Holly: October 2012 Archives

It's time for this year's witch costume! As I've mentioned before, dressing as a witch has been a a Halloween tradition of mine for many, many years. I usually end up with multiple events to go to each Halloween season, so, every year, I make sure at least one new witch outfit is in the mix.

Ever since the wedding of Kate and Wills, I've been thinking about the Duchess of Cambridge's Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress. I love the simple elegance of the design, and the way it echoes Princess Grace's wedding ensemble. But, since there is no need for another bridal gown in my foreseeable future, if I wanted to make my own version of Kate's dress, a witch seemed like the best option! Fortunately, Butterick saved me from drafting a patter by releasing their version of this dress.

For this project, I used crushed taffeta and stretch lace. I love the texture of crushed taffeta, and the whooshing sound it makes is like music to my ears. Stretch lace seemed like a great option comfort-wise, and it is, but it's tricky to sew. As always, patience is key.       


I opted to use a zipper at the back instead of the buttons called for in the pattern. I definitely did some negotiating with the lace here, and inset a piece of ribbon along the stitching line to keep the lace from stretching out of shape. It turned out OK, but there is a significant likelihood I'll reset it before a second wearing, just to get it as smooth as possible. 

The lace overlay at the raw edges of the stretch lace was cut from a spool of lace I had on hand.

Without a doubt, my favorite thing about this pattern is the bustle piece at the back. I love the way it folds over on itself. I've already made a copy of this pattern piece so I can incorporate it into other dress projects.

Recently, Kristl emailed me with a challenge: "We are making tree skirts that we can wear out as a party accessory on New Year's Eve ... Would you like to play along?"

Would I ever! I love multitasking pieces, and I love a good sewing challenge.

I also love the holidays, and for me, the season starts with Halloween and goes right on through New Year's Eve. And the common theme that runs through all those months is several repeat viewings of one of my very favorite movies, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." I love the story of Jack Skellington's quest to find more in life beyond the boundaries of Halloweentown. Who among us hasn't longed for more or wondered what delights the world holds that we may not have seen yet? And I love letting the Halloween vibe carry through the entirety of the holiday season.

So, the theme for my tree skirt was a no-brainer. Jack Skellington needed to make an appearance. The assembly was very basic. I used crushed taffeta as the base and cut a simple circle. Then I sketched out my designs. Once I was happy with the proportions,  I transferred those designs to Heat-n-Bond fusible interfacing and used a variety of taffeta colors to create an homage to my favorite holiday film. 

Here's my tree skirt in place on my dining room table with our little fiber optic tree.

Alrighty, people. We're down to the wire. We're less than a week away from the point that Halloween celebrations kick into high gear. If you haven't gotten a costume together yet, you might be in a panic. But have no fear! We have had loads of quick-project blog posts throughout the years, and we've pulled several of them together to help you prepare in a hurry.


Do you have a tiny goblin, fairy or princess in your house? The ideal Halloween costume pieces for kids are the ones that can go into the dress-up and pretend trunk after the candy questing is complete.

Pull together a lightning-quick skirt worthy of any royal ball with Tara's No-sew Tutu project.



Or, put together a Kids Halloween Mask that will see loads of play time well past Halloween.



Even kids-at-heart need costumes as fab as those the little ones wear. The next several projects work for kids or adults, and all whip up in a jiffy.

Whether you're a hero, a villain or a historical figure, every outfit could use a good cape. Here's a quick double-layered version that needs no pattern -- just a yardstick and marker: Last-minute Capes.



If you want to add a little drama to your outfit, you can make any of these Halloween Hair Accessories in just a few minutes' time.


Do you feel the need to go wild? Fast projects for rabbits, puppies, monkeys, pigs and cats are all covered in our Animal Accessories blog!



We've also got free pattern downloads to create spellbinding witch couture. A multi-layered Witch's Capelet will help keep the chill off witches on the go!



The perfect chapeau is essential for Halloween, and the Hot Patterns Bad Witch/Good Witch Hat and Fascinator is ideal for crafting an original hat to match your outfit.


Last, but certainly not least, is a fantastic -- and fantastically fast! -- project sheet for creating Costumes on a Stick. These are great for those times when a full costume is impractical, but you still want to get in on the Halloween fun.

It's almost a joke among my friends that I want to make everything in black. If I love the design of something, I can't help but think about the ways I could play with the texture and design lines of it in luscious monochromatic darkness.

It's also no secret that my love for Snow White (both the movie and the character) runs deep. I love her character design so, so much. So it was natural to want to make a Gothic version of my favorite princess. But I also love the classic colors of Snow White. So, which one to make? The natural choice for me was both!


For my color version, I used both the film and the Disney park princesses as my inspiration. Instead of the teardrop cutout sleeves, I opted for a ribbon overlay on top of a puffed sleeve to more closely align with Snow White's Bavarian and historical roots. That's also the style used for the official Disney costumed Snow Whites.

To make sure my two versions had some commonalities, I used similar fabrics for key elements of both costumes:

- Velvet for the bodices and capes
- Duchess satin for the skirts
- Organza ribbon for the sleeve overlays

There's a little bit of variation beyond that, but I wanted to keep the basics parallel.

Here is the finished color version:   

In my last post, I made an ice blue pettiskirt to start off my ice fairy costume. Today, I will share with you the extra details that make the project fairy-riffic.

First, let's start with leaves to accessorize your skirt. To make this pattern, I simply folded a standard letter-sized sheet of paper in half lengthwise, and cut out the shape free hand. I know it doesn't exactly look like a leaf now, but later on, we'll add a little tuck to give the leaves shape and dimension.

I used my pattern to cut out 8 copies in blue stretch charmeuse -- it matches the yoke tier of my pettiskirt. I also cut 8 out of dupioni. The leaves are reversible, so I can always flip them to show the silk side. The dupioni also adds a little body to the leaves. Just charmeuse on its own would be droopy.

I sew each charmeuse piece to a dupioni piece, leaving a small opening so that I can turn the leaves. I just use a discrete straight stitch on the sewing machine to close the opening, but if you prefer to keep your stitches 100 percent hidden, you can hand stitch the closure.

Once each leaf is turned and ironed and stitched closed, I add a buttonhole at the top of each side of the leaf. This doesn't have to be very exacting -- because of the way the leaves are attached to the skirt, a little variance is no problem. My buttonholes are about 5/8 inch, but yours can be smaller if you prefer. They just need to be wide enough to comfortably pass a ribbon through.

Here is what each leaf looks like with both buttonholes in place:


After the buttonholes, I make a small pleat in each leaf and tack it in place with my sewing machine. I'm using white thread to make things more easily seen here, but this stitch will be mostly covered anyway, so again, no need to be exacting.

Open up your buttonholes, and then use the ribbons we attached at the waist in the last post to attach your leaves. I pull both ends of the ribbon through two overlapping leaf edges. Then, separate the ribbons and tie bows using one ribbon from each side of each leaf.  

Once all your leaves are in place, you won't be able to stretch the waistband out, so put the skirt on before tying the last couple of leaves in place. And voila! Your skirt now looks like an upside down flower. The color possibilities are super fun to play with here. While this version is more or less monochromatic, you can make green leaves with almost any color skirt, or select a color that will mimic your favorite flower! 

Now, what's a fairy without wings? These wings are an inexpensive way to custom match your entire outfit.

It all starts with four wire hangers. If you don't have any lurking in your closet, check with your local dry cleaner. Some cleaners will charge you a tiny amount, some will just give them away -- especially if you're a customer!

My wings will have four parts. For the top two pieces, I didn't even untwist the hangers. I used them as they were, and reworked the bends so I had the shape I wanted.


For the lower two pieces, I first straightened my hangers out, then I shaped them into simple loops. Your wing shapes are only governed by your taste! Make them any shape you desire!

To cover the wings, I used knee-high stockings purchased from the drugstore. All four stockings needed for this project cost me all of $1.00.  You'll be stretching one stocking around each wing section.


Once you have your stocking stretched around your wire form, clip off the excess stocking near the base of the wing.