Princess Anna Costume

I mentioned back in April in my post about the Queen Elsa costume that I made that I was also working on a Princess Anna costume and had been for awhile. Well I finished it...in October.

I had started it in March/April of 2014. So, yes...it took me a year and a half to finish a costume. Not to make excuses, but I wasn't working on it non-stop for that whole year and a half. I stopped and started as I had other projects to work on (Brew Fest, Legally Blonde, Graveyard Cabaret, Queen Elsa, another Brew Fest, Addams Family, etc.).


I also had some technical difficulties.


Way back in March of 2014 when I started on this journey I picked Anna thinking her costume would be easier. Boy was I wrong. I can work with sequins, but embroidery!? Apparently not.


My original plan was to applique all of Anna's "embroidered" embellishments. That worked for the skirt. For the cape I did a combo of applique and machine embroidery from my multi-stitch sewing machine. I did machine borders for the shirt as well. But for the bodice - oh that bodice - applique didn't look right and I didn't have a fancy enough machine for those decorations. So I had to hand embroider the bodice.


HAND embroider! As in by hand. With an embroidery hoop and all.


I am not an embroiderer. It's definitely not my thing. And the fabric I chose - this gorgeous vintage, black velvet was like the worst fabric for embroidery.


By last December I had the skirt, the shirt, and the cape finished.

I also had the bodice cut out and sewn together enough to start embroidery. Then it took me until October to finish the embroidery.

I'll admit there were times I was lazy and just ignored the project because I didn't want to embroider anymore. Fortunately there was no great need for Anna like there was for Elsa - until October. Which is all the motivation I need to get things done.


I did the back first and you can tell.

By the time I got to the front I had figured out a better way to outline the designs to embroider. On the back I was hand drawing it on with chalk and then basting out the center of the design. For the front I printed out the designed and traced it with the sewing machine. It came out so much better.

My boyfriend told me I should just buy an embroidery machine, but honestly, aside from this one project I never embroider. Especially to this degree. Usually for theater you can't even see this kind of detail.

So, here's to those who embroider - I applaud you for your work. Please don't ever make me do it again.

Tinkerbell

After being a zombie for Halloween for many years in a row (6 I think) doing Thriller all over the island, this year I wanted to do something fun and cute and pretty and very much NOT zombie. 

So I chose Tinkerbell:

The costume turned out awesome, though I'd originally had grander plans for it (the wings were going to light up). I ended up not having enough time to do the extras, but I still had a great costume.

The dress was made from a corset pattern (https://www.etsy.com/listing/218051177/overbust-corset-sewing-pattern-lingerie?ref=related-7) I just extended it into a dress. 

All the corset structure is underneath:

I dyed the coutil - it didn't come out as green as I would like, but I swear it looked teal while I was dyeing it. Weird. I used flat steel bones for the center front and center back and plastic whalebones for the rest. I also added a zipper on the side since I wasn't going to have a busk. 

One of the challenges while fitting the mockup (toile) was how to do the back - I didn't want it to lace all the way up from the bottom but I needed someway to cover my bum. I tired just sewing the center back together below the lacing but it did not fit right and kept bunching up in the back. So I ended up making a floating modesty panel that was the same size as the two center back pieces (sorry I didn't take a picture before I laced it up):

The full length modesty panel covered my bum (as a proper modesty panel should) and let the dress keep its shape at the bottom. 

I bought the wig and the shoes on Amazon, and the shoe clip-on poofs on Etsy (annemusingdesigns - I had to request them).

 

The wings were difficult. I've never made wings and they seem like they'd be easier than they were. I'm sure there are some easier techniques, but I had some specific requirements because I had planned on making them light up (maybe someday I'll get around to it). I had planned on using fiber optics to light up the veins of the wings, so I needed to be able to sew the fiber optics on - so I couldn't use cellophane (though there are some amazing cellophane wings out there). Also, with the shape I didn't think that stocking would look right. So here's what I did (sorry, again no pics of the process - I was in a bit of a rush):

1. Frames: I made the wings out of 12 gauge wire from the hardware store. This is a very sturdy gauge, but it can also be a little difficult to work with. Next time I might try 14. I shaped the wings and then taped the wires together with electrical tape - there's probably a better, more elegant way, but this worked. I made a U in the middle so I could use my corset to hold it up:

2. Fabric: I used an iridescenct organza for the fabric of the wings. I like the look of the organza but it would have been nice to have had a stretch fabric. I hot glued the fabric around the edges of the frame - again, I'm guessing there's probably a better, more elegant way to do this, but it worked though I did end up with a couple gnarly burns. 

3. Decoration: I used glitter puff paint for the design. I had it drawn out on a piece of paper and just traced over the wings with pencil and then added the puff paint. My puff paint was old and kept clogging. It ended up being a little messy. Also, I might recommend a chrome silver rather than a glitter silverm but I already had the glitter. 

If I'd had more time I would have covered up the middle section with green fabric or felt so it was a little less visible. But overall, the wings worked out great. They were a little uncomfortable in one spot, but I think if I fiddle with the wire I might be able to fix that. 

Things I've learned and things I might do different:

1. Boning: I might hav shortened the boning a bit at the center front. It was exceptionally hard to sit in and almost impossible to drive in. 

2: Lining and casings: I think it might have looked better if I had done a lining instead of individual casings. Probably would have been easier too. 

3. Fashion fabric pattern: the fashion fabric was a little too long in the waist. The structure fit fine, but I ended up with a roll in the green satin. I need to remove maybe a quarter inch at the waist for the outter fabric only. 

4. Zipper: I put the zipper on the wrong side. Oops. I also upgraded zippers halfway through. I started with a nylon zipper and it wasn't strong enough so I got a metal one instead. 

5. Wings: like i said, there's probably better, more elegant ways to make the wings, but I'm not entirely sure what they might be. If you have any ideas/suggestions/experience please let me know. 

Queen Elsa Costume

Frozen! If you haven't seen it watch it. 

These days everyone loves Elsa and singing about letting it go. Believe me - I certainly do. Recently, I made an Elsa costume for a friend (I'm also working on Anna - have been for a year - but there's just too much detail work it's taking forever).

Here's it is:

I didn't use any of the Elsa sewing patterns available through Simplicity, I kind of combined a couple other patterns to make it.  

I used Butterick 4827 for the skirt and sleeves and New Look 6480 for the bodice:

I picked these mainly because I already had them. To figure out where to cut the dress pattern to insert the corset top I overlayed the pattern pieces over each other matching waistlines and drew in where the skirt seam and neckline + sleeves would start. 

Because I used a stretchy power net for the sleeves I had to do a lot of altering to get them to work since the sleeves and neckline needed to be more form fitting than the pattern allowed for. I don't know what would have worked better but that was definitely not the easiest way to go. 

I ended up buying a lot of fabric online because they kept coming in the wrong color. The bodice is taffeta with rain sequins and coutil underneath for support and boning. The skirt is satin and the train is a glittery organza. Like I said before the sleeves are power net. 

I made the corset first and, other than the pattern issues with the sleeves, it was the most difficult part. Working with sequin fabric takes a lot of time. 

Here's my process: I started with white, silk organza and transferred the seam lines and pattern markings on to it using wax transfer paper. 

I then used those pieces to cut out the sequin fabric:

I then basted the organza and sequin fabric together to both secure the fabrics together and to mark the seam lines:

When sewing with sequin fabric you have to remove all the sequins from the seam allowance and the seam lines to sew them together.  Otherwise the sequins get sewn into the seams and poke out in all kinds of ugly and uncomfortable ways. 

Fortunately the sequins were pretty easy to remove. The were sewn on in small groups so I just removed them by pulling out the bobbin thread. It took some time but it could have been worse. 

It's also important to keep some of the sequins to use later either filling in gaps along the seams or as replacements if some fall off. 

Once all the seam lines were free of sequins I sewed the corset together. Then I sewed the train over that before combining the bodice, sleeves and skirt into the final dress: