I'm not sure how, I'm not sure whyyy, but for my entire weekend I didn't get any migraines and had a surprising amount of energy. I also had an ability to focus and a genuine passion. Maybe the passion is what gave me the energy.

Anyway, I haven't followed my own advice about getting to projects that might bring me closer to a career. No, instead, I spent three days working on my AIW Hatter cosplay. 'Cause I just apparently really want this to be done by Halloween. Will it be, is another question because so far I've only ordered the fabric for the vest. Spoonflower otherwise doesn't have what I need. 

The work I've been doing, for months, is too much to go over right now, so I'll just talk about this weekend's project: the vest.

Enter your cut contents here.
 

So Hatter has this vest, right? He doesn't take off his jacket super often, or when he does, it's obscured by an apron or whatever else, but luckily we have this adorable episode where Hare drags him to the doctor like the good husband that he is. It's actually a really neat vest, stylized and very short because his pants are high-rise and supposed to make his legs look a mile long (which they do). I've always just had a "shorthand" for drawing the pattern, throughout the years, but thanks to the show having some close-up shots, and being available on Disney+, I was able to screencap it and draw what I saw in detail. 

 

I came up with this. And then I had it test printed on a square of satin. It was pumpkin orange, unfortunately, so I submitted a new, less saturated file and ordered a yard of it, which should arrive in two weeks. In the mean time, the rest of the vest could be created, so I have this so far:

 

I'm in the unfortunate position of being still a beginner, without smaller needles for her machine, and also possibly having one that can't lower its dog feed (little teeth that push fabric beneath the foot)... so working with silk was a challenge. I think the lining turned out okay, all things considered. And I LOVE the back fabric: it's silk with a sort of cloudy texture, which was my own creative choice. Anyway, Hatter has an extremely low adjustment tie in the back, like just about the bottom of the garment... I figure because the point of it is to tighten the vest around the small of one's back, and... that's where the vest ends. So it's that low on purpose, is all I'm saying. lol

Anyway, I won't be able to do more with it until the custom fabric arrives. Then I can pair it with the black stabilizing fabric on top, fuse with interfacing, put in welt pockets (which will hold his chains that he has dangling from them), attach the lining, and close all the hems! Yay!

It'll be the first piece of closing that I made from scratch for a living person. 

One may ask... why didn't I start learning to make easier stuff, like, say, a nice shirt or dress? 

...They weren't what I needed!

Migraines started back up today, and I called out from work, but I still feel very productive. And I can't wait to surprise the shit out of John someday, with an entire replica of his costume. To my knowledge, no one has ever cosplayed this Hatter... for real, anyway. There was a person on tumblr, years ago, who closet-cosplayed him and grew their hair out to look like his, but I don't really count that.