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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Catching Up: A Late Costume Post

Now, nearly a month after Halloween, I will finally share my Halloween costume.  Just because I can, plus it came out well.

It started out with two different ideas.  First I had some pretty fabrics I got for Christmas last year that I wanted to use for something.  Second, the fabrics screamed fairy to me so that would be the way to go, except I didn’t want wings.  I was a fairy last year with some gorgeous wings that sadly got stuck in every doorway the entire evening.

So what are you if you’re a fairy without wings?

A sprite!

It came out well, just a little different from my original design in a few ways.

The skirt is made in two layers.  The first is s satin-y solid color green trimmed with lace, and the second is a floral print sheer tulle with lace and a narrow ruffle on the edges. 

I originally planned on ruffles for both layers, but decided to go with just lace for the bottom layer to save time.  I also wanted to but a large bow in back, but opted not to in order to save time.  Also I thought is might make my rear look enormous.

The wristbands came out just as I intended.  They are decorated with flowers I got at SAS awhile back (see The Biggest Craft Haul Ever).  I added long ribbons attached just under the flowers.  I thought it would look pretty hanging down from my wrists. 

The downside to these wristbands is that I didn’t wear them with the costume the first time.  I went to a party before Halloween.  I used the restroom before leaving for this party and of course took them off first to avoid getting them wet.  I realized on the way to the party that I forgot to put them back on.  At least I remembered them for Halloween night.

I made a pair of hair clips with the same flowers at the wristbands and with the same long ribbons too.  They add just the right touch to my hair and are pretty enough that I wish I had more clothing in this color.  Maybe that could be a future sewing project?

When I dress up in costume, I have this strange need to make sure my purse matches the rest of the outfit.  To ensure this, I ended up making a simple little bag with some leftover fabric.  I originally planned to make a drawstring bag because I thought it was more fitting to a sprite, but that idea went out the window.

Here’s one of the more interesting parts of my costume, the top.  It came out considerably shorter than planned.  I am normally not in the habit of wearing midriff baring tops, far from it.  But because of the way the fabrics I used behave along with the style of this top, it just looks more flattering when cut shorter.  It looked really frumpy before I cut off the bottom part.  The downside is that while last year was a particularly warm October here in Arizona, this year was quite noticeably colder.  Maybe next time I’ll make a matching cape for warmth.

This necklace added just the perfect touch.  The pendant is a little fairy door locket I got on sale at Joann.  The funny thing is that I got the chain on sale at Michael’s.  Anyway, it goes great with this costume and with just about everything else.  I’ve been wearing it almost constantly since Halloween.

I had a lot of fun wearing this costume, and I got plenty of compliments too which is always nice.  Makes me wonder what to do next year.  Is it too early to plan for that? 

Of course there are still other stuff to make this year.  Christmas is a month away, so I will be posting my list soon and working on checking it off.  Look forward to it.

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Halloween = Tulle

Since last year’s Halloween costume was shall we say “easy”, I went all out with this one.  It took me a few weeks to design it and a almost a week to cut and sew it.  Now try to guess what I’ll be.

Here’s a hint.  These are the fabrics I used in addition to a blue cotton for lining (not pictured).  The right one is a pretty tulle with sparkly stars all over.  The left one is a pale blue tulle with a slight shimmery look to it.  I bought them both at SAS. 

If you guessed Elsa from Frozen, sorry you’re wrong.  Close though, I was slightly inspired by the look.  I’m actually going to be a fairy this year.  Here’s the completed dress in all it glory.  Now for some close ups.

Here’s the edge of the neckline.  I added a section of gathered blue tulle straight across to both make it pretty and to insure the dress wasn’t too low cut.  I want to be a cute fairy not a sexy one.

I had originally planned are puffed sleeves with ribbon on the cuff, but that didn’t quite work.  They were too stuffy looking, plus they made it hard to lift my arms up.  I went for something more fluttery, works well for fairies.

I hand stitched the ribbon at the waist.  It ties in a lovely bow in back with extra long tails.  I guess I just like having something to tie on dresses, regular or costume ones.

The skirt I am especially proud of, three floaty layers of fabric (almost) flawlessly gathered and stitched to the bodice.  I considered adding extra ribbons or ruffles, but I thought the stars and stuff were enough embellishment.

Now the accessories, of course.  At the top is a head band and ribbon choker necklace, the bottom is a pair of fingerless gloves.  I made the gloves out of blue tulle, man I used a lot of it for this project!  They come up to my elbows and down to my middle fingers.  The choker is just a piece of ribbon with a snap.  Just an easy and effective accessory.  The head band was a little more complicated.

I wrapped a plain headband with strips of both tulles and then glued on this little butterflies.  Aren’t they pretty?  I got them at SAS on a whim.  They have little iridescent jewels on the center.  I thought they would be perfect for this because of their wings.

Speaking of wings, here are the ones I’m using.  I got them from Joann Fabrics and Crafts at their Columbus Day Sale.  They are normally about $25 but I got them for $10 instead.  I guess it’s a little strange to have pink wings with a blue dress, but that’s just how I roll.

In addition to wings, I also bought a wig just not at the same place.  I got this one at Party City.  A white wig of course goes great with all the sparkles and blue, but that’s not what I wanted so…

…I did this.  I dyed it using Kool-Aid, well actually I guess I tinted it.  I used a pack of Cherry flavor and another Pink Lemonade flavored.  Just mix it in with conditioner, apply, then let sit over night before rinsing off.  I think it came out well.

Here’s everything all together.  I decided to wear white flats and pink knee socks because again that’s how I roll (see My Favorite Things: Knee Socks).  I can’t wait to wear it tomorrow.  I plan to pretty much wear it all day. It will be so much fun.

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Purple Fairy Fun

Today I have another doll makeover for you.

This was from a bunch of old dolls my niece decided to give up.  It was a Sleeping Beauty doll, and I can actually see why she didn’t want this one.  The hair was horribly matted and the face was very dirty.  Plus she had lost her clothes somehow and there appeared to be bite marks.  So here’s the before…

…And after.  After a quick bath and a not so quick hair detangle, she looked remarkably improve.  The hair was horrible, I had to use twice as much conditioner than normal.  Afterward, I whipped up the dress with scraps of purple tulle and fabric, it’s sewn on to her because I was feeling lazy.  I then restyled the hair by tending to her curls, trimming her bangs, and adding buns.  I‘m not sure why I decided to add buns, just a hunch.  Finished up with a set of soda bottle wings, and she is a perfect little purple fairy.  Some of you may remember the first appearance of the soda bottle wings (see Trimmings and a Angel).  They just work so well for dolls that I had to make them again. 
Here’s the updated list:

• Pins
• Altered top
• Rose headband
• Doll
• Bracelets
• White dress
• Gift

Four down, three more to go.  And a little over a week to finish.

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Fairy?

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I found this doll at a Goodwill that was closing last summer.  She was interesting and only about 99 cents so I took a chance on her.  She kind of looked like she was suppose to be some sort of fairy doll, but I’m not sure which.  It says “Disney” on her back and head.  Anyway, she definitely needed some work, but that’s part of the fun of getting old dolls.



Before, her hair was matted and tangled with frazzled bits.  She was a little dirty with a bad hip.  And of course she had no clothes, do thrift stores purposely sell fashion dolls without their clothes or do people really donate them all like this?



After, I cleaned her up and trimmed and styled her hair.  I made her this lovely dress though it came out differently than I planned.  No worries, I like it better this way.  It’s trimmed with ribbon that has embroidered blue flowers on it.



Going along with the blue theme, I added some small blue flowers to her hair.  Now she looks like a pretty elf or something along those lines.
Here’s the updated list:

• Bags
• Bracelets
• Barrettes
• Doll pajamas
• Doll makeover
• Wristbands
• Red skirt
• Ears
• Costume
• Handkerchiefs

Eight down, just two more to go.  The next project should be up by Wednesday or Thursday.

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