Wonder Woman Skirt Part II

Wonder Woman is now out in theaters and my Wonder Woman skirt is making its debut this weekend as well!  This skirt is a bit longer than the movie version; I've tailored it more to my own body type while still trying to maintain the essence of the original costume since I'm no Gal Gadot.

 

In Part I, I sewed an underskirt which serves as the foundation for the final product.  You will need the completed underskirt before you can move on to Part II, which involves the assembly of the leather gladiator style design.  

General materials needed for Part II include:  Newspaper, scissors, scotch tape, straight pins, small clips, ruler, permanent marker, and measuring tape.

 

You will also need leather that can be cut into large strips for constructing the skirt- the leather should be a medium thickness (flexible yet heavy.)   The original costume has some texture to the skirt so I chose leather with a similar finish.  I found two bags of remnants that worked well for this project- this particular brand includes consistently sized large pieces, unlike other brands I've seen with smaller and more varied scraps.

For the stitching, I used artificial sinew and an awl.  This brand of sinew actually splits easily into half, as shown below, and I used the half-thickness strands for sewing.

Additional materials used include acrylic paint (blue, thalo silver, and black), paintbrushes, charcoal pencil for marking on the leather, sew on Velcro, needles, and thread.

For coating the painted leather surface, I used an acrylic finisher and repellent.

I also recommend that you have some short shorts, etc. that you plan to wear under the skirt available during construction to help you choose the length of the material.  I made the mistake of not doing this and had to go back and make some adjustments later.  I found that these tiny Sport Kilt shorts work well for superheroes as well as women in kilts. 

The first step is to create a basic pattern for your leather pieces using newspaper.  Obviously, the exact size and shape will depend on your measurements, but further down you can see the shapes and sizes of the pieces I assembled.  Don't forget to calculate plenty of room for overlap of the pieces.

You will see a dress form used several times in this blog but I do NOT recommend using one for assembling the skirt.  I bought it for a future project and it just happens to be useful in the photographs.  However, I found that it varies greatly from my lower body measurements and would be a bad choice to use in constructing the skirt.  Instead, I tried on the underskirt in front of the mirror and pinned on my pattern pieces so I could see how they fit on my own body.  I sketched and cut out the newspaper pieces and pinned them onto the underskirt and then made changes accordingly.  It's better to make the pieces too big to start with, as it is easier to cut paper off then to add more on.

The basic gladiator pattern includes:

• Three strips for the front

• Three longer strips for the back (again, actual length will vary based on your measurements, but generally you are going to need more material in the back.)  As you can see below, George strolled over to help me with my design.

•  Three strips each for the right and left sides of the skirt (six total- you will have two identical copies of each piece below)

• Two side strips for each the left and right (four total, note they are opposites) 

• Two strips to go underneath where everything overlaps on both both the front and back (four total.)  I had to change my size and shape for these pieces a few times throughout the process.  I recommend waiting until the rest of the skirt is assembled before creating the pattern for these pieces.

I also highly recommend labeling the pieces on the pattern so you don't mix anything up.  Once I was satisfied with my basic pattern on newspaper, I traced it onto the leather and cut it out.   I used tiny stickers on the back of the leather strips to label them as well.   It would be best if all the material was the same color, or at least fairly dark.  Since I was at the mercy of the sizes and colors in the remnant bags, I ended up having to do the four upper side pieces in a lighter color than the rest of the skirt.  Basically, you want any pieces in which the back side might be exposed when moving to be fairly uniform.

Once your pieces are cut out, the next step is to clip and sew them to the underskirt.  Use the mirror and your own body to ensure a custom fit.  The underskirt is meant to be worn with the button on the right hand side, not the center.

I started with the front three pieces of leather and positioned all three pieces exactly how I wanted them.  Then I clipped only the bottom two pieces to the underskirt and stitched them to the fabric using artificial sinew and a sewing awl.  I used a lockstitch, which I discovered last fall in this Tandy Leather tutorial.  Notice that the stitching is positioned only in areas where the other pieces of leather will overlap.  You don't want the stitching to show in the final piece.

Next, I added the middle piece of leather and stitched all three pieces along very the top of the skirt.  The stitching at the top will later be covered by the Wonder Woman belt, so it will not be visible on the final costume.  

I repeated the process for the three strips on the back of the skirt and on the sides, again positioning the pieces in front of the mirror and clipping them on to ensure the skirt is as symmetrical as possible.  I did not assemble them using the dress form.

At this point, I painted all the pieces stitched on thus far a dark metallic blue, using a combination of blue, the thalo silver I used for the bracelets, and black paint.  It took several coats to get an even look.  You may want to mix large quantities of paint in a resealable container to keep the color consistent for the whole skirt.

Next, I arranged and stitched the two side pieces on the left and right.  Obviously, I stitched the bottom piece first.  Although I stitched all the way to the end of the strip on the back, I left a couple inches free in the front.  You will see why shortly.

 

I stitched the top piece next and left even more unstitched space in the front, as shown below.

Here is the reason for the extra space at the front: My construction design allows for both the left and right side to attach with Velcro on the front, as shown on the final piece below.  This allows the button that fastens the skirt to be hidden and also allows for additional adjustment to the skirt as needed to ensure the best fit possible.  Some days, non-demigoddesses just need a little extra room.

I stitched the soft piece of the Velcro to the back of each side piece using needle and thread as shown below and the rougher side directly onto the underskirt and leather.

Here is the front of the skirt with the side pieces added.  Before proceeding further, I painted the side pieces blue as well. 

Lastly, I stitched the two under pieces in the front and back and painted them blue.  This is where you need to try your short shorts on before you stitch!  I wasn't planning on adding more depth to this skirt, as it is already three dimensional, but it looked flat, especially compared to the accessories I have already created.  I used a lighter blue/more silver shade of paint around the edges of each section to really make it pop and then added the quintessential silver stripes and battle damage as well.

To give the skirt extra protection, I coated it with an acrylic finisher and repellent.

This is the final product!  It is a wrap around skirt with a single button to fasten, as shown.  

Once buttoned, the side Velcros to the front for a seamless appearance. 

On the inside, the hidden pocket from Part I comfortably holds an ID, credit card, or cash.

This is the view from the back.

And a side view.

Here you can see the actual fit of the skirt.  Remember, the stitching at the top will be later hidden with the gold Wonder Woman belt.

 

 

Wonder Woman Skirt Part I

My version of the Wonder Woman skirt is designed to be practical and simple to wear.  The instructions are intended to help you create a custom fitted piece that you feel comfortable wearing while still maintaining the essence of the Amazon outfit.  Mine, for example, is a bit longer and more flattering for my body type than the one used in the movie because, let's face it, I'm no Gal Gadot.  Part I will focus entirely on the underskirt, which gives the final product its functionality and serves as a base for attaching the leather gladiator style design in Part II.

Materials used include fabric (I will further discuss sizing and material a little later), needle, thread, large button, measuring tape, fabric scissors, straight pins, and charcoal pencil for marking the fabric.  Not pictured: sewing machine, small amount of scrap material, and iron/ironing board for preparing the fabric for sewing.  Disclaimer:  This skirt is only my fifth project involving a sewing machine.  You might think you know a different technique or better way to do something-  you are probably right!  I am constantly learning and figuring out ways to improve.

To determine the fabric size needed, I tried on an existing skirt that fits well.  I selected one that does not have a low waist, as Wonder Woman's corset and skirt need to overlap a little bit to avoid a gap.   I measured the skirt at the top and then took a second measurement six inches lower.  Then I added a several inches to each measurement to allow for seams, overlap (the underskirt will button), and some extra space.  So, in my case, the two numbers I will be using for my fabric are 37" (34.5" top measurement plus 2.5" allowance) and 43" (40.5" bottom measurement plus 2.5" allowance.) 

Your fabric will need to be the length of your longer measurement with a width of about one foot.  Hence, my fabric needed to be at least 43" x 12".  The material I used was brown cloth (almost a faux suede) left over from a previous project; I would recommend using something fairly heavy and durable because you will be attaching heavy strips of leather to it later using an awl.  I started by cutting two pieces from my material: a 43" by 7" piece (43" is the longer measurement plus allowance and 7" is enough room for a 6" skirt with room for seams) and a 37" by 1.75" piece  (37" is my shorter measurement plus allowance and 1.75" is enough room for the waist band with room for seams.)  You can adjust accordingly if you want your underskirt to be a little longer or shorter.

First, I folded the bottom edge of the 43"x 7" piece under, as shown below, and sewed a 0.5" seam along the entire edge.  Along the top, I sewed tucks to shorten the top of the skirt to 37", the length of my shorter piece.  I found this tutorial helpful for the tucks. 

I laid the 37"x 1.75" strip face down on top of the back of the skirt, as shown below.  (You should not have the extra space at the very top; that is just for illustrative purposes so you can see how the pieces match up exactly along the length.)

I lined up all the edges, pinned the material, and sewed the pieces together using the sewing machine.

I made the top seam smaller than the 0.5" that I had originally penciled onto the back.  It was closer to a 0.25" seam.  Next, I folded the material up in the direction shown below and flipped the skirt to the front (brown) side.

On the front, I tucked the bottom of the 1.75" strip under and stitched it down, as shown below, to complete the waistband.

I cut two more pieces of fabric, approximately 2" x 6" to attach to the ends of the skirt.

I arranged the pieces as shown and first stitched each piece to the end of the skirt with the brown sides facing each other. 

Then I flipped the piece over and stitched the back.  No fancy tucking under here.

Amazon princesses probably need a place to keep their credit cards, right?  I decided to create a couple of pockets for my skirt, though later I only ended up using one of them on the skirt itself.  For the pockets, I used two 4"x 11" pieces of thin scrap material that I had used for skirt lining on a previous post.  You could use any extra pieces of material, but the less bulky, the better.

I folded the pieces in half and made double stitches on the bottom and both sides, leaving the top of the pockets open.  I turned one side of the open part down and pinned it.

Then I turned the pockets inside out and carefully stitched the pinned down side of the pocket only (you don't want to sew through both halves of material or you will sew the pocket shut.)  Below you can see the finished pockets.

The skirt is designed so that the button falls on the right front of the final piece, similar to how the skirt is positioned on the dress form below.  With this in mind, I only ended up having room to comfortably fit one pocket, which I positioned inside the skirt on the left front, opposite of the button. 

I aligned the longer part of the pocket with the seam and stitched across several times, as shown below.   The pocket is hidden and discreet but large enough for a credit card, ID, or cash.  

Lastly, I used my sewing machine's instruction book and rudimentary button hole sewing skills from the last skirt I made to sew a button hole (and button) to fasten the skirt.  This will actually be the primary means of fastening the final skirt, so I recommend a sturdy, decent sized button.

 

This is the completed underskirt.  It will not show at all on the final Wonder Woman skirt, but is an essential foundation for the gladiator style finish, which I will assemble in Part II.