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—lisa g.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

heigh-ho... heigh-ho...

next up in the halloween costume department is my 5 1/2 year old daughter sylvia and the little man of the house, 2 1/2 year old oliver.




sylvia is our reigning princess, fashionista, diva, you name it. i've always thought she would make a cute snow white so that's what we did this year! i used simplicity 2563 which was great because i didn't have to make any design changes. i used this pattern last year for the cinderella look so i knew i'd have to make a few adjustments. i don't know why but the cut straight off the pattern is so curvy! as in tiny at the waist and tapered out at the chest. now, my kids aren't particularly busty (???) so i fit the pattern at the chest and brought it out at the waist. also the neckline is cut really low so i raised it by a full inch. doesn't someone test these things out first? i mean, really! busty and low cut for a toddler pattern??? c'mon. fortunately i knew all that going into this dress so i could make the adjustments ahead of time.




i used a basic acetate satin, same as the bee, in fact. since it is a little thin i underlined and lined the bodice. not trying to go all crazy on this one, but i wanted the point at the front of the waistline to stay in place so since i happened to have a small piece of boning laying around, i put a strip of it down the center front. yes, i know, a 5 year old doesn't need boning in a costume... but it always bugged me about the cinderella dress i made last year. the point kinda sticks out and without support this would have done the same. don't judge me, i'm not crazy. oh, wait...




i lined the skirt with taffeta to give it some body and up the "swish" factor. i hand stitched the yellow bodice lining, made the detachable collar and red headband... this dress has far more details than i realized when i started it so it definitely takes a while to put together. but, it is a great snow white replica so i won't complain. some of the patterns out there are way off base! i do kinda wish i had done the bodice in a navy velveteen or something, but as i will never make this dress again(!!!) i'm not going to dwell on it.




so after all that we thought it would be cute to dress oliver up as dopey to go along with the snow white costume. he was originally going to be something completely different but after an afternoon of mad searching and being unable to find a very key piece... i had to come up with something else. his favorite color is green and he has a speech delay so he doesn't talk much, and since dopey doesn't talk at all... well it's a match made in heaven. he's shy, so he'll probably do a lot more nodding than talking anyway!




this one i pretty much drafted myself. i had a robe pattern that was several sizes too small so i used that as a starting point. the great thing about a dopey costume is that his outfit is huge and disheveled so i really had no need to go crazy about fitting anything! i made it out of fleece for comfort and warmth (and it was 60% off at the fabric store, bonus!). i resisted the urge to line the outfit and simply went au natural on the inside. i barely even trimmed my seam allowances. i sewed big buttons down the front but used velcro on the inside for the actual closure. typically i'm against fake closures, but if you've ever tried to button up a wiggly 2 1/2 year old, you'd know that this was the most appropriate option. i hand stitched patches on the elbows and whipped up a slouchy purple fleece hat. throw on a belt and there you have it!


9 comments:

  1. when your kids are adults they are going to talk about how much they loved the costumes you made them, and you will be in their history books as the coolest mom ever! also, these costumes are super adorable!!

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  2. thanks! i need a physical record as proof for my kids... someday they'll be obnoxious teenagers and i will be able to pull out pictures to say: "see? i do too love you!!"

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  3. I love loooove the pictures!! I too am using this pattern for my 3 year olds Halloween costume. After seeing yours I wish I would have used all Satin! Its so pretty! I am almost done with it. This pattern had me so confused at times. I would have to sit it down and walk away from it a few times because I would get so lost. Then if I went back and reread it, it made more sense. I am almost done with the cape, then will be doing the headband. The only thing I am not getting though is how to put on the zipper! It's my first one that I am doing. I too liked this pattern the best. I had planned on just buying a costume for her, but I just was not impressed with what was out there. They do not make many that look like the original characters. Thanks for sharing your pictures!! They are so so so adorable!!

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  4. thanks! the satin really does up the princess factor. the only drawback is that it's not as washable as other fabrics and it frayed like crazy! hope yours all turns out great too!

    a small tip on inserting zippers... hand base it in place before sewing. then you can more easily check to see if everything lines up correctly and it's easier to sew without all the pins in the way!

    good luck :)

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  5. you did a great job with the costumes!!! thanks for helping me in inspiration, thus my 3yr boy has to dress up as Dopey for his school Christmas show. Best regards from Puerto Vallarta!

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  6. @jessica: thanks so much for sharing! i hope your little one loves it as much as mine does. it really makes my day knowing i inspired someone with my work! :)

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  7. Super cute. Great snow white costume.

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  8. Thank you for blogging this!... and for Google pulling it up quickly. I was planning to use the Simplicity 2563 pattern to create a Sofia the First costume for my daughter this year but the photos on the packaging are very frumpy looking. I LOVE what you created from it. Again, thank you so much for sharing, I am definitely going to give it a go now :)

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