Materials needed:
- 1/2 yd of spandex or bias-cut satin (our blog post contains fabric sources!)
- 1/2″ upholstery piping
- Thread
- Hand sewing needle
- Gloves (We love We Love Colors for our gloves!)
- Optional: conductive thread
Note: seam allowances are 1/2″ unless otherwise noted.
To create your glove rolls, get a piece of spandex that matches your satin, or cut a scrap piece of your satin on the bias (the stretchiest part of woven fabric). To come up with your measurements, take your piping and wrap it around your arm where you want the glove rolls to sit, then measure the piping. This is your fabric length, and should sit on the widest degree of stretch on your fabric. The width of your fabric should be approximately 8”.
Folding the wrong sides of your fabric together, stitch your fabric closed. Flip your fabric inside out to create a hot-dog shaped tube.
Position your seam to the center of your tube. This will be on the inside of your arm, so no one will see it. You can position it to be hidden by one of your channels if you’d like.
Grab your tailor’s chalk, and divide the final measurements of your tube into thirds. Mark and sew two stitching lines on your tube to create the channels for your piping.
Go ahead and get your piping filler. Cut 3 pieces long enough to wrap snugly around your forearm. Tape each end of the filler, as it tends to fray. Using the largest safety pin you can find, guide the piping through the channels.
Once your piping is encased evenly in the glove roll channels, gently peel back the ends. Get your hand needle and thread, and whip stitch the ends of your piping together. This will create a continuous loop so that there are no visible seam lines no matter which way you move your arms. Once all of your piping is sewn to itself, position your fabric over the piping. Using an invisible hand stitch, close your seams.
We use premade gloves from We Love Colors and cut them to the length that works for each senshi. Once our rolls are sewn and gloves are cut to the right length, whip stitch your glove rolls to the top of the gloves. Add some conductive thread to your fingertips for phone usage in costume!
Credits:
Thanks to NyuNyu cosplay for her tutorial on glove rolls! We used it as a springboard for these with some alterations.
Tutorial text/photos by The Geeky Seamstress and Koholint.