Projects

Chihiro's Cut Out Sleeve Technique

Created By:

Janelle Marie

Skill Level: Intermediate

In December 2022, I competed in the Holiday Matsuri Winter Cosplay Championship with a Chihiro cosplay based on Hannah Alexander’s artwork. One of the biggest challenges in this design is her sleeves! They are a wide, off-the-shoulder kimono style with 5 or 6 cutouts per sleeve. Not only that, but they also have to support a heavily beaded edge and beading along the cutouts. I'll show you below how I achieved their structure!

Instructions

In December 2022, I competed in the Holiday Matsuri Winter Cosplay Championship with a Chihiro cosplay based on Hannah Alexander’s artwork. One of the biggest challenges in this design is her sleeves! They are a wide, off-the-shoulder kimono style with 5 or 6 cut outs per sleeve. Not only that, but they also have to support a heavily beaded edge and beading along the cutouts. Ill show you below how I achieved their structure!

 

 

I began by drafting the pattern in muslin and deciding where I wanted the cut outs to be based on the original design. I drew the design with a sharpie and then unpicked the seam so I could lay each sleeve flat.

 

 

The next step was tracing the design onto paper patterns and cleaning up the lines. I did this by laying each sleeve onto my lightbox and placing a paper sleeve pattern on top. Once the design was finalized, I was able to move onto the real materials. My external layer was satin flat lined and basted with cotton muslin to give the fabric more body.

 

 

After transferring the cutout designs to the back of the sleeve, I flipped them right sides out and created individual “facings” for each hole. This was after a first failed attempt at simply cutting out the shape with a little seam allowance and trying to hand stitch the raw edges back. I created the facings by pinning a piece of lightweight green canvas on top of the right side of the sleeve and tracing the shapes onto the canvas using the lightbox.

 

The next steps of the cutouts were machine sewing (with very small stitches) along that traced line, cutting the interior of the shape out leaving ¼” seam allowance and snipping the curves. I then pushed the excess fabric through the opening, pressed the edges flat and glued the facing flat with fabri-tac.

 

 

To create support for the cut outs, I used skin toned mesh as another flat-lined layer. I placed this on the back of the sleeves, covering the entire backsides and then attached the entire panel to my tambour frame to complete the beading and stitching. I started with the surrounding dashed-line sashiko (dashed lines) stitching to hold the mesh in place before beading.

 

The final step of the embellishing of the cutouts was the beading. I added black bugle and seed beads around all the edges of each cutout. This not only looked beautiful, but had the added benefit of joining the mesh and satin more securely together as I made sure to catch both with my needle.

 

 

From here, the body of the sleeve is ready to be cut out. Since I beaded the sleeve’s hems so heavily, I added sewable boning into the hem. This made sure the sleeve’s opening would stay open and round like the illustration. The hems were sewn into rings with the boning inside and added to the bodies of the sleeves.

 

 

That's it! The sleeves were then able to be attached to the bodice as normal and the lining was hand stitched in after assembly to accommodate the cut outs!

 

 

I hope you found this helpful and it has given you some good tips and tricks to approach your next project with! My biggest lesson from this project was the usefulness of mixing different types of textiles to achieve structure. I also really enjoyed learning how to use the tambour frame! Also, I was awarded the Runner Up in the competition! A huge honor amongst so many talented and skilled creators.

 

 

Everyone is Talking about Chihiro's Cut Out Sleeve Technique
Reviews


Tako
Beautiful
Wednesday, November 23, 2016

cpindzola
Around the Table Dresden Placemats
Saturday, December 17, 2016

I like the concept, but the directions are "sloppy." Nowhere in the supply list does it mention the felt or the batting (how much?). Also, I would never use a high loft batting in a placemat, or a table runner, as I think that it would be too unstable for a glass. The next time I make these, I will cut out the batting (I use flannel) and spray baste it to the wrong side of the Dresden plate before I put the Dresden plate on the felt to cut out. I have not yet washed the finished placemat, and am hoping that the single layer of felt does not curl up, or become distorted after washing/drying.
Txmaid
Fun Great Gift!
Tuesday, February 21, 2017

MargieARK
Teatime Quilted Tablecloth
Friday, February 24, 2017

I made this today but your cutting directions need to be changed. You only need 4 of color 1 and color 3 4.5 squares for the triangles. Also the inner border, you only need 2 cuts as WOF is long enough to cut each in half to fit the sides.
MickelSews
Great Machine
Wednesday, August 30, 2017

I've had this machine for only a week now. I bought it used from a lady who makes her own clothes, but she no longer needed the machine. During the purchase, she noted that she is almost sad that it's better to give it away because of how well the machine performed. (I also bought it along side a computerized machine of another brand.} She demoed the machine for us, showing it worked and gave us everything (including the box it came in!) She took amazing care of this machine. I have used it a few times now, and the directions for threading were easy to follow (albeit my hands are quite large so the lower looper was a pain, but that is no fault to the machine or brand.) And I recommend this machine to anyone who wants to learn to serge and wants a machine that can grow with them. I will happily use this machine time and time again.
rvstan
S9 Review
Sunday, February 25, 2018

I love, love, love my S9! It's sews and embroiders beautifully and it's simplicity of use amazes me. I would recommend this machine for both a beginner and an experienced seamstress. If I would ask anything of Janome it would be to upgrade the programming to run a larger hoop size. I understand that it can't get much wider but there is most definitely room for it to go longer. That is the only limitation of this machine.
pjmnana
PJMNana
Monday, February 26, 2018

I purchased a Memorycraft 15000 a few years ago and it was the best purchase I ever made! This machine can do just about anything you would would ever want! I love the capability of using the Acuedit app to set up my embroidery pattern on my Ipad and then download it to the machine! I love how my embroidery looks upon completion and I love all the good lighting it has to light up your workspace. That way you don’t need to worry about where to set up your machine. It also has plenty of room to do machine embroidery on any size quilts! There are many decorative stitches from which to choose that are outstanding! It’s hard to choose which one to use! There are so many great features it is hard to decide what I love the most. If you want to buy only one machine to last a lifetime, I would recommend this one!
KLWash
S9 Review
Sunday, February 24, 2019

The S9 is amazing. I learned to sew by hand when I was just 5 and in my grandmothers way as she was quilting. I took seeing classes in high school until they would no longer let me sign up. The S9 makes me appreciate my current skills as well as motivate me to want to learn more. This machine is awesome.
SewSueMe2002
Horizon Memory Craft 15000
Thursday, November 19, 2020

My Janome Horizon Memory Craft 15000 is fantastic! I love, love, love this machine! When I came across the Eye for and Eye embroidery design today, I wanted to make it. However, the embroidery file is missing. Nothing downloads when I select the download button. Please help!
Jillfmischo
Treat Bag fun!
Monday, August 16, 2021

I made the Halloween treat bag for my new granddaughter and I’m sure it will last for years. No embroidery machine so I appliquéd the lettering. Need a little more skirt fabric for a better gathered look, and I used thin double-bias tape for the skirt hem, over edge stitch on skirt sides. I’m pleased with my results!
elenaz
Very helpful tutorial
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

I want to say thank you for teaching me this method of applique. I was able to do it with a small letters. This method is the best so far from all of those I've seen and tried.
plonkar
So useful
Thursday, November 30, 2023

I'd like to express my gratitude for teaching me this appliqué method. I successfully applied it with small letters, and, so far, it's the most effective among all the methods I've seen and tried.

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