When it comes to movies, especially franchise movies, I almost always find myself rooting for the good guys ... but envying the style of the bad guys. Why do villains have such fabulous fashion sense?
Because I can't seem to decide which side I align with completely, I decided to make a Marvel universe skirt that enables me to switch my loyalties on a whim. It's my S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra Double Agent skirt! Here's how I made it:
Materials:
- Quilting cotton fat quarters in red, black and gray (prewash them!)
- Skirt pattern (I used an old favorite; almost any pattern you like will do.)
- Enough fabric for the skirt, plus a little extra (You'll be doubling the front.) I used a ponte de roma knit, but anything that can take iron heat will work.
- Small piece of black cord elastic
- Four buttons
First, I printed out the S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra logos. I made them big enough to fill the width of a sheet of standard paper, but you could of course go bigger or smaller, depending on your taste.
Once I had my designs printed, I traced them onto HeatnBond iron-on adhesive, drawing on the paper side.
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For the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, I switched the direction of the bird's beak so it would be facing the right way in the finished project.
Once all my tracing was complete, I fused blank pieces of HeatnBond to pieces of fabric a little larger than the circles of my designs.
I used my original printouts to trace circles onto the paper backs of each of my base pieces. For my S.H.I.E.L.D. design, this was a gray piece. For my Hydra design, the base circle was red. After I traced my circles onto my base fabrics, I cut them out BUT DID NOT PEEL OFF THE BACKING PAPER. (That's vital to remember.)
Then I fused my design pieces for the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo onto the back of a piece of black fabric, and carefully cut along the lines I made in my tracing.
With all my pieces cut, I carefully arranged the pieces onto the gray base circle.
Once I had my pieces lined up, I ironed them into place. To make sure I didn't accidentally shift my design pieces around, I first gently pressed them from above only -- no moving the iron around once it had touched the fabric. This lightly fused the design in place, and then I more thoroughly ironed everything.
For the Hydra logo, I cut a black circle slightly smaller than the red base circle out of fused fabric, and ironed it to the center of the base piece.
Next, I fused my traced Hydra logo onto a piece of red fabric, and carefully cut it out. Those bumpy tentacles take some patience!
I arranged and ironed on the skull and tentacles design the exact same way I handled my S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, carefully and gently apply heat to set the design before ironing for a thorough fuse. Then my two logo circles were ready!
OK, I'm not going into deep detail on the making of the skirt. Basically, I made a skirt that I've made a million times, but I didn't install a zipper in the side like normal, and I made two front pieces instead of one. I stitched a front piece to each side of the back, and finished all the edges. (I basically just hemmed all around, including a little bit of elastic along the top waistband edge.) Almost any skirt pattern you like will work for this. Mine has a yoke and a slight flare, but a pencil skirt would be super fab, too!
To make the closures for my skirt, I stitched a loop of elastic on each end of the waist, and then I stitched two buttons on each side seam, one on the outside and one on the inside. That way, I can close the skirt with either front showing.
I peeled the backing off of the base of each of my large insignias, and ironed one to the front edge of each side.
To secure the logo appliques, I zigzagged around each element with matching thread, carefully following the designs. (The Hydra logo was once again a bit more challenging than the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.)
As a little tip: I often find that I have to leave a project to run an errand, or work on a different project for a little while. Because my machine automatically resets to its default stitch whenever I shut it off and turn it on again, I take a picture of the settings the way I want them for any applique I'm doing. When I return to the project, I have a reference for my settings, so everything will stay uniform.
After working my way through all the applique stitching, everything was done! Now I can defend the world as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent ...
... or hail Hydra. It just depends on my mood.
Of course, I see some other opportunities for this design on future skirts. Rebel Alliance versus Empire, or Resistance versus First Order are probably not far behind this one!
In the mean time, keep having a fabulous Nerdvember!