halloween pictures

I know y’all have been just dying to see the finished costume that I first posted about here. Well I won’t keep you in suspense any longer! Here it is, along with the costume I made for little Zella (which is a modified version of Simplicity 5695 – tres simple!)

I have to say, working with this flannel-backed satin fabric (Sew Comfy line from Joann’s) was a pain in the butt. It warps too easily so it was hard to sew a nice straight line. It was worth using though, because I had – and still have – quite a stash of it from when I started making these little chenille baby blankets.
The other annoying thing about making the purple dress is that there was *so* much fabric involved that it was pretty difficult to sew. I mean, that jenk was heavy! It kept sliding off of my sewing table and pulling whatever seam I was trying to sew out of alignment. Also, there was an enormous amount of gathering. I chose to make the version with overlays (the purple “skirts” that lay on the off-white main skirt) and I almost couldn’t get my machine to run over the two gathered layers of the skirt plus the outer layer of the bodice. Then I had trouble with the zipper, and trouble with the hand stitching of the lining, and so on and so on… I don’t even want to think about how many hours I spent on this dress! I think a lot of those hours were spent on the accessories – matching elasticated treat bag with lace, matching tiny-circumference gauntlets. You know, gauntlets, those glove-like things that go on the arms? Who knew?

But in the end, I think it was worth it, even if I am kicking myself for not remembering the off-white sash I also made to go across the bodice. Anya was thrilled and it really is a dress fit for a princess. Or maybe a flower girl. Ha ha.