Throwback Thursday: Huzzah for Costumes!

Halloween is approaching fast so I’m sure most of you have seen some costume ideas being kicked around the blogosphere. I’m currently working on my costume for this year (which I swear will be more awesome than the following), but thought I would share something I made for the Renaissance Festival last winter.

I know, I know… it’s not TRUE Renaissance, yadda yadda. I figured random corset + weird velvet-type skirt + my “Robin Hood” boots = Good enough for a Renaissance Festival in Arizona. And yes, I mentioned that it was during winter. You still need short sleeves here if you’re going to spend all day outdoors, even in the winter. Blazing sun 24/7 is hot, y’all.

I used Butterick B5662, View D:

It turned out to be a lot more simple than anticipated. Yes, there’s boning and grommets, but it’s not that bad and actually kind of fun… especially hammering those grommets!

I omitted the front lacing since the back was going to be crazy enough. I just went ahead and sewed the two front pieces together. This worked overall, but the seams where your boobs are supposed to go are a little too close together. *Shrugs*

I used leftover fabric from curtains I made for our bedroom (yes, I made hideous curtains and they won’t make an appearance on this blog… unless y’all really want me to make your eyes bleed). The lining is old bedsheets I hacked up. I didn’t know if it was going to be a success or not, so I decided to go on the cheap.

In-progress view of boning in the bed sheets… *snicker snicker*

The outer fabric is super heavy and durable, so it made for a good corset. I like how the geometric shapes came together (yes, I know, not Renaissance-y but whatevs).

The only bad thing about my corset is I made it too large. I think I made it in a size 10, thinking if I made it too small, I would be too uncomfortable. Well, it’s definitely pretty comfortable for a corset, the only downside is the back gets all kind of crazy with overlapping and weird grommet placement.

I also made the skirt out of stretchy velvet-type fabric. I used a basic maxi skirt pattern and added elastic in the waistband casing. Easy, breezy…. beautiful?

Overall, it was a success in my eyes and I felt Renaissance-y enough in it. If you add a belly dancing skirt belt and random wolf tail attached to your purse, it makes it Ren-Faire ready!

Hanging with DD and Angie

I stole this picture from Angie’s blog (my bad!). Go check out her fun post about her adventures at the Ren Faire and see her awesome handmade Scout shirt! Hollaaaaa.

-RED