Giselle's dress, part 2

Giselle from Enchanted had such a beautiful dress, and here are some more elements we incorporated to make Ada's costume authentic:

Filmy waves of organza on the underskirt.

The organza I used has little vines and leaves embroidered into it--it's delicate and just begs for a little edging.  So I edged it.  I used white ribbon.  I love the way these frills move on the dress.  It's not exactly like Giselle's, but it's close.  She has a profusion of tulle waves on the underskirt.  I think these work just as well for our purposes.

An extra finish on the underskirt.

I like this ribbon finish on the hem seams on the underskirt.  I've got another idea to use this in something else for the girls--maybe a skirt or top for the spring.

I also added an extra slip-like underskirt with 5 yards of tulle gathered onto it.  It gives the skirt extra-extra volume.  Ada will wear a petticoat, too, so it should meet her "poofy" standards.

I am not quite finished with the whole costume--of course.  I have to make the butterfly and topstitch the sash.  And wow, do I need to trim the threads (you can see some of them in the photos).  Because I used the dupioni silk, it's going to be a long task--there are threads everywhere!

The last thing I'm considering is to possibly finish the skirt with glitterglue waves and embellishments in the same way Giselle's skirt was finished.  See the photo below for what hers looked like. 

What do you think?  Glitter embellishment?  No?  The glue works okay, but I'm not 100% sure it will stay nicely.  Then again, it's a costume!   Delurk and tell me what YOU think!  Thanks.

Next:  Ada in the costume, and a preview of Esme's costume.  

Giselle's dress Part 1

Inspired by the movie Enchanted, I made the Giselle dress for Ada to wear on Halloween.   For the past few days I've been away from the blog, and swimming in a sea of tulle, dupioni silk, duchess satin, organza, ribbon, and lacy trims.  

This was my first attempt at an elaborate dress (or any dress, for that matter!), and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Okay, really--I'm so happy with it that I'm practically jumping up and down.  Here are some of the highlights:

I used this pattern from Simplicity--8953.  I modified it a bit by incorporating a flouncy slip with tulle, and puffy sleeves.  Oh, and a butterfly on the top of the bodice!

Ada's big requirements were the puffy sleeves, lots of poof in the skirt, and embellishments.  My requirements were that it fits, has nice details (including lining and clean seams), and is modest enough for a seven-year old.  

Here are the results, with some closeup shots to show what I'm talking about.

Here are the sleeves.  This was an entirely new thing for me to try, so I had my fingers crossed the whole time I put it together.  Because I wasn't certain of how to sew the lining with the sleeves, I made the sleeves separately and lined them on their own, sort of as you would a pillowcase.  I hand-stitched them to the finished armholes on the dress after I had lined the bodice.   I loved how these turned out--by happy accident, I got to include an extra ruffle as I sewed them to the bodice, and the finished edges look really nice together.  It's a detail I would repeat again.

The overskirts:

I used duchess satin on these (it seems to be what Giselle actually wore in the movie), and they have a lovely drape and sheen.  I edged them with ribbon, lace, and beaded rosette trims.  Look how they all come together on the edge of the skirt.

The collar:  Again, I used the beaded rosette trim for the collar trim, which accents the silk piping edge that's between the lining and the outer layer.   

The lining.  I don't know if there is a reason clothing doesn't have beautiful lining.  I chanced it and used a pretty white-on-white cotton print for the inside of the bodice.  I really like the way this came out!

More soon! Stay tuned!

I've been away from writing on the blog for a few days, but with good cause:  the dress for Ada's Giselle costume.  Yum!  I am hoping to finish it sometime in the next day, and then post lots of photos.  It's really something, if I do say so myself!!

I've been dreaming of a....

Giselle would say "true love's kiss."  And I have that, lucky me!   

What I'm dreaming of lately is the movie Enchanted, and specifically, Giselle's dress.   If I can manage to gather all of this:

And sew it together here (with some help from our little friend peeperkitty),

Ada will have a Halloween fit for a princess.

I've been stitching this together in bits and pieces, and I am hoping to finish it this weekend. And then it's Esme's costume...just wait until you see what she wants to be!