Sewing for Halloween: Regency Dress

I had it in my mind that I would be a zombie or vampire Jane Austen for Halloween this year, which basically meant I would make a Regency-inspired dress in patchwork Halloween colors (black, red, gray, etc.). (By the way, this is my new dress form, which arrived Saturday morning! Ain't it pretty? I thought about naming it Sheila.... I've always liked that name. She sounds fun.)

I turned this Butterick pattern #6630:

...into this (worn for Halloween-themed contra dancing):

Dress: Made my me | Flats: Fluevog Amie (Integrity family) via Amazon

Not quite a zombie or even a vampire since I didn't want to scare any of the kids at the dance too much. :-) The angle of the photo doesn't do justice to the shape of the dress (OR MY NECK, UGH, THANKS TALL HUSBAND), but it shows the fit. I actually consider this dress a muslin, or a practice run to help me fine-tune the way the garment fits. I made it with quilting-weight 100% cotton fabrics. I bought yards and yards of two different and much nicer fabrics (one satin and one brocade) for when I'm ready to take this dress to cosplay level. Haha!

Even though I used no interfacing, did away with lining the skirt, and skipped the eyelet-and-lace closure on the back (all due to time constraints), this project still took many hours because it has so many parts. I also had to edit the pattern quite a bit: I had to shorten the skirt to fit my petite frame as well as hike up the neckline of the bodice by a couple of inches for modesty (either the model in the pattern photo is smaller than an A cup or they photoshopped out most of her cleavage). I was particularly unsure about how the bodice would turn out, but it doesn't look too bad.

In fact, there was a LOT of uncertainty about this project from the beginning because (*cough cough ahem*) I accidentally bought the wrong size pattern. Given my measurements, I should have bought the 12-14-16 envelope; instead I got the 6-8-10 envelope. Oops. Still, after measuring the paper patterns for the size 10 and taking into account the seam allowances, I figured it would probably be a little snug but it would fit, especially if I wore my bustier corset (looks like this). Final verdict? It survived dancing (including lifting my arm and turning under it) without ripping any seams. I'm very happy about that!

Here's the back. I know there's a gap in the middle back there, but it actually closes completely when I wear it. For some reason, despite the fact that the adjustable dress form is set to my measurements, the dress doesn't fit around it very well. Maybe I've got my own measurements wrong? Or more likely it's because the dress form is covered in a nappy fabric so that the cotton doesn't slide over it very well.

My two favorite parts of this dress are 1) the puffy sleeves, which were surprisingly fun to make (but not so easy to sew to the bodice) and 2) the red stripes. The latter was actually a result of one of the other constraints I had on this project -- the lack of fabric yardage. The two nice fabrics that I bought were 60" in width (as required by the pattern instructions), but because I was using quilting cotton for my muslin, I only had 44"-width fabrics since most quilting cotton fabrics don't come in the wider sizes. I didn't buy any new fabric for this muslin (except for the black sleeves) and used what was already in my stash. It was lucky that I had the red fabric handy. It added a couple of extra steps to make a patchwork skirt, but I think it looks more striking this way, and more Halloween-y, as if washes of blood were flowing down my back. MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Here's a bonus pic of me wearing the costume two Saturdays ago for a Halloween party, before I made and attached the puff sleeves (I actually had to put the dress together in order to wear it sleeveless, then use my seam ripper to separate the bodice from the skirt to finish it a couple of days afterwards). I'm threatening to bite my "doctor" husband (who has something in his mouth), in case you can't figure out what's going on in the photo. :-)

xo, Gladys

The Last of Paradise

This is the last of the Hawai'i pix to be posted here. There are other things I want to move on to now, with Halloween coming up soon. I worked on a fun little project for the kiddo that I want to share soon. That and my Halloween dress. :-)

But these photos make me smile. Some good memories!

At the Polynesian Cultural Center (trying out Tahitian dancing in the bottom left)
Dress: A. Byer via Amazon | Belt: taken from Calvin Klein for DressBarn dress | Sandals (not shown): Salt Water sandals via ModCloth | Brontosaurus necklace: ModCloth | Purse: ModCloth

Family portrait, wearing our awesome souvenir shirts from the Aulani gift shop and showing off all of the wrist bands from the resort that the kiddo accumulated
Top: Disney Aulani by Crazy Shirts | Capris: Sonoma via Kohl's | Sandals : Salt Water sandals via ModCloth

Luau food at the Polynesian Cultural Center

Taken from the bay

Another view of the resort

Underwater in the kids' zero-entry pool

One of the perks of the resort was the free childcare (for potty-trained children), and their facility was AWESOME -- costumes in all sizes, a computer room, a TV room, a fun outdoor playground, and tables with huge built-in touch screens with games (my son's favorite)

I love that the Target we went to had an Asian section!

Dramatic sea spray in the background! :-)

Kayaking (canoeing?)

(Last two photos courtesy of my husband's brother)

xo, Gladys

Elizabeth Mine

I tried on the Elizabeths at the Fluevog store on Melrose over the weekend and was not disappointed.

They are even more magnificent in person. The rub-off green finish looks even better in natural light. And the best part? They fit and they are comfortable! You wouldn't know you were walking in 3.5" heels. These were the only size 6 in the store. So, yup, I put them on layaway (although I wish I could have walked out of the store with them). Even my husband said they looked amazing ... and offered to pay for part as a Xmas present! Woohoo!

Say hello to my holiday shoes! (Special thanks to Fluevog specialist Kate once again for the help. That lady is awesome.)

(More detailed Flue review here.)

xo, Gladys

Blue Roses

Dress: Tulle Los Angeles via ModCloth | Belt: taken from Calvin Klein for DressBarn dress | Sandals: Salt Water sandals via ModCloth | Robot necklace: ModCloth | Bracelets: Warsaw, Poland in 1995

(Green and yellow plastic bracelets were issued by the Aulani resort.)

My kiddo insisted on being in the photos too and then didn't want to smile. Silly guy.

I wore this outfit when visiting with a longtime family friend (my older sister's best friend) who moved to Hawai'i for college many years ago and decided to stay and settle down. She has four kids now and lives in a North Shore town. It was a beautiful evening of delicious pizza and fun company on the beach. We watched hardcore surfers out in the water until the sun went down.

I love this dress and have worn it several times since I bought it over a year ago. It's 100% cotton, which was great for the warm weather, and I like the shape especially with a belt. The pink and purple roses are great, but it's the blue roses that make me happy. It also has not just two, but FOUR pockets -- two hidden ones and two outer ones. What a bounty!

Anyway, my friend's kids are amazing. The oldest one, a 13-year-old boy whom I remember babysitting when he was only one year old, is in the robotics team at his school and going to competitions for it. So I decided to wear my silly robot necklace.

My kiddo loved hanging out with the youngest boy, who is only a year older, but I enjoyed the middle two young ladies as well. They are funny and sweet. The one in pink LOVES little kids and has just the right touch with them. The kiddo made a silly sand castle with her while the adults ate pizza and had a great time talking. We stayed there until sundown, and my own little family was sorry to leave them.

xo, Gladys

Joanne Models Her Apron

I was planning to share outfit photos from Hawai'i on this post, but Joanne sent me pix of her modeling the reversible cupcake apron that I sewed up for her housewarming last month, and I couldn't wait to share!

Photos courtesy of Joanne's significant other :-)

Isn't she ridiculously adorable? Besides being beautiful (oh that skin! those dimples!), J-Ro, as we call her, has one of the best smiles of anyone I've ever met, hands down. Maybe she's a second to my son's smiles, though. :-)

Plus I love her outfit. Check out those burgundy Fluevog Benatars!

I'm very happy that she likes her apron. It looks fabulous on her, if I do say so myself! It's a great pattern that seems able to flatter many different body types. I'm actually thinking of turning it into a dress sometime since I'd prefer a dress to yet another apron in my house. Hmm, a reversible dress? Maybe not, but let me see what I can do....

Which reminds me, I've been working on a dress project (for myself for Halloween) that is forcing me to learn how to edit patterns for specific shapes/sizes. One thing I'd really love sometime is to get an adjustable adult dress form to help with fitting. The dress is pretty elaborate -- it requires far more than the apron pattern, for instance -- and it feels like a true learning process even if the specific techniques aren't completely new to me. This means that it is fun and rewarding but also time-consuming.

It's the time-consuming part that stresses me out since I have a deadline for it. However, after two days of ignoring household chores and leaving the care of the kiddo to my awesome husband, the dress is currently wearable, if still sleeveless, and in fact I wore it out last night to an early Halloween party and received compliments. (Compliments are good. They keep me practicing my sewing skills!) Anyway, more on this project sometime before Halloween.

xo, Gladys