Christmas Movie Costume Party

Yes, I know the title says Christmas Movie Costume Party and its still October. But, this year instead of me and Jason hosting our Ugly Sweater party, I thought I'd mix it up a little ;) and I needed to get a head start with planning and of course then the costume.

So, MOVIE CHARACTER THEME popped into my head.  
Above is one of my fav's - Pretty in Pink :)

Then for the next few hours, I, Ashton, Seren and Carys has a blast thinking who'd be like to be. Mind you Seren and Carys' costumes were for Halloween, as the Christmas party is for us older people lol

Ashton was quick off the mark who how she wanted to be and as my last blog post says, she's going as Phantom of the Opera for Halloween and the Christmas party. Then Carys said she was going to be Christine, then Seren followed with can we look at costumes lol

Me, well, figuring what I wanted to go as proved harder lol I knew I wanted to be in a girly costume but what. I love the 80's movies and vampire movies, but a lot of those outfits weren't what I was looking for.

 Take Aaliyah from Queen of the Damned and the hot Stewart Townsend- er...not wearing that lol Maybe if I was still 18 lol Ash and I went back and forth. I didn't want to be a superhero either.

Then the movie Labyrinth popped up and I knew exactly what I was going to go as - and no, it isn't David Bowie's character - Goblin king lol

I'm going as Jennifer Connolly's, character Sarah from Labyrinth and not in her jeans and top, but the ball scene where she wears that amazing totally 80's massive puff sleeves and dances with the Goblin King :)

Jason decided against going as the Goblin King - can you guess why lol Might be the tight pants, wig, and make-up lol

Instead, Jason decided to go as Indiana Jones :) 

Then came the Google process again and finding the dress. Now, I know there was no way I would find one just like the one above but I would try my best. I found one close enough on this site; Hallowencostumes.com. I waited with bated breath until the dress arrived. Now, I had ginger hair! Sarah has brown! So...... I purchased a wig from amazon.  Knowing all too well, I'd have to transform that long wig into how Sarah wear's hers.

The dress and wig came. :) This is the dress I bought. Not quite like the real thing right.

ASHTON MODELING IT :) Look at those sleeves!! Massive.

The dress was too long for me - that's what I get for being short lol and where the darts were on the bodice the organza had already pulled away :( BUT it didn't matter. I was going to take it all apart anyway and make it my own. And that's what I did. But first I had to find a match for the organza and the Casa bodice fabric that matched the skirt part of the dress.

Fabric.com and Fabricdirect.com worked great and I found the fabric I needed for a great price. I also picked up some ribbon, boning and lots of beading and applique for the bodice.

I unpicked the bodice from the skirt and sleeves from the bodice. And this is what It looked like. Then I used the original as my pattern. I laid it on my fabric and cut two sets. Outer and lining.

Below is the new bodice I made with the sleeves reattached. 

I used boning at the top of the bodice.

I then got to work, adding beads to the applique. I found bracelets that I used.

This is what I ended up sewing on to the bodice. I also added more beads and made fabric rosettes to add to it

Here is what it looked like after hours of hand sewing :) I also nipped and tucked the sleeves so they weren't as massive and added a gathered ribbon.

The skirt was easy. I shortened it from the waist by two inches, then made a waistband with hook and eye to close it. I added extra tulle under the skirt and a length of organza to the front where I hiked it up, making it look like Sarah's. I added a fabric rosette and beads.

The finished costume. It was once a whole dress and is now a separate bodice and skirt :) Which, I'll model when it's time for our Christmas party :) Wig and all.

Now - the wig.

I transformed the straight wig into this by back-combing and lots of Hairspray and pins. Not as full as the characters, but close enough. Then I began to attempt the hair decoration.

The head decoration. 

Lots of wire and using a plyers to bend and shape into something that resembled the original.

Testing as I went. Needless at this point it was too big lol

Once I was happy how it looked on the wig, I literally dripped hot glue onto the wire to thicken it and for it to hold its shape. Then sprayed it. Then added sprayed leaves and ribbon.

And the finished wig. 

It did turn out bigger than I expected, but it didn't matter and besides, I wasn't going to  make another lol

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Halloween Costumes

When your 7-year-old tells you she wants to be Christine (Emmy Rossum) from the movie from Phantom of the Opera and more specific the Point of no return scene with the Phantom (Gerard Butler)

The first thing you do is a search on google. Then you panic when you can't find that outfit for a child. As that is all Carys wants to be (her big sister Ashton is going as the Phantom. Which meant, I had to get creative and rely on my sewing skills.

I will say this though, I have done plenty sewing over the years, many of which were costumes for pantomimes that I was involved in back in Wales. However, I have never made a corset. So, back to the Google search and videos on how to.  Then it was fabric shopping time. The top and corset was an easy find. The skirt fabric not so much. I was lucky to find something similar on this Etsy site la20fabrics.

Then began the fun part - or  more like the frustrating part more like lol

This is what I was going to have to make.

The top was easy. I used one of Carys' top as the pattern - I didn't take pictures of the top making. It was pretty straight forward. Lay the top in half on fabric (on the fold) cut and sew. Then I added lace around the neckline.

The Skirt - this too, I didn't snap any pictures of making it. I simply measured the length from waist to ankle and cut a rectangle. Sew the edge and make a channel for the waist elastic. Then I did a little gather in the front of the skirt.

Then it was time for the corset. I made a paper pattern first. I literally wrapped the paper around Carys' upper body and drew the shape I wanted. Then cut that out and laid it on the fabric on the fold. I cut two sets. One for the outward and one for the lining. Now, I forgot to take pictures of sewing the corset. I laid right side to right side and joined the sides and top,  leaving the bottom. I simply sewed the boning on. Then I hemmed the bottom. 

Then sew the bottom.

 I had bought bias binding to use for the loops in the back of the corset and the less stiffest boning. At the bottom, I added the hem. Fold it back then sew it. So, you don't see any raw edges. 

I made the loops next. Cut small three inches and sew and add to the back.

I used a black ribbon and threaded it through the loops and added some small flowers in the front. Then I attached some sparkly embellishments

I then made the side tie skirt. I simply cut fabric on the fold in the shape that you see below. I  hemmed it and added elastic on the side to cinch it

All that was left was to try it on

I think you can tell by Cary's face, so is happy. And me, I think it turned out rather well, especially as I had no real pattern to follow :)

Seren's costume was easier lol She found what she wanted from Halloweencostumes.com 

She opted to buy a Huntress outfit. But she wanted it modified a little with her favorite color blue.

I made a quiver for the arrows.

I added blue to her hem, around the cape and hood, sash and belt.

Quite the cute huntress, even If I say so. We found her bow and arrow from amazon for $15. And it works too. Mind you in these pictures the feathers on the arrows had come off due her to playing with them. Since then, I have glued blue feathers on to them.

Now, all we have to do is wait for Halloween night to go trick or treating.

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