Super Heroine - Alyz Costumes

Last year I was contacted about making a costume for a wrestler. This intrigued me! It turns out it was for a Super Heroine, Lolli Lane.

Lolli Lane had found my details on a website, Dance Fabrics Direct, which is now Fabric and Things She sent me an email along with a picture of her idea. I thought it would be possible, with a few suggestions of changes to make construction easier.

Lolli Lane and I met and chose the fabric colours she wanted from Fabric & Things. Although not a very large costume I elected to use double layers of fabric. A couple of reasons. One being that some colours can be a bit see through with only one layer. The other being that wrestling requires holds & throws etc. and so the costume needed to stand up to that treatment.

As there was no pattern I draughted the pieces I needed, adapting various patterns I have, and creating those I didn’t. The photo below shows the various pattern pieces.

Then it was on to a toile or mock-up. I used some left-over white lycra I had lying around. I learnt a long time ago never to cut into the actual fabric you are using until all the bugs are worked out! Or it may end up costing me to replace fabric!

Here are the pieces of the toile assembled. Then it was on to fittings. The main suit fitted well. I kept it in two pieces so that I could see where any adjustments were needed.

Once that was done it was careful cutting of the fabric. It is a very colourful costume.

Above are the various pieces cut out ready for stitching together. Since I was going to be working with four layers of lycra, i.e. outer fabric and lining, I used a small zigzag stitch to baste together the lining and outer fabric. Otherwise I have found the layers have a tendency to slip and slide all over the place! Not fun. It takes a little time to baste together but I find saves time in the long run.

Here is a photo of the completed garment from the front. I created the suspenders from a suspender belt clip packet like the one below, and black elastic, the type used in bras.

The back had an invisible zip to make it easy to get in and out of. I added a padded “guard” under the zip to sit next to the skin, and reduce the chance of injury from the metal zip tab when Lolli Lane landed on her back.