Halloween Crafts: Thrifted Dress to Fluffy Fantasy Costume

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

Halloween is less than a week away and I needed a costume. Time for a little thrift store magic. 

Or should I call it formal dress hacking? It's one of my favorite techniques, especially for those "I have no ideal what I was to be for Halloween" moments.

I take an old cast off dress, and with a little imagination and a bit of cutting and sewing turn it into something special. The best dresses to use are old bridesmaid and prom dresses. The pouf-ier the better, more fabric to work with and more inspiration.

So, I found this dress at Goodwill on sale for a whole $2. It has a lot going for it already.

It has a sparkly bodice made using a floral lace. It's pretty and stretchy.

I love the material for the skirt, and there's so much of it. It's ankle length on me.

It has adjustable straps with is great, because I find myself having to shorten straps on practically everything I wear regardless of occasion.

Now the interesting thing about this dress is the extra set of "straps" made from the same material as the skirt. It's hard to tell if they're meant to hang on or off the shoulders. When I tried it on they wouldn't stay up, and they looked super frumpy hanging down.

Well, I know exactly what I want to do with this dress.

First, I pinned the droopy outer strap to the adjustable one about halfway up the strap.

I handstitched it down while folding it slightly to make little pleats and sewing down faux pearls on each pleat.

I turned the dress inside out and folded the skirt lining, then pinned the hem to the waist seam. I proceeded to sew it in place using a blanket stitch to keep it stretchy.

After sewing the lining, I cut the skirt to match leaving it about an inch longer.

I thought the neckline of the dress was too low for me, so to fix this I took a small amount of the skirt material and folded it half before gathering it by hand.

Once gathered, I stitched it in place from the backside, then cut away the excess material.

Now it looks a little more modest and cuter. Just needs a little bow in the center.

And I still had a lot more skirt material left, so I took a large rectangle of it and gathered it at the top edge. I needed it to just wide enough to go around my waist.

I pinned it to some ribbon leaving enough ribbon on the ends to tie in a nice bow.

After sewing down the ribbon, I can wrap the new "overskirt" around the dress and tie it in a pretty bow.  It's great because I can remove it and use it for other costumes or outfits as I wish.

And here's the finished costume dress. Perfect to pair with some wings or ears for a cute fairy or elf costume.

The little bow on the bodice was a nice touch. If the bodice hadn't fit me as well as it did, I would have added some loops to thread ribbon for a lace up effect. Maybe an idea for my next costume.

I trimmed the edge of the overskirt in a curve as an extra touch. It's one of my favorite parts of this project, there was still plenty of scraps of material leftover after making it.

Enough to make some hair accessories.

First, I cut the leftover material in strips about 3 inches long. I also cut 2 strips from an old pair of tights.

I tied the knot in the tights to make a loop to form a "hair tie". I could have started with store bought hair elastics too. Anyway, I just needed to tie the strips of material to the hair ties as shown.

The more I tie the fluffier it looks. Perfect for a pair fancy hair scrunchies to pair with my costume. The same technique could be used to make wrist cuffs or even doll sized tutus.

And with that I am ready for Halloween, well mostly ready. I just need to get the treats ready and finish another sewing project. Look forward to it.

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• Assorted Bent Scissors By Craft Smart®
  
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Craft Haul: Quick Trip to SAS

This post may contain affiliate links, please check out my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

I needed just a few supplies for some upcoming crafts. So I stopped by SAS in Tempe, Arizona for the first in what felt like years. Of course, the day I chose had to be one of the few days in Arizona that we got a major storm. I still managed to get my purchases home dry. I can't say the same about myself. 

Anyway, here is my little haul of goodies. 

I needed a little bit of black tulle for a Halloween piece I am sewing. So, luckily I found the perfect amount in this discount baggie for a whopping $0.99. The pink tulle is a bit of a bonus. It might come in handy too.

I needed some ribbon, which SAS sells by the yard. However, I found a bin full of random embellishments. It was a "fill a bag" for only $0.99 each. I found the exact the ribbons I needed, plus some extra ribbon, elastic, and bias tape for future projects. 

I needed a small amount white fabric as a backing for a project I am planning for Christmas. These fat quarters were perfect, and they were only $0.99 each. That seems to be the price of the day.

What wasn't $0.99 was this yard remnant of black satin. It was $3.99, and it will work well with the tulle for my Halloween project. 

I got some thread and elastic, always useful. Also some fake flowers to have on hand. They range from $0.49 to $1.49, and are handy for making hair accessories. 

These long glue sticks are also handy for making hair accessories among other things. And they're only $0.15 each.

I couldn't resist browsing the wall of sewing accessories. I picked up some more pins and these bobbin buddies. 

They're similar to these ones I've been eyeing on Amazon. You use them to keep loaded bobbins with their matching spools of thread. Keeps things nicely in place, and at least gives the illusion that I am a neat and tidy sewer.

That's all for this craft haul. Now I need to use it all. In fact, I am almost done with my next sewing project, and I should be posting it soon.

Look forward to it. 

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