Eternal Sailor Senshi "sleeves"

Aimee-chan · Post by **Aimee-chan** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 7:42 pm

I am going o cosplay as Eternal Sailor mercury,but i want the "sleeves" to be truelly round looking,which means i have to stuff them. Is there any advice on that approach?

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 12:02 am

I have found the best way to stuff is to use about inch-wide pvc pipe that I found around the house. I would suggest doing each sleeve bit separately, and leaving a seam on both edges except on the very edge, and only have one seam on that part. I think she has three sleeve bits? That would mean you'd have two pieces that had about 1/4 " extra after the part you'd stuff on them to seam together and onto the main part of the costume, and they would be made of two pieces sewn together. The other piece would be one piece made the same size of the other two (which means your fabric is twice as big without the 1/2 " for one side of the seam). Then I'd stuff them, seam them together so the sleeve is all in one piece, at this point it will be three flaps together with one seam at the top and they will all be stuffed. Then I would sew the seam down the length of it to make it the actual sleeve and sew it onto the main body of the costume.

mrs.tomoe · Post by **mrs.tomoe** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 4:13 am

Isn't PVC pipe really really hard and straight? I don't see how it would bend to conform to a person's shoulder without using special tools.

In the upholstery section of our fabric store, there is stuff called cording which looks like rope and comes in sizes ranging from 1/4 inch to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. It's designed especially for stuffing things that need to retain a tubular shape yet remain soft and flexible so I think it'd work well for those sleeves. Plus you can sew through it so you can taper the ends into the shirt. You'll probably want to add a second layer of fabric as a lining to smooth out the light texture of the cording if it's too apparent (depends on the thickness of your fabric). Just fold your fabric, right side out, over the cording leaving a 1 or 1 1/2 inch seam allowance (like a taco); add more allowance for the second tier of the sleeve so that you'll have plenty to attach to your shirt properly. Always easier to trim off the extra than to struggle with too little! ^^; Try to keep the fabric pulled a bit tightly to reduce wrinkles. Baste them together, and sew them to the armholes. Trim any excess. That should do! ^_^

Aimee-chan · Post by **Aimee-chan** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 6:29 am

Thank you for all the advice, I appreciate it!^^

Aimee-chan · Post by **Aimee-chan** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:42 am

only thing is, I'm making an ETERNAL sailor senshi,not th classic,or super

Tia · Post by **Tia** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:44 am

You don't put the actual pipe in there. You push the stuffing down into the tube with it. It's the only way I was able to stuff my cat tail. Incidentally, if you really want to make it stand up, I'd try bending a piece of a wire hanger into a circle and then, after the sleeve is stuffed, pushing it through. I'd also use wire hanger on the main part of the sleeve, to get it to stand up, but that would be considerable more complicated. I have never seen anybody get the eternal sleeves to stand up right. The way I'd probably do it is make another inner sleeve attached to the body of the leotard. This would be tight and conform to your arm (but still be able for you to comfortably take it on and off). Make sure they both have AT LEAST a 1/2-1 " excess at the bottom for seaming, along with whatever width you normally use for seams at the top (top is in reference to what is higher when you are wearing it).. I'd sew them both onto the leotard on the same seam, then you're going to need a friend's help for the next part. Put on the costume you've got so far, and hold your arm straight up. Have one or two of your friends put the stuffing so that it is flush to your arm and yet fills the cavity of the sleeve. Then use the big pins with the plastic things at the top and have them pin it in place. You can hold the pins to make it go faster. Then stitch the bottom of it together with a 1/2 " blind seam so it will stay together and attach the bottom sleeve part like this:

Take the material you'd use for one tube, just having one seam at the top of it, sew it onto the main material of the sleeve, leaving about a 1/2 " excess unsewn on each side of the tube for seaming, on top of the actual length you want it to be. So it will look kind of like a tube that is not connected completely stitched onto the sleeve. Then stuff it using the method I said before, and seam it together on the inside, either so that you fold the excess into the sleeve so it's not seen or you trim it after you seam. If you're just trimming, I'd suggest doing two stitch lines. One in a normal size stitch on the actual line. Then go inside the excess margin and put your stitch length up to the largest it will go (the dial with the criss-cross looking stitches on top of it in most sewing machines) sew another seam right next to the other one, and trim along that. This will help to prevent fraying. Hope this helps. ^_^

mrs.tomoe · Post by **mrs.tomoe** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:21 am

Oh, to push the stuffing in! haha, dur me :p

Eternal Mercury...I should have looked her up specifically instead of looking at a wall scroll. -_-"
The round sleeves will be tricky. First, you have to make sure the outer fabric is cut to produce a nice ball shape. Then the double sleeve method that Tia suggests would be best for stuffing.
Otherwise, maybe a sponge ball from the toy section would work. Carve out a section for your shoulder to fit into, then the ball can fill out the sleeve. Theoretically, anyway.