Greetings, fellow crafters! I am so excited to post about my Hallowe’en costume this year! I made or altered nearly every aspect of the outfit and started getting ready pretty early. I bought what would become my jacket in the summer, and started sewing in September. (Though I had been planning the outfit for a year. Yeah, I get pretty into this stuff).
This is where I have detailed everything that went into making my burlesque-style ringmaster costume. Not included here are things I bought or had already, like what I wore under the jacket, the fishnet tights, black long opera gloves and the knee-high black boots.
The best thing about all this work is that pretty much everything can be used in future costumes.
So, without further ado, here are the details about everything that I made or altered in the costume.
Here is the jacket I bought from a thrift store. This picture was taken after I had removed the black belt and one of the buttons:
I removed the belt loops (freeing some pleats in the process) gathered the back, shortened and gathered the sleeves, stitched down the front flaps and added buttons and gold braid to get this:
Here’s a closeup of the back, where I made teensy pleats and sewed them all together to take in the bulk a little and add some cute flair:
I shortened and hemmed the sleeves and made some more little tucks:
And did my best with some gold trim I found at the craft store. I had to make little tucks in the middle to get it to hang properly. I’m still not 100% happy with it, but it gives the visual I was hoping for. One end is sewn down under the buttons, and at the other end are elastic loops that hook around the buttons on the other side:
The bloomers are from the Collette Patterns Madeline Mini Bloomers pattern here:
http://www.colettepatterns.com/blog/colette-patterns-news/free-pattern-to-download-the-madeleine-mini-bloomersThey were very quick, easy and fun to sew and were my first real project using my new (old) sewing machine (the real star of this project).
Comically over-sized before the addition of elastic:
With waist elastic:
Finished. I was so happy with them I was hopping around the house, being an elf or something:
Striped, ruffled cuffs from leftover bloomer fabric, handsewn:
The beginnings of my tie-on bustle, inspired by many on Etsy. This was a whole weekend’s work and came out better than I could have hoped for. I just planned in my head beforehand and didn’t go off of any pattern or instructions, which is why I was so thrilled with the end result.
Lace all pinned on:
Three tiers all hemmed and laced. It looks green but it’s really a smoky gray, it’s just reflecting the neon green of my walls and ceiling:
First tier of pleats pinned down:
Finished:
Closeup. The downside of this project is the fraying fabric. Oh well:
The inside is less than perfect, but no one will see it:
The hat is a costume hat that I embellished with red ribbon, black and red feathers, a black and white striped yo-yo I sewed out of leftover bloomer fabric, and for some glitz, some red glass beads and a fake pearl. held together with a lot of hot glue, which is slightly visible:
Whew! Is that everything? I think it is. I will be posting a separate topic with photos of the entire ensemble. Thanks so much for any comments, I can’t wait to see what you think!
~Schnoogles
