I made this blog because this project took so long and I’m really proud of these and want to show them off. (also the marks are back finally so I can't be accused of plagiarism if these images are online)
For context, where I live any student who takes Textiles for Year 12 (senior year) has to complete a major work which we start in October and submit them in August. It can be any area of textiles and based around any topic. For mine, I made fabric dust jackets for all of Aiden Thomas’ current (at the time) books.
Here they are! I’m so happy with them. Details and more photos under the cut because I crammed a lot of easter eggs in these and no-one I know IRL has read the books. Warning it will be long.
!Spoilers for the books below!
I hand dyed all of the fabric, myself
The yellow dye is home-made marigold dye and there are embroidered marigolds in the corner of the back cover to represent Dia De Muertos
The church, headstones and stingray were printed with carved rubber stamps
The beading leading from the church to the water is meant to represent the rocky cave walls of the chamber
Yadriel’s portaje is included in the beads
The left side of everything has a gold outline to show the light from the sunset hitting it
I also screen printed ‘Thomas’ on the spine ‘cause my school librarian told me it wouldn’t look like a book otherwise. Screen printing stuff that small is a nightmare but I’m glad with how it turned out (mostly)
The inside shows the boys on the beach during halloween
The sky above them has Julian’s Scorpio star sign while the lining has Yadriel’s Cancer
I used sequins to be the sand and cover the raw edge of the fabric
The lining for all the books is ice dyed
The papel picado design on the lining is screen printed. I tried to make the pattern look simultaneously like gravestones and skulls with little marigolds in the corners
The jaguar print at the bottom is 100% meant to represent Bahlam and definitely not to cover a failed screen printing attempt
I used lace dyed with every colour imaginable to cover the fraying corners because the black dye turned navy for some reason
The front of this book is made from four sheer layers of mesh with sequins, painted silhouettes and applique in between to create the appearance of a shadow box, while being two dimensional
I dyed the fabric with light reactive dye and hung it to dry from a single point so that the folds would create the white radiating lines from the centre to add depth
To cut out the front bit of the tree I used a candle flame so that it wouldn’t fray and would have a slightly gnarled appearance
I also entirely underestimated how long that much backstitch embroidery would take
The appliqued trees are the only fabric I didn’t hand dye in this project
For the inside I painted the lighter fabric to look like Wendy and her brothers’ bedroom with the fairy lights, articles about deep sea exploration and portraits
The one in the bottom right corner is specifically modeled after the family photo in one of the character cards by Gibb_Arts on Graveyard Goods
The palm trees in the middle are meant to represent Neverland. I screen printed them and then painted the inside of the leaves with slightly sparkly paint
There are also the stars to get to Neverland above the trees
My teacher managed to wear me down into using bias binding for the edges of this cover and I’m glad I did but bias binding really is my enemy. It was so hard to work with D:
This cover was also dyed with the marigold dye
Each of the feathers were cut with a laser cutter, dip dyed and stitched on by hand. Each one is made from one layer of dyed suiting fabric, overlaid with the same sparkly fabric from the Lost in the Never Woods cover
I used heat transprint ink to get the pattern onto the gold ribbons, which was hard because they were so shiny. The pattern is based off of Aurelio’s collar on the print by Meowlayn on Graveyard Goods. I like that with this colour scheme it can also kinda looks like jaguar print for Ocelo
The sunburst crown in the left corner is painted. It’s hard to see but it is outlined in gold hand embroidery
The pattern beneath is meant to resemble a cut jade geode (but in black to represent Xio) It was made using light reactive dye and a stencil cut from a foil tray
The beads and chains across the top are inspired by the draping jewelry that many of the characters have in their trading cards (especially Aurelio and Dezi)
The beads are also in a ratio of 8 gold to 1 jade and 1 obsidian to represent the competitors, themselves
The inside cover has screen printed mountains for Niya and La Cumbre
The patterns on the side are based off of how the competitor results are shown at the end of each trial. The left shows the first trial while the right shows the last
If you read all this, thanks for sticking around! I'll probably add on to this series with a Celestial Monsters cover soon and I'll definitely make one for Espiritu in September (so so so excited for it!!!!!)
(Btw, the plush ghost in the first picture is called Julian in a German accent)
sleeves continued....(part one in case you missed it). I added organza ruffles to the bottom edge, then embellished that bottom edge with these flower sequins that everything gets caught on but look super cute.
now. these sleeves are very fitted and extend over the hand, so to get them cinched at the wrist there is a zipper sewn upside down from cuff to elbow. that isn't very magical is it??
I covered twill tape with taffeta and trimmed it with the selvage of the lace so the color would match. then it was whipped edge to edge along one side (which does not require seam allowance but does require both edges to be independently finished.)
now you can see how it looks when pressed flat over the zipper teeth (bottom left) compared to no placket at all (top left).
I can hear your skepticism from here but stay with me ok. because as you can see I covered it with bits of lace I fussy cut out and it looks much better (right).
I sewed the edges of the lace to the placket then continued the beading pattern overtop of it so it would better blend in.
now that is an improvement if I do say so myself (and I do.)
and the other side looks pretty cute too!
now for those of you who are wondering: "why didn't you use an invisible zip?" I don't find they zip particularly smoothly when installed in thicker fabrics which this corded lace absolutely qualifies as.
and for the other other person who is wondering: "why didn't you lap the seam allowance over it or sew closer to the teeth?"
the corded lace is thick and I didn't want it doubled over, I thought it would look clunky. I also don't like sewing super close to the teeth when working with mesh or lace because it is prone to catching in them. and since I like the sturdiness of metal teethed zippers, when things catch, they get bitten. 😉
In celebration of 10 years of The Bright Sessions (+me starting uni and needing a new backpack) I made a bag inspired by The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen.
I've loved this book since first listened to the audio version as a thirteen year old (and read/listened to it wayy too many times since) I've done two school projects involving it and, while I have made a bag inspired by it before, I really wanted to do it justice by incorporating more than just a colour palette and a quote.
For the outside of the bag I used a primary colour scheme, with the yellow and blue for Caleb and Adam and the red drawn from the front cover of the book. I distressed the denim to create white patches and then dyed them.
I used liquid radiance to do all of colouration on the bag. For the front pocket I used the light reactive nature of liquid radiance to create a warped grid pattern like the tiles on the floor of the front cover. It took many skewers, much blu tack and three attempts but I'm happy with how it came out.
The embroidery on the bag flap has a lightbulb, inspired by The Bright Sessions logo and a pair of headphones. The headphones are a reference to the podcast source material and also how music is used throughout the book. I really appreciate how important music is in The Infinite Noise, despite neither character being in a band or studying music or anything of the sort.
The sides have snaps and a water bottle pocket for practicality and I included little loops so I could attach these little adorable heart shaped carabiners for keys and keyrings
Thanks for reading (and if you haven't read the infinite noise please do!!!)
My most recent project: a camera bag inspired by Young Gothic by M. A. Bennett (with added spooky camera)
I made it using liquid radiance, fabric paint, reverse applique and couching (plus a concerning amount of nail polish if I'm being honest)
This book was the wildest ride I experienced the entirety of 2024 and if I could choose to read any book again for the first time it would be this one hands down! Pumped for whatever chaos will happen in the sequel (plus the covers are so pretty!!!!)
It's a satchel inspired by Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (the design on the front), The Infinite Noise and The Bright Sessions by Lauren Shippen (the colour scheme and the quote on the inside) and finally Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (the flower design on the side)
The inside's kinda janky but I still like it. This was the biggest project I had ever done at the time
