GoblinCityCosplay
Active Member
My wonderful friend got us tickets to the Labyrinth ball at the Atlanta Center for Puppetry during Dragon Con, so this was a very last minute costume (three months in the making instead of six or nine).
When I revise this costume in the upcoming months, I will be making a full pannier, but for the sake of my sanity and scrap material left over from my Ella ballgown hoop skirt, I made pocket hoops using JP Ryan #14 pattern:
This pattern was very easy to use, but the directions were somewhat questionable in places. If I had more experience sewing, I feel like everything would have made more sense.
I mocked up the skirt next and cut the panels to go specifically over the pocket hoops:
I basically just draped fabric until it was the length over the hoops that I wanted. If I had made the skirt first, the hem might have been a bit wonky. I only hope it isn't too wonky over the pannier! Sarah does have pleats at the hips of her skirt:
The top skirt fabric also has horizontal lines in it. I was going to go with a white crinkle chiffon from Joann's simply because I lacked the time to rope pleat a silk chiffon top layer. But, when I looked at the wrong grain of the fabric (if you turn it this way...) it has running horizontal lines through it, so I just cut my pattern on the cross grain. I did an inverted pleat in the middle to mimic the front of her skirt. And I have five layers of fabric (I intend to make a petticoat later). The layers are from outer to inner:
Joann's Crinkle Chiffon on the Cross Grain, Joann's Pearlized Sheers, Joann's Mirror Organza, Joann's Pearlized Sheers, and a layer of heavy matte satin in white.
I used a rolled hem with two spools of opalescent metallic thread and one spool of bulky nylon.
Once I make the pannier, I plan on revising the skirt. Sarah's skirt hitches up in the front and I hitching the full length skirt doesn't look right, so it's better to make a false rise in the skirt and only have to hitch it a few inches:
For the base bodice I used Simplicity 1728.
For the sleeves, I used Truly Victorian Pattern #495 the massive mutton sleeves.
I layered a lot of fabric and was so intensely trying to figure out the right way to layer it that I didn't really take pics of the individual fabric, but some of it was Joann's and some was from a local store.
Silver Spider Tulle (Joann Fabric), Pealized Sheer (Joann), Nicole Miller Flower Fabric (Joann), Silver and Gold brocade (local), silver satin (local), then lined in cream satin. The brocade I used was base silver/white with yellow "amoebas" on it. If you can't find that, I would suggest using a yellow or gold fabric marker to color in some of the "amoebas" on a silver/white brocade.
I used the selvedge edge of a piece of mirror organza to make the frayed decoration on the bust line and let the ends hang out as Sarah's do.
The embellishments on her bodice gave me the hardest time. In photos of the gown there are iridescent, green and yellow gems like here:
But in screen shots, the gems are much more toned down:
The first thing I did was order two larger Swarovski crystals to use as anchor points for the gems. One iridescent and one amber colored. I mounted them and sewed them on with clear thread.
I ended up going with the yellow, green, and iridescent scheme. I bought a HUGE amount of all shapes and colors and pretty much put them into a giant bowl and used whatever I pulled out. The pattern of her gems is irregular and uneven pretty much everywhere, so I tried to follow that and added random gems over the bodice of the gown to make it look more purposeful.
For the sleeve layering, I used a silver lame base, the flower fabric, the pearlized sheer fabric, then a mirror organza on top. The cuffs were trimmed with silver lace. I used strips of mirror organza from the selvedge edge to gather the centers of the sleeves:
I finished things off with the necklace that utilized a lot of I-pins and the same beads I used on the bodice in no particular order aside from trying to match the necklace in the above pictures:
For the hair piece, I just twisted some wire and added ribbons.
When I revise this costume in the upcoming months, I will be making a full pannier, but for the sake of my sanity and scrap material left over from my Ella ballgown hoop skirt, I made pocket hoops using JP Ryan #14 pattern:
This pattern was very easy to use, but the directions were somewhat questionable in places. If I had more experience sewing, I feel like everything would have made more sense.
I mocked up the skirt next and cut the panels to go specifically over the pocket hoops:
I basically just draped fabric until it was the length over the hoops that I wanted. If I had made the skirt first, the hem might have been a bit wonky. I only hope it isn't too wonky over the pannier! Sarah does have pleats at the hips of her skirt:
The top skirt fabric also has horizontal lines in it. I was going to go with a white crinkle chiffon from Joann's simply because I lacked the time to rope pleat a silk chiffon top layer. But, when I looked at the wrong grain of the fabric (if you turn it this way...) it has running horizontal lines through it, so I just cut my pattern on the cross grain. I did an inverted pleat in the middle to mimic the front of her skirt. And I have five layers of fabric (I intend to make a petticoat later). The layers are from outer to inner:
Joann's Crinkle Chiffon on the Cross Grain, Joann's Pearlized Sheers, Joann's Mirror Organza, Joann's Pearlized Sheers, and a layer of heavy matte satin in white.
I used a rolled hem with two spools of opalescent metallic thread and one spool of bulky nylon.
Once I make the pannier, I plan on revising the skirt. Sarah's skirt hitches up in the front and I hitching the full length skirt doesn't look right, so it's better to make a false rise in the skirt and only have to hitch it a few inches:
For the base bodice I used Simplicity 1728.
For the sleeves, I used Truly Victorian Pattern #495 the massive mutton sleeves.
I layered a lot of fabric and was so intensely trying to figure out the right way to layer it that I didn't really take pics of the individual fabric, but some of it was Joann's and some was from a local store.
Silver Spider Tulle (Joann Fabric), Pealized Sheer (Joann), Nicole Miller Flower Fabric (Joann), Silver and Gold brocade (local), silver satin (local), then lined in cream satin. The brocade I used was base silver/white with yellow "amoebas" on it. If you can't find that, I would suggest using a yellow or gold fabric marker to color in some of the "amoebas" on a silver/white brocade.
I used the selvedge edge of a piece of mirror organza to make the frayed decoration on the bust line and let the ends hang out as Sarah's do.
The embellishments on her bodice gave me the hardest time. In photos of the gown there are iridescent, green and yellow gems like here:
But in screen shots, the gems are much more toned down:
The first thing I did was order two larger Swarovski crystals to use as anchor points for the gems. One iridescent and one amber colored. I mounted them and sewed them on with clear thread.
I ended up going with the yellow, green, and iridescent scheme. I bought a HUGE amount of all shapes and colors and pretty much put them into a giant bowl and used whatever I pulled out. The pattern of her gems is irregular and uneven pretty much everywhere, so I tried to follow that and added random gems over the bodice of the gown to make it look more purposeful.
For the sleeve layering, I used a silver lame base, the flower fabric, the pearlized sheer fabric, then a mirror organza on top. The cuffs were trimmed with silver lace. I used strips of mirror organza from the selvedge edge to gather the centers of the sleeves:
I finished things off with the necklace that utilized a lot of I-pins and the same beads I used on the bodice in no particular order aside from trying to match the necklace in the above pictures:
For the hair piece, I just twisted some wire and added ribbons.
