Friday, October 2, 2009

More than I can chew, of course

So I think I've mentioned that I am making Chick a Bee costume for Halloween. I was thinking that I should get busy with that so that it doesn't end up half done like last year. I looked through my patterns & here's what I have:

View D.
Not only is this more involved than what I really should be doing (honestly? boning & a zipper?) but 1) it's the wrong size & I'd have to cut it down (not so much in the length, but in the width) and 2) the skirt is too high for the look that I want & I'd have to adjust it to put the skirt lower (just a yellow tulle skirt with black bias tape along the bottom edge, no petals).

I'd add yellow horizontal ruffles, either made with 3/4" ribbon or with narrow strips of tulle (somewhat like this, but more bee-like).

It's really insane, I think, because it shouldn't be that big of a deal--she'd be happy with anything...but isn't it the sweetest pattern? And it'll be fun to use it--though I could wait until she's the right size and talk her into being a ballerina then.

It seems like I could just alter a black shirt & add the ruffles and skirt, though I don't know how to add horizontal ruffles & still have the stretch that a t-shirt requires.... (I know many of you sew better than I do--how would I do that?). These are my favorite pics from the internet...



No matter what, she'll have antennae & wings, black tights with black leg warmers & black shoes, and a long sleeve black leotard underneith (to keep from freezing). Probably no stinger, unless some of you have great suggestions on how to add one to a tutu style skirted outfit?!

K, so obviously I need suggestions!

5 comments:

Grandmary said...

I think boning was used because they didn't have elastic fabrics in those days. You can just use a leotard.

It looks like a cute idea!

nikko said...

Skip the boning!

It looks like a cute pattern, but a little too much work for me. What if you just found a black leotard and made a tulle skirt and added whatever stripes/ruffles you want?

Katie said...

So cute!! I love the one on the left with the yellow/black leggings. we were thinking bumble bee for zoe this year, too, but we'll see. :)

The Fleeciest Baby said...
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Our little family said...

The last picture on the right is just a tied tutu. It's not even sewn at all. My sister used to sell them on Etsy and they are super easy to make. And you can make it as full or not as you want. Then just add the leotard like you mentioned and she'd be the cutest bumblebee. p.s. Lea was a bumblebee for her second Halloween too. We did this pattern http://betsyvintage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4071 and used the pumpkin view but did yellow fleece with black felt stripes.