Jacket Update

The dupioni silk handles magnificently! Definitely much easier to sew compared to the stretchy fabric. The jacket has come along rather well.

An additional seam was tailored down the back to account for Dr. Zaius' athletic figure. It adds a tailored touch to the jacket, almost makes it look like something from the Matrix. Dr. Zaius' athletic figure hidden under a jacket too large made the entire look of the outfit a bit dowdy. This additional seam added a structure to the jacket and saved me from taking apart the jacket and starting over.

Dr. Zaius is lying on top of the orange fabric that I finally found made out of poly-cotton. I think it is the perfect shade of orange and is more appropriate as "film-accurate." Although the sheen of the dupioni silk is not particularly "accurate" for what I am trying to accomplish, it does add a lot of fun and makes him look like he is ready to party.

Didn't know you were hiding THAT under there, Dr. Zaius!!

Ooo la la. I didn't know you had buns of steel!

Dupioni vs. Stretch Fabric

Dupioni silk wins!

Not only is it more glam, but I know the jacket should hang well once I start on it. Also, the color is nicer although a little on the disco side. It is also much easier to work with than the stretchy fabric!! What a relief. It was just tough and scary to take the first step and cut out the pattern because it was $19/yard!! Yeah, well...only the best for the best!

I found the perfect colored orange in a poly-cotton today and bought some of that. So, in case Dr. Zaius' outfit is too "evening couture" I can make another outfit for the daytime!

Dr. Zaius' poly-stretch fabric jacket
is just misbehaving! I have just decided that I will make a false front for the jacket instead of a separate shirt and a jacket because I want the jacket to hang open as in the apes films.

Stretchy Fabric Jacket Suit

This stretchy fabric is SO hard to sew and though you would think it would hang well because it's got great drape, it misbehaves after sewing up seams on an item as small as this. I don't like that it's a bit too peachy in color. Maybe it would work on a larger outfit, but it's already got two strikes against it. So...buh-bye peachy stretchy suit.

It was nice knowing you. At least I had a little bit of practice with some kind of fabric I never tried before, so it was not all for naught!

Fabric hunting

Found some beautiful dupioni silk for Dr. Zaius' outfit. It cost $19/yard and I got half a yard. I was in a mad rush when I got to Britex Fabrics because I wanted to make a lunch date, so it felt like I had Tim Gunn saying, OK people you only have 45 minutes to get your stuff. So make it work!

While there I was able to find the perfect textured brown fabric for the chimp inner sleeves, so I will be adding that to Zira's and Cornelius' jackets soon.

Not really totally satisfied with the color of the dupioni silk I got, I made one final mad dash to the local fabric store on my way home and found the perfect orange in the swimsuit lining section. Who knew? Bought myself some ball nosed needles for the sewing machine so I could execute my Dr. Zaius outfit perfectly. Also found a small checked fabric that I could make a suit for Cornelius in Escape, and bought myself some ape green fleece that I will now turn into a sweater for me (faster than knitting, you know). Not really sure if I will add brown fleece for the parts where the leather is on a male chimp outfit. I decided that I will more than likely wear the male chimp outfit top more frequently than the female chimp outfit top should I sew one for myself because it would look better with pants. I'll see. If this fleece project is successful and it doesn't look too home-made, I will more than likely sew a female one for myself as well.

Also bought myself a nice pair of knee-high black leather boots with one buckle up on top for embellishment. They fit perfectly. I wore it on my way home to lighten up my load since I took public transportation to and from the City. It almost looks like a soldier ape's boot, minus the extra buckles down the length of the boot shaft, and minus the toe dents...I will now have to look for a short skirt so I can show off my military-inspired boots.

And, on a final note, some of the people that work there at Britex Fabrics are remarkably friendly and nice. One lady who I think needs to find a career instead of the job she holds now as a customer service person there practically yelled at me. She was not happy I was unable to find the perfect shade of color. She said I should look at the quality of the fabric and not just the color. Her interpretation of terra cotta were shades of brown and was different from my interpretation of terra cotta. My thoughts were, N0 lady, I need the perfect color for my outfit--whether it's silk or cotton or poly cotton or rayon. I don't give a rats' behind about the quality. I NEED THE PERFECT SHADE--get it, sister? But that was my inside voice. I found another helper while this rude excuse for a customer service representative chatted up another customer about the $100/yard boiled wool. Whatever.

Practice molds.

Some practice molds. Did not work out so well. All dusted with baby powder they look eerily like some weird headstones! One of them got too close to the heating element!

Glyphs fixed.

The glyphs are fixed! I had to manually roll out each individual glyph. Much happier with the way they look now but it took awhile to make. Kind of like decorating a cake with piped icing, except that I had to roll it like fondant.

Closeup of glyphs

The glyphs are supposed to mirror each other. Can't believe that the two bottom-most glyphs are the exact same thing. Doesn't the right one look way better than the left one? I'm sure that it won't matter once they are painted.

Tomorrow I am going to Britex Fabrics in San Francisco http://www.britexfabrics.com/. I hope to find the exact shade of orange for Dr. Zaius' outfit. Can't wait...haven't been there for more than 20 years! Has it been that long? OK...I lied. I haven't been there since 1989...which is almost 20 years.

It's got 4 floors of fabrics in the middle of San Francisco! I hope the workers there aren't as snobby as I remember them to be. Besides, I have aged since the last visit, so I won't look like some teenage ruffian. Although that wouldn't be so bad either....

The Good Dr. Zaius

Dr. Zaius is sitting on top of the fabric that I got at JoAnn's. I think it's a little too dark for his outfit. The nubby fabric, although a good orange is not the right texture and still a couple of shades too dark for my needs. I took a sample swatch so that I can use it for comparison when I go fabric hunting.

Dr. Zaius' mego costume is not very film accurate. Can't stand that he wears knickers--he's the Minister of Science for God's sake!!

Currently working on his glyphs, and I think they are coming along nicely. I baked them in the toaster oven instead of firing up the oven for these little things. Made a couple of major errors and burned a lot of crumbs when I first started the toasting process. Not sure if I'm really happy with both. The right side of his glyph looks better than the left. I will probably re-do this weekend.


I have also been reviewing http://www.apemania.com/ for a reference. I just noticed that the orangutan outfits and chimp male outfits have this weird seam that goes on both sides of the leg that is unusually placed. Not where usual pant seams are found.

And a special thank you to Billy for helping me figure out what those seams are. Check out his amazing collection, and you would wish you were there too: http://www.billysbasement.com/

Cornelius

Some portraits of Cornelius. His shoes were not ready yet to be photographed, but the outfit was.