Trick or Treat

Halloween is a relatively new holiday here in Denmark, and only few adults celebrate it. Last year, I hosted a small tea party on the 31st of October, using the holiday as an excuse to bake some themed cakes and see my friends on a weeknight.

While I was planning the cake menu for another Halloween Tea Party this year, I suddenly felt inspired to make an outfit for the occasion. The final outfit is slightly goth-inspired (lolita Wednesday Adams, anyone?), but each piece also works great on its own.

In the end, however, I wore my Alice cosplay for the tea party, as I ran out of time to finish the skirt.

The blouse is my second Rita blouse by Charm Patterns. I lengthened the sleeves to 3/4 length and sewed it up in a black Duchesse satin from Stoff&Stil. I used only little more than 1 meter of fabric.

The satin is not really ideal for this kind of top, as it is kind of heavy and doesn't drape or iron very well. Also, I need to replace the elastic, as it has stretched out while being pulled into the channel and will not spring back when steam is applied.

The skirt is a gathered dirndl skirt with a straight waistband, a short hem ruffle and 2 lines of black cotton piping. The fabric is 1,5 meters of a mid-to-heavy weight cotton with black skeleton parts printed on white from Stoff&Stil, and I used every last bit of it. Again, the fabric was a little too heavy for the project, but the print was too good to pass up. It closes at the side with an invisible zipper.

I love how the feminine shapes in both the blouse and skirt are contrasted by the monochrome color palette and the somewhat macabre print.

Next up in the sewing queue: Christmas!

Review: Hand Made Petticoats

It is no secret that I love a nice petticoat/crinoline to wear with my 50's style dresses and skirts. And I'm happy to say that I've found the perfect tried-and-tested source for these petticoats. Today, I will share my source with you, dear reader!

Let me introduce: Hand Made Petticoats (on Etsy).

First off, this is NOT a sponsored post, I just really like these petticoats/crinolines and want to pass the word on and support a fellow sewist in her business adventure #girlboss.

The company is owned by Maria, and each petticoat is handmade by her in her home in Wales, UK, and sold via her shop on Etsy.

The petticoats are made with tiers of sparkling "snow" organza on a waistband of a nice, smooth polyester satin and have a narrow elastic at the waist.

The petticoats come in 4 standard sizes (S-XL), 6 standard lengths (19, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 27 inches), a different number of layers (2-4) and a total of 19 colors:
Black, White, Red, Baby Pink, Fuschia, Ivory, Royal Blue, Navy Blue, Turquoise, Emerald Green, Forest Green, Hunter Green, Yellow, Gold, Copper, Silver, Purple, Lilac, and Plum.

For an extra luxury, Maria also offers satin bias binding on the hem in matching or contrasting color. 

Besides the standard sizes, lengths, and number of layers, you can also build your own combination or have a petticoat custom made to a specific waist measurement, length or design.

I first found HandMadePetticoats on eBay back in 2014, when my grandmother gifted me money for petticoats for Christmas and I specifically wanted organza instead of tulle or netting. Back then, the options weren't as many. Luckily, I found HandMadePetticoats and got my first two petticoats. I've since added a third petticoat to my collection, this time ordering from the shop on Etsy.

I've worn these petticoats SO much, for parties, dances, costumes and more, and have always gotten compliments on them.

Next on my wish list is a few 1-layer petticoats for daily wear with my full-skirted cotton dresses.

What I love most about these petticoats are the material and the finish. The "snow" organza is very light, crisp and has a subtle glitter in it. I am always amazed at how much volume only 2 layers of this stuff can create.
The petticoat is made so that the seam allowance of the tiers is hidden between the layers, making them completely non-scratchy.

Even the price is good! At 20 USD/15 GBP/130 DKK for a 2-layer petticoat, I want to eventually have one in every color!

As an extra bonus, Maria has offered a 10% discount for you, my reader, with the code ANGEL10 [valid from midnight GMT on November 16th to midnight GMT on November 30th 2017].

I hope this post has been helpful for those of you in search of petticoats. Do you wear petticoats and where do you buy them?

Autumn Layers - MCBN Guest Post

I am just popping in today to tell you that I have my second blog post up on the Minerva Craft site today! A big thank you goes to the Minerva Craft team for sending me the fabric and supplies for this project.

Go there to read all about my dream cardigan and how I had to make it twice to get it as I wanted.

Oh, and Marie is there too ;)

Down the Rabbit Hole

In the spirit of Halloween, I'd like to show you a cosplay I finished back in February. It also just happened to be what I chose to wear for my Halloween Tea Party on Tuesday.

This is my first ever cosplay, and I went sweet and simple with Alice from Disney's adaption of Alice in Wonderland. To be even more precise, this is a cosplay of the costume that Kathryn Beaumont wore for the live-action filming that the animators used as a reference while making the Disney Classic. I was lucky enough to find a collection of on-set photos of her here.

The bodice is a modified Christine Haynes "Emery" dress bodice. I made the neckline higher and drew a new collar for it. I also modified the sleeves to be puff sleeves.
I had muslined the pattern beforehand and made quite a few fit changes, but that will be a story for another day. The bodice is fully lined and closes in the back with an invisible zipper.

The skirt is a full circle skirt drafted from my hip measurement and gathered to fit the bodice.

Both the dress and apron fabrics are eco cotton broadcloth from Stoff&Stil in the colors "baby blue" and "white". I think I used 4 meters of blue and 1 meter of white.

The bib part of the apron was draped on my dress form, and the rest (belt, skirt, and bow) was just squares. All edges are hemmed with a double-folded baby hem. The bow is permanently attached to the belt, and it closes with 5 press studs hidden by the bow.

The stockings came from my 18th-century wardrobe and the headband is made out of a few pieces of fold-over-elastic. I am wearing both my 26-inch white petticoat and my 22-inch black petticoat with the dress, as well as a pair of drawers with elastic and lace at the hem. Unfortunately, I made the drawers about 5 cm too short, and they are only visible while twirling, jumping, etc.

So far, the cosplay has been worn for a Carnival party at Uni, as a Carnival helper at our community center, at Hydracon 2017 and for my Halloween Tea Party. I have felt very cute every time, and have gotten lots of compliments on it. 

I feel like my dress is very accurate to the original costume and the Disney movie, despite it being my first ever cosplay. I have been invited back to Hydracon next year and already have a gazillion ideas for more cosplays. I guess only time will tell if I will get something done in time?

Until next time, here is a picture with Alice and her beloved cat, Dinah, aka Marie.

/Angelica