Halloween Crafts: From Plain to Pretty Lace Fantasy Costume Dress

It took way too long, but I finally finished the first project on my craft list. 

A Halloween costume.

Does anyone remember this dress?  I made it two years ago around Halloween along with a couple of other accessories.  The accessories turned it into a cute fairy costume.

Sometimes great costumes can come from simple things, and I will show you how again with this dress.

I had this pink lace fabric leftover from an Easter dress (see Pink Lace for Easter).  Using the pink dress as a guide, I cut two tank top shapes out for a lacy bodice.

Then I stitched along the shoulders and “hemmed” arm area.  I just folded down the edge and zig-zag stitched it down.

I cut two half circles from the lace for cute flutter sleeves.

Just hem them and sew on along the arm area to finish.

The skirt on the pink dress is a circle skirt, but for the lace I made a half circle instead.  Here’s a great tutorial for half circle skirts.

I decided to cut the lace bodice down the center to open it up before sewing on the skirt.

Then I hemmed all the raw edges and layered the lace “overdress” over the pink dress.  Looks pretty now.

I then grabbed a needle and thread and to attach the lace to the pink dress along the front and neckline.  Just enough to keep things in place.

I wanted the stitches to be easy to remove in case I want to wear these pieces separately in the future.

Just throw on a few accessories, and my costume dress is done.  I still haven’t really decided what to call it.  This dress could work for so many pretty outfits.  From princess or fairy to anime style magical girl.  It all works.

Anyway, in addition to the left lace fabric I’m reusing the flower headband I also wore for Easter.  The color matches this dress perfectly.  Check out my flower headband tutorial to make your own.

Using more of the stretchy lace fabric, I whipping up some finger-less gloves that are easier than they look.  They are basically just tubes of fabric, hemmed and adjusted to fit my arms.

One end was pinned and stitch to go around my thumb.  An easier method it to cut the legs off a pair of lace tights and  cut off the toes for your fingers, but I didn’t have any.

So, now we have a pretty costume dress with matching accessories, and just in time for Halloween.  Yay!

Here’s the updated list:

• Costume
• Case
• Doll and Kitty
• Little Halloween
• 3 Skirts
• Accessories
• Socks
• Overalls
• Ornaments
• More Cases

One down, nine more to go.  The next one should be up soon.  Look forward to it!

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Clothing Makeover: Altering a Pink Bodyline Dress for Easter

Normally, around Easter I work myself haggard trying to design and sew a lovely, ruffly new dress to wear on Easter Sunday.

This year, I decided instead to work myself haggard trying to alter a dress that needed work.

Here is the old dress that badly needed a makeover.  I got it in a lucky pack I bought from Bodyline.  The price was really cheap, but I’m not sure how “lucky” I was with this one.

You can see here that the collar had odd stains on it, but that’s okay because I immediately thought it had to go anyway.  The lace looked kind of cheap and the collar overall was unflattering.

In addition to the collar, the elastic on the one of the sleeves was shot, the lace on the sleeves was horrible, the hearts down the front of the dress were overkill, and surprisingly I thought it could stand to have a little less lace and ruffles.

So after some time with a seam ripper and sewing machine…

…Here’s the new dress.

I chopped off that horrible collar and added a touch of lace to the new neckline.  You can see that it’s the lace from one of the hearts on the bodice.  It helps to tie in the whole dress.

Obviously, I removed two of the hearts from the front of the bodice.  One is plenty, plus I can probably make something cute with the other two later.  I also removed two of the vertical strands of lace.

I removed one of the bottom ruffles, then realized the skirt was too short without it.  Oops. 

So I made a white underskirt to replace it.  It’s better this way, and I can wear the underskirt separately.

And finally, I replaced the elastic on the sleeves and switched the bad lace with the lace I ripped off the bodice.  The sleeves look much cuter now.

And just for fun, I whipped up a cute flower headband to go along with my new dress.  I think flower accessories are perfect for Easter, which is why I'm going to make a tutorial for the headband.

Here’s the updated list:

• Dress makeover
• Doll undies
• Cameo and Hearts
• Blouse makeover
• Phone case
• Outfit
• Mother’s Day
• Costume fix
• Jammies
• Bonnet

One down, nine more to go.  The next project should be up in a few more days, but the head band tutorial will be up tomorrow!  Look forward to it.

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School Uniform for Fall? or Sewing a Blue Dress

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

The final project on my list is one I had intended to make over two months ago, but it just kept getting put off.  A crisp navy blue dress.

A while ago, I made a sailor uniform to wear to Phoenix Comicon.  I used some blue poly poplin material for the the collar and skirt, but I bought a much, much larger amount more than I needed.  I thought it would be useful for other projects.

For  awhile, I was thinking it would look great for a dress.  Something for Fall, though in my mind it kind of started looking like a school jumper.  Pair it with a polo and it works as a school uniform, right?

So let’s see.

Do you think my new navy blue dress looks like a school uniform?  Maybe a little cuter than some of the pieces I’ve seen.

I used the bodice from this pattern by Simplicity, but I made the straps a little more narrow both because the style of the pattern is too wide for my taste and because I’m a bit more on the narrow side compared to most store bought patterns anyway.

For the skirt though, I opted to make a rectangle skirt instead with a gathered waistline.  In retrospect though, I think it would have worked better for this fabric to use an a-line skirt.  Live and learn.

I trimmed the neckline with some nice white crocheted lace I bought at SAS (see A Spooky Black Craft Haul).  I wanted to add a bow or two as well, but I couldn’t make up my mind on where to stick it and what size.  It just leaves more room for broaches and other accessories (speaking of which, check out my button broach tutorial and lace applique broach tutorial).

I added the same lace along the skirt.  The perfect way to complete this “school girl” look.

Here’s the updated list:

• Baby
• Blue dress
• Tiny outfits
• T-shirts
• Halloween
• Pink dress
• More T-shirts

Seven projects down and out, but there’s no time to celebrate.  It’s time to start with the holiday crafting!  It will be a light list this year since it’s so close to Christmas, and I’ll have it up tomorrow.

For now, maybe a little bit of celebrating?

Give it a try:

• Simplicity Patterns Us1061D5-Simplicity Misses' Sew Chic Dress And Lined Jacket-4-6-8-10-12
• American & Efrid Ziplon Coil Zipper 18"

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Sewing for Dolls: Pink Love, a Pretty New Dress

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

After far too much time, here is my next project.  Finally!

And it’s more doll clothes, getting tired of them yet? 

Anyway, I whipped up this cute pink doll dress and accessories for my newest ball jointed doll.  It was actually really quick to make, once I managed to find the time to make it. 

I used the pattern for the bodice of this blue doll dress I made before, but substituted the skirt for a circle skirt using this tutorial.

Following the same directions as the blue dress, I pieced them together, added some ribbon…

…And got this cute pink dress.

And it looks so adorable on my doll (check out the doll blog for what they have to say about it).  The circle skirt gives it a sort of vintage or retro look.

The ribbon around the waist ties in back making it extra adorable.

To add to the vintage feel, I made simple necklace from small pearls.

And to complete the outfit, I made this simple headband using leftover ribbon (check out my doll headband tutorial to make your own).

Here’s the updated list:

• Baby
• Blue dress
• Tiny outfits
• T-shirts
• Halloween
• Pink dress
• More T-shirts

Four down,  just three more to go.  And the next two will be up really soon for sure this time. :)

Give it a try:

• Craft Medley Pearl Beads Value Pack 3mm
• Dritz® Sew-On Snaps Nickel-Asst Size 1/0 2/0 4/0
• Offray Single Face Satin 3/8''-18 Feet

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Sewing for Baby: Another Pillowcase Dress and Headbands

I’m finally getting around to posting this!  The first project on my craft list is a baby craft.

I had another baby shower to attend, another one for a baby girl!  So I decided to make another pillowcase dress (see More Pink for Baby).

This one I made with an adorable red and white gingham print I had in my fabric stash.

I used a soft lace instead of ribbon for the ties and added the same lace across the front.

I used the same eyelet lace along the hem as with the previous dress.

For this dress, I also made a matching bow headband.  It uses the same lace as the dress, and just like the head bands I made for the last baby shower (see More Pink for Baby), I used tights for the stretchy part.

And because it’s hard to stop at just one headband, I made two more.  These are for a different baby I know.  She’s already born, but I missed her baby shower, so this is a late but cute gift for her.

Here’s the updated list:

• Baby
• Blue dress
• Tiny outfits
• T-shirts
• Halloween
• Pink dress
• More T-shirts

One down, six more to go.  I will try to get the next one up a bit sooner.  Look forward to it!

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Pink Lace for…A Doll?

At long last, the last project on my craft list.  And it’s more doll clothes, plus more of that pink lace fabric.

As you can see, I used the fabric leftover from my Easter dress (see Pink Lace for Easter) to make a doll size version along with accessories.  An underskirt to give the dress a boost, a matching purse and head band, and a necklace.

And it looks adorable on her.  I’ve had this ball jointed doll for two years, so I wanted to make her a special new outfit (check out the doll blog to see her reaction).

I used the same technique for the bodice as for my doll dress tutorial (see Doll Dresses for All, With a Tutorial), and instead of a row of ribbon roses along the neck I made three little roses.  One at each of the straps on top of a ribbon bow and a larger rose on the ribbon sash.

On my dress I used a nice wide ribbon for the sash, but for this one the narrower ribbon I had left worked just fine.

I made the matching headband using jewelry wire just like in my doll headband tutorial (see Doll Head Bands with a Tutorial).

The same with the little purse, it’s similar as the simple purse in my doll bag tutorial (see 5 a Week: Cute Felt Bags for Dolls with a Tutorial) only with fabric instead of felt.  I glued on the some faux pearl beads to make the look of a clasp.  It really uses Velcro to close.

The cameo necklace actually came from my mom.  It was perfect for dolls because of the small size of the cameo and the thinness of the chain, I just needed to shorten it.

The underskirt was made as a separate piece so dress can be worn with or without it for different looks.  It can also be used as an actual skirt with another top.  Three separate looks from a couple of pieces.  Man, this is one well dressed doll.

Here’s the updated list:

• Dress
• Accessories
• Jeans
• Baby
• Little dress

Five down and out, finally!

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More Pink for Baby

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

So much for getting my next project up in a timely matter.  I finished this one right on time, but it only took me about a week and a half to post it.  Grrr.

Anyway, some more friends are expecting a baby, this time it’s a little girl!  So more baby stuff.  And because I couldn’t resist, it’s all pink!

First up is the baby dress.  It’s a pillow case style dress.  I already knew how to make it because I’ve made similar tops (including this doll version with a tutorial), but I found this tutorial for baby dresses extremely useful.  It gives you measurements to use based on the age of the baby or toddler.  Useful when you don’t have a kid to measure.

It’s trimmed with eyelet lace at the bottom, and I used some cute pink grosgrain ribbon for the ties.  All I had to do was hang it on a cute pink hanger and it was ready to go.

Speaking of hangers, I bought a pack of pink children’s hangers for a dollar.  I thought that since this was a baby girl who will definitely receive lots of cute dresses from friends and family, the parents will need hangers.  They will need to store it all somehow.

And why not make them cute too?  Simply adding a nice ribbon bow to the top does the job.

And now we have a full set of cute girly hangers ready for use.  I think I might need to do this to my own hangers too.

To go along with the dress, and possibly all the other ones in her wardrobe, I made these cute baby head bands.  The one on the left has a eyelet lace rossette (tutorial!) accented with a pink bow made from the same ribbon as my baby dress and hangers.

The one on the right has a ribbon rose made with some ribbon left over from my Easter dress.

The unique part is what they are attached to, a loop cut from tights.  I got the idea from this tutorial for baby headbands.  It’s stretches enough to fit baby or even mommy’s head, but its soft and gentle.

The final piece is this stuff bunny, because toys are mandatory.  I call it the potato bunny because the shape of the body without legs reminds me of a potato.  Strange? Yes. Cute? Definitely.

The face is just a wee little nose made of felt and two faux pearls for eyes.  Don’t worry, I took extra measures to make them secure and baby safe.  It would take a strong force to pry these eyes off.

To finish it off, I tied on a ribbon bow.  Yep, it’s the same ribbon from the other pieces.  All the baby presents are finished.  And all that’s left is to wait for the baby to be born.

Here’s the updated list:

• Dress
• Accessories
• Jeans
• Baby
• Little dress

Three down, two more to go.  And they both will be almost as cute as the baby stuff.  Look forward to it!

Give it a try:

• Offray 3/8"x21' Grosgrain Solid Ribbon
• Girls' Nylon Tights Cat & Jack – Ivory
• Delta Baby Clothing Hangers

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