Commission: Maka Coat from Soul Eater

Firstly, I have no idea what a "soul eater" is, and I think I might prefer it that way. Secondly, I generally avoid that particular niche of interest known as anime and manga. Alas, my sisters are highly enamored of it, and spend most of their days scheming about how they're going to acquire their next fix. Thus, I find myself in the strange position of recreating costumes from animes, as both my sisters want to be anime characters for Halloween (my youngest sister wants to be, I've been informed, "Lucy from Fairy Tail." That means absolutely nothing to me. I was all, "Whatev. Just show me a picture, and I'll make the stupid outfit." *muttermutter*))

Anyway, here's the finished coat for my second youngest sister, meant to be Maka's from Soul Eater. She has a huge red and black scythe that goes with it. I wonder if she's meant to be some kind of Grim Reaper. A fashionable Grim Reaper. *shivers*

It's black wool suiting fully lined with some kind of slubby polyester that used to be a curtain. The buttons were fun to do. They started out their short little lives as ordinary black buttons from Joann's. Now they're fabulous silver buttons with black x's on them. (For anyone who might be making this same costume, get thin scotch tape, cut pieces in half lengthwise, and stick them on the button to form an x. Then spray paint the whole thing in metallic silver, wait for it to dry, remove the tape, and cover in a coat of clear acrylic sealer.) 

For those interested in the lining process, I basically made two coats, then pinned them together, right side to right side, and sewed around the whole thing, leaving a small gap in the lower hem. After I turned the coat right side out, I designed the cuffs (basically a long rectangle of white fabric fused to interfacing), and hand sewed them to the ends of the sleeves, using the cuff to sandwich the raw edges for a nice, clean finish. There are also matching buttons on the cuffs.

The pattern I used for the coat/dress is one I've used for many different projects. I love it because it fits me well, and as such, is quite flattering to anyone with more of an hourglass figure. As you can see from the above picture, the coat scoops in to hug the small of the back instead of proceeding downward in a straight, boring line. It's really great if you can find a basic pattern that works for your body type, because you can use it over and over for all sorts of custom work and you're already familiar with the pattern and its assembly.

Anyway, expect more rapid updates in the next few days. I have on the docket, to finish before Halloween:

1) Lucy from Fairy Tail

2) Daenerys's Wedding Gown from Game of Thrones

3) Simple, last minute Thor costume for my younger brother (he wants to wear it to his job at Wal-Mart, since all his fellow employees evidently refer to him as the aforementioned Norse god because of his long blond hair and beard)