Saturday, October 18, 2008

Fall Sewing: Slimsterella

Slimsterella: That's what daddy calls this fuffy, twirling, blue muffin anyway. After given a few suggestions for Halloween costumes, Elyette, unwaveringly, wanted to be Cinderella. It was really hard to explain to her that "mommy has to work on it" and she must wait. Anytime Cinderella crossed her mind she'd say "have to work on it, mom". She's been talking about Halloween for weeks and weeks now, and she's learning patience. Her costume came in phases.

Phase 1: Fabric. We waited for sales of course. She had a blast with me picking out what we needed, but then she had to wait some more...

Phase 2: The petticoat*. I didn't have enough lining fabric so its very "pieced" together, but hey no one sees it anyway. This costume development held her over well. Elyette has wore the petticoat literally everyday. Even slept in it.

Phase 3: The dress. This one took a lot longer to get started on. When I have a "project", I have to mentally pound it out to see what it is that I want and how best to accomplish that. And in some cases it takes me little while to get the motivation to just do it (mostly due to fear of mistakes). Elyette's been very patient and I finally got to it and finished it 2 weekends ago.Phase 4: Accessorize! Gloves, earrings, choker, headband, and of course, glass slippers. I was hoping to find some affordable clear jellies. Now I've got skills in online deal shopping, but it just wasn't happening. The ones we got are big so they'll make good church/Easter shoes. Plus, Grandma Millar found some light up ones at the Disney store we are so looking forward to seeing.

The accessory details were all Elyette, by the way. She meticulously studied Cinderella thankfully I talked her out of "fingers" for the gloves and wearing the headband OVER her ears...

All in all, it was not mistake free by any means and of course, I had my frustrating moments, but in the end this was BY FAR my favorite thing I've made. Any disappointments melted away when a beaming little girl put on her masterpiece. I'm still totally a beginner, but I'm really LOVING this sewing thing, especially for such an easily pleased crowd. Its VERY rewarding! And she looks DARLING!!!

-Um, in case anyone notices she's wearing only one earring in the picture, she lost one already (hopefully that will show up).

*Ok, so for those that are thinking, "a petticoat even? Geeze, a little overboard, don't you think?"- Yes, I totally agree :). This costume is "DELUXE" because it was fun for me :). Elyette would have been happy with anything, but I really wanted to try my hand at something a little more elaborate than usual. I didn't cost much more and I had the time (or so I thought:)), so why not?

6 comments:

*Meg Larsen* said...

if you're a beginning than i'm in kindergarten special ed sewing...this looks amazing! she'll remember it forever :o)

Brittany said...

That is so cute! I wish I had your talent! Baylee's going to be Belle, but we bought her costume-no way could I ever make something that looked as great as that! We are waiting for after Halloween to hopefully find more costumes at a great price.

Melissa said...

I'm so jealous. Maybe when Penelope grows up her mom can be as cool as you.

F said...

SUPER cute! and REPEAT the "meg larsen" comment. :0] i definitely ride the sewing short bus compared to YOU as a beginner! awesome

SSToone said...

Holy smokes girl! You're amazing. I will reply to your email, I promise. There's this cool hair blog and she features Cinderella http://shedoeshair.blogspot.com/2008/10/halloween-haircinderella.html Though I doubt crafty/innovative you doesn't need any help! Nice work!

Katie B. said...

We were so impressed by that costume at the ward party. I told Jeff, "That's the best Cinderella costume I've ever seen." I had no idea you made it! Very impressive.