they are for your sanity while sewing. Now I never forget. Draw some little lines on your pattern where notches will go. It’s not especially important exactly where they go along curves, but you need them more along curves than you do along straight lines. Also mark lines that cross other seams. For instance, I marked on the waistband where the front cut out detailing meets it. This just helps you be clear with your pattern while you sew. 

At this step, you will want to make sure that any seams that will be sewn together are the same length. After tracing the pattern, I made sure the side seams matched up. They were a little bit off so I adjusted the length of the bottom hems to meet up. 

Next, I cut out all the pieces of the pattern I drew and re-trace them separately so I can add seam allowance. Since this is a stretchy fabric, I am adding 1/4″ seam allowance since I will be using a surger. In the center back, I used 1/2″ so I have enough room to install a zipper. 

Now I just write notes on each pattern piece so I know where it goes, draw a line for the direction of most stretch, and use a notcher to mark notches along the edges. This part isn’t really necessary if you don’t have a notcher. 

Voila! You have a pattern. 

Time to make a mockup and make adjustments.