Snow White DIY Costume

Having convinced a friend to have a Halloween party, and being very into DIY costumes, I decided for Halloween 2014 I would be Snow White (at least my version). 

I found two dresses of a navy blue, purple hue (see the two dresses below) and decided to mesh the two together and sew a completely new dress using only material from both and red ribbon. 

Full skirt removed and replaced in dress below. 

Dress #2. Had the corset bodice for the Snow White dress. I removed flower bead decor that embellished the neck of the dress. 

Pinning the full skirt into the second dress. Photo is of both dress and skirt inside out. 

Dress with full skirt underneath and pieces of a sash to experiment with the concept of  "capped sleeves". 

Sewing the sleeves. 

 Sewing the sleeves for the dress was a feat in itself. I looked up a tutorial for how to sew puffy sleeves, and when I wasn't getting the results I wanted, I ended up taking the sash from one dress, sewed strips of red ribbon into the material, and pinned/gathered the sleeve into the dress. Once I got the desired effect, I hand sewed the sleeves in place.

Puffy sleeves in places and sewn. Finally. These things were a work in progress for a couple days. 

Next came the collar. Again, I viewed some tutorials online, but didn't have enough material (ripped from other dresses) to follow the patterns provided directly. Instead I took the bottom of a white dress and drapped it across the neckline of the Snow White dress, pinned it in place from the inside and hand stitched it in place. 

Collar in place. Time to finish the rest of the gown. 

 Once I had all the pieces in places, it took me a couple days and many hours to hand sew things in place (I'm handier with a needle and thread than I am with a sewing machine). :) Final touches: Ribbon to make the sleeves was added to the bust of the dress in gathered folds, a gold, glittery ribbon was added for a belt, and I (once again) hand sewed my bow onto a headband. Costume done.

Finished dress. Happy DIY Halloween!

T-minus 52 days until Halloween

Hello readers,

It's that time of year again: time to draft Halloween costumes!!! 52 days until Halloween and I've already accomplished the following:
1) Sketch out ideas-Maleficent, Snow White's Evil Queen and Ursula.
2) Shop for second hand prom dresses to create costume- any full skirted dress is perfect for Halloween. I bought three dresses this year and all were under $10 per dress.
3) Start cutting and get to sewing.

Before I blog about my costume for this year though, I'd like to post pictures of my dresses from last year and the year before.


2012 Halloween (re-post with additional information)

Final look for my dress. Materials: Red dress, red tulle for under dress and sparkly tulle for on top of skirt. Ribbon, red and green, for the belt, flower and accents around the neck.

Hair and makeup. Materials: foam cone for under the hair, secured with bobby pins and rubber bands. Side braids, which could be braided around wire or pipe cleaner and secured to base of cone. Christmas decorations for head decor. Makeup- highlighted eyebrows, significant cat eye, red lipstick and a Who-nose.

Front office staff at my internship placement site, Dana Middle School: (left to right) Rudolph, Cindy Lou Who, The Grinch, me and another reindeer.

2013 Halloween

Started with a red dress, floor length.

Removed underskirt and tulle from red dress and began attaching to a black dress (see below)

Black dress was cut down the middle and sewed on an angle. Red dress was then cut, cinched and sewed into the straps of the black dress to make sleeves. Newspaper was crumpled and added to give "puffy" appearance.

White tulle was bundled and sewn into the collar.

Checker patterned material was then added to the front and layered on the fringe of the dress.

Queen of Hearts and Alice.