I had procrastinated on making an undershirt for my Mao mao outfit. Finally got around to knocking this out in an afternoon. I'd say this took me about four hours with some grocery shopping in between.
In the anime, she does not have a long sleeve shirt underneath her aoqun so my goal was to make something long enough to cover my armpits. I am a sweaty person. I went back to my old pattern from my WKX cosplay, and cut it much shorter.
This is scrap fabric which I had left over from making my WKX outfit and I was getting down to some odd shapes. I had to cut it out as two back panels and front panels.
To keep it crisp, I pressed all the seams and the top stitched it down for more security. For the sleeves, I just made them long enough cover my shoulder and armpits. The neck placket was reinforced with fuseable interfacing.
I'm not going to bother with adding in ties since it is not going to be seen and also tucked into the high waisted circle skirt.
This isn't the best shot but I'll need to fuss around with it a bit more. I also wonder if since I'm using cotton which is sort of stiff, it keeps getting stuck in a weird angle. I still have no idea how all those cdramas have perfect layers but it will do the job of keeping my skin from touching the fabric which is the point.
I may got back and add one more tie on the side to keep it a bit neater. But she's ready to go with 2 weeks to spare before my local con.
So yeah, SQQ sewing project - um got relegated to the back burner last year for reasons. And will likely never happen unless I really feel like challenging myself more . . .
But I already have the fabric on hand and I was feeling like I'd be stuck not using it until I saw her.
That's right! I have a con in just over a month and I'm gonna do Mao Mao from the Apothecary Diaries. I love me a pragmatic plant nerd.
I'll use my green fabric I already bought for the SQQ project, I found burgundy cotton/linen mix at my local fabric store getting the last of the bolt, and figure out the few accent pieces.
I'll try to post my process as I draft the pattern pieces and then sew it together! This will be much easier than my previous one since she wears what appears to be a simple wrap circle skirt.
Even though the series is set in a pseudo-Ming dynasty setting (it has to be after 1492 since chocolate is a luxury good), she is not wearing a Ming style outfit completely.
We can break down her outfit to:
Aoqun - green top layer which falls around her hips. Narrow sleeves and a simple style. The neck placket has a dark green strip that goes to the end while a spring green strip on top for part of it.
The white underlayer is a mystery - we can see the collar but nothing else. The design is pretty simple and we never see a white sleeve underneath, the light green are cuffs on the sleeve of the aoqun.
Circle/wrap skirt - burgundy skirt that is either a circle or wrap skirt. Not the historically accurate mamian skirt (with all the pleats). This could be due to the fact that animating it might be more annoying or to keep the Ming time period vague.
She also does not wear anything under the skirt in the anime or nothing that doesn't move as a part of the skirt, so I'm gonna skip trying to put something under the skirt.
Things to do:
1.) Draft aoqun pattern. I will use one of my old patterns from WKX but cut off the long skirt part.
2.) Draft skirt pattern. I am going to be a bit lazy on this one and either will do a full circle skirt or pull out a regular skirt pattern (4 panel) and use that.
3.) Determine placket pattern. Just rectangles, but what is the right size of rectangles on rectangles?
4.) Figure out white underlayer? Make a full top like my last one with short sleeves to hide under the aoqun?
Next up, I need to pattern her aoqun top. I always like to do a quick sketch to get an idea of all the pieces that I'll need. The main body of the garment only consists of two pieces that criss-cross in the front to tie on the sides and a center seam in the back.
There is the neck placket that makes the contrasting collar, sleeves with slight puff between the elbows and wrist and then the yellow-green cuffs.
I've already patterned something similar to this - so I'm taking my previous 3rd layer which will be more loose fitting and making it shorter and giving it a touch more flare out than close fitting to be snug with the waist.
I added 7 inches to the main pattern piece and did a mock up. Here is the result.
It is pretty close but I decided to take a bit of the flare out of the sides and added another inch to it.
Here is the modified pattern piece.
I then laid out the pattern pieces, marked them, cut the fabric out and then zigzag stitched all around the edges to prevent fraying. This time I used light green and light blue thread so it won't show up when I press the fabric this time.
I went ahead and sewed the sleeve onto the shoulder and then pressed it open here. I am much happier with the thread color for the zigzag stitching as well.
After sewing both sleeves onto the half of the bodice the next step is to sew the side seams. Before that, this is what one of the sides looks like with the sleeve on before I pinned it along the sleeve and side seams.
After sewing both sleeves onto the half of the bodice the next step is to sew the side seams. You start at the sleeve cuff and work your way along the bottom of the sleeve, to the armpit and then back down around the side. To get around the armpit, increase your stitch length to handle the curve.
I was able to get the left side sewn as shown here. I pinned the right so tomorrow I can sew up that side as well. I then pressed the sleeve and armpit area with my iron. I also used the corner-pokey thing. I totally forget that it is called but it is the point on what looks like a knife that you use to press open a seam.
I am going to have to make a trip to the fabric store soon to find material for the cuffs and the two-toned neck placket. Whoo. But really, the fabric store is 1 minute from work. I'll keep you posted on the progress but really trying to avoid con crunching myself here.
After getting the main panels of the garment together, I went to my local fabric store to get some different pieces for the collar and cuffs. I bought 1/3 of a yard of each, even if I didn't need that much but asking the staff to cut anything smaller is silly. Plus, I never quite know what the size of the bolt will be selvage to selvage.
I washed all the fabric and ironed it out. I started with the cuffs, the circumference of the cuffs was 12" so I made a rectangle that was 13" long, folded and pressed the edges, sewed it down to remove all the raw edges. Right sides to right sides, I sewed the length of the cuff to the actual sleeve cuff, pressed it down and then tucked the rough edges after the seam into the sleeve. I removed the flat part of my machine to have the free arm and then top stitched all the way around to attach the inside of the cuff to the inside of the sleeve.
For the collar/placket I started with the long dark green strip. It was to be 52" long so added extra on each end, pressed down all the edges, sewed them down securely and then did the exact same thing as with the cuffs. Do right side to right side on the garment for the outside seam, fold over add in interfacing if you want, press and then sew down underneath. For the lighter strip, I made a tube sewn right sides together, used a safety pin to pull it out, pressed with my iron and then sewed it on top. I debated sewing both before attaching them but I wanted the ratio to look decent.
If you want to see what I did, look back at my WKX posts where I do the collars for each layer.
This time, I put a lot of effort into figuring out where exactly to put the ties, I'd estimated I futzed around with the ties for about 2 hours, sewing them in, using the seam ripper, putting the ties back in etc.
Here are a few more pictures of what the aoqun looks like in more natural light.
Here is it laid out.
All that I need to do is hem the skirt and I will pretty much be done. I'm still debating it I want to make a tank top for the white undershirt. We know that Maomao doesn't have another long sleeve shirt under her aoqun and I also need to have some white fabric for her arm.
Hello! I am looking to cosplay wei wuxian and/or xie lian(from the donghua) can you please describe the layers of their clothes, I have zero experience in sewing clothes or pattern making and I have no idea where to even begin. Thank you very much!
Hello there,
Sorry for the slow reply, I've been distracted by real life and my continued PT for my wrist. But I can type much more normally at least now.
As far as Wei Wuxian, I haven't really looked at his outfits seeing that he's got so many different versions in the live action CQL/The Untamed and in the MDZS donghua and manhua as well. I'm not a huge fan of MDZS, so, I can admit I haven't paid much attention to it. I think like most MXTX characters, he relies on a heavy black/red color palette and is pretty open to interpretation. I think focusing on the donghua would be your best bet since when you have to animate someone you would simplify their outfit, but the drama might have more realistic clothing to draw from since and actor wore it.
Xie Lian is considerably easier since he wears many layers of white.
I think the main thing to realize with all these outfits is that you have a foundation layer and then multiple layers over top with great variations.
The foundation layer (zhong yi) is usually the skin layer in white (cotton/linen) that it is breathable and washable. It seems for a more dramatic effect a character like WWX will have this as black. This is a top and pants combo, but I was lazy and skipped out on pants for my Wen Kexing b/c it was very warm already.
I don't use Taobao sites (no Chinese skillz here) but it might be worth your while to look at some of the hanfu retailers to see how they construct their tidy little package outfits.
Like Hanfu Story which has a very good website and plenty of english language descriptions.
Even though the colors aren't plain white, this one has a very close match to what XL wears. It has the skirt with the slight pleating like XL and simple sleeves and cut.
It is interesting to note that many of these outfits only sell the top layers, not that base layer.
When it comes to determining the exact layers just look at the neckline, that pretty much lets you know what else is on top of that base layer.
If this is your first time sewing and drafting a pattern, I would enlist the help of a friend who may have more sewing experience. Also, since many of these outfits don't reveal the full aspect of all of their layers, you have to guess what you think is underneath - that is what I did after lots of screen shots from as many angles as possible - or hoping for a zhong yi late night confession scene (as in Word of Honor) which allowed me to nail the sleeve shape for all the layers.
I'll do and example with XL since his outfit is much easier.
As we can see here, he's only got two layers.
The inner layer is more form fitting in the torso, with wide-ish sleeves. The skirt portion appears to be pleated, which is why we get a ripple effect in the front.
It appears the outer layer is a simple straight hem robe with wider sleeves that he wears very loosely since it flares back. You can't tell from this picture but the left side should also have a slit that runs along the left side of his body to allow for easy movement - it isn't a full rap around robe structure.
He has a narrow belt that is tied off with the cyan colored cord and his bandages and basic hat. I haven't watched the donghua for awhile so I can't remember if he also has pants on underneath the pleated skirt. I'd go back and refer to the scene where San Lang notices the shackle on his ankle to see what he's wearing then.
When it comes to picking a layer to draft first for the pattern, it really doesn't matter. You will need to make a mock up and adjust. If you want it to be the inner layer it will need to be the same length but less wide than the outer layer. I just made a pattern and tested it out - it was terrible but hey, I knew where to go from after that.
Good luck and hope this helps!
Can you please post on how to make a girl child high-waist hanfu
Hello there,
As usual, I'm super slow on replies b/c I just can't not do too many things at once and work is super busy at the moment.
Unfortunately, the purpose of this blog was more of a way for me to share my personal experience with sewing hanfu style/cdrama based cosplay for those looking for English language resources that are 'close enough for government work'. I do not draft patterns for other people and I definitely do not know much about patterning for children's clothing (other than that I would downsize things from the Hanfu Patterning Book). You'd likely be better off looking for pattern drafting guides specifically for girls clothing (even if it is for western style dress) and then taking their key measurements and applying them to hanfu patterns.
There are likely lots of resources that are online (but not in English) which might be worth it to get the measurements in metric and then compare them back to the adult drafting guides.
Sorry I can't help you out more - good luck!
If you make mockups, what material do you normally use for them?
Hello,
Thanks for the question!
When it comes to mock ups I use two things.
1 - cheap cotton muslin. If I need a lot of fabric, say the 3-4 yards for hanfu sleeves and the skirt section. Color doesn't matter just cheap. When I did my original ones for fit, I kept the top and bottom separate.
2. - leftover from my stash - these were for less yardage, like the bust which is pretty form fitting. Most of my stash is 100% cotton. Several years ago I cosplayed Ogata from GK and he's got a military issue cloak for sniping. In that case I bought sheets from the college/uni section of my local Target. They were a more flowy and drapey material which gives a different feel and texture. Plus, you get 2 sheets in each pack which gives you 2 huge pieces of fabric. If you don't want to buy new cheap dorm room sheets, thrift them.
I know my use of cotton for mock ups won't translate in the silk blends I used for my WKX project, but it really helped with the armscye design, neck line and sleeve shape.
I eventually used some of the mock up cotton to line some parts that didn't need interfacing but a bit more structure. Once you figure out your most form fitting layer (in this case the zhong yi) you won't need to do another mock up for the layers on top.
Good luck and I hope this helps!
Fabric swatches have been ordered (vibrates with excitement). Shen Qingqiu, here I come.
Oh yes, I have gone ahead and ordered some fabric swatches to start planning for my Shen Qingqiu outfit. I still need to make a final decision on which of his outfits to make. After a lot of staring and daydreaming and procrastinating at work, I have narrowed it down to two.
1.) Vietnamese cover artwork by Higga.
and to my surprise the most recent version;
2.) English language edition by Xiao Tong Kong
Both of these really speak to my vibe of how ‘elegant and refined’ he is. I mean it is literally the name of his sword and that is how I visualized him in the novel without context.
For the fabric, I went ahead and decided to order some swatches so I can look at the colors in person and also feel them to see how they’d behave. There is a wide range of silk and silk blends to choose from. I also ordered some ivory silk for the beizi style jacket from the Vietnamese edition.
I’m also curious about the ‘dewkist’ color and that might be another great coat color as well.
There are pros and cons to both of these designs.
Vietnamese cover -
Ivory beizi (jacket/coat) with gold/yellow trim. Estimating about 3.5-4 yards of fabric.
Teal zhiju (straight hem robe) with bamboo accents. Estimating 3.5 yards of fabric.
Brown belt - Likely 1 yard of fabric.
White under layer (likely zhong yi) with tight sleeves that come past the wrist and a high collar. I’m estimating 2 yards of fabric if top only. Full length with skirt - 3 yards.
The collar also still has the left-right overlap of the neck placket that doesn’t make sense in my mind. How does it work? How does it keep that shape? Is it anachronistic and more of a Ming style standing collar? This looks like the similar collars we see in the 2Ha comic and artwork for that series as well and in the TGCF donghua for Mu Qing and Feng Xin in their godlet forms. I need to determine if this is a style choice in all of these series or if there is a reason for them.
I’m estimating 2 yards of fabric if top only. Full length with skirt - 3 yards.
Pants? - Maybe?
English cover -
Teal/spring green beizi. Darker green trim. Likely 3.5-4 yards. Trim 1 yard?
Ivory belt, flower belt buckle (?) need to figure out term for this. Long teal belt strands for tightening. 1 yard ivory, 1 yard teal.
Ivory/white zhiju. 3.5 yards? maybe 3?
Zhong yi set (top and pants) - or just pants and reuse current top. White/ivory fabric. Cotton or linen. Pant estimate ~ 1.25 yards.
Quick summary -
Both of these have parts that are straightforward while other aspects will require more research and messing around with things to figure out how to make them. And the English cover clearly will require more fabric for sure. Yet it is very very elegant and flowy.
I will sit down and sketch things out to try to decide which one to settle on making. Getting the swatches might make things easier as I can feel how all the fabrics behave and it may push me in one direction or another.
