Sunday, October 31, 2021

Witchy Woman

Back in the day, I used to make myself a Halloween costume each year, and I loved the process.  I would wear them to work, perhaps even making Mr. Valentino a matching costume.  Some individuals might look askance, but most people got a kick out of it.

A couple of years ago, however, I decided to go the novelty print route.

It's a bit more difficult to find Halloween prints as opposed to Christmas prints, but pairing the novelty print with an appropriate pattern is a fun challenge.  My other rule for this dress was going to be that I had to choose something other than a 1950s or 1960s silhouette.  I love that look, but I thought I should branch out a bit.

Early this October, I had an entirely different idea for a vintage pattern that I have wanted to remake in a holiday themed fabric, but the idea required two contrasting prints.  I didn't manage to find what I was looking for, but I did find this cute print at JoAnn Fabrics.

The pale background gave me a bit of pause since my pasty skin doesn't always do well with such a faded color, but I was hoping that the antique style print would make up for the ecru background.  And the style led me to McCalls 8141.  I barely had enough yardage, but I was determined to make it work once I had envisioned the final product.

Somewhere along the way, I decided that a little fascinator witch hat would make an excellent accessory.

I tried making a test run of a mini witch hat out of paper, but when I put it on my head, it looked ridiculous, and was nothing like what I had imagined in my head.

And then I went back and looked at the dress.

Although the pattern is a contemporary design, the dress I made has a decidedly 1930s look to it.  Which I am not complaining about!

So the solution was obviously to use a 1930s style hat pattern.  But since it was the weekend before Halloween, I was going to have to find something that I had on hand, and something that didn't require any extra purchases, only stashed bits and bobs.

A quick rummage through the stash, and I came across Simplicity 8486, which would give me a basic 30s silhouette.  To make the brimmed cap look like a witch hat, I added a folded piece of quilting batting to the hat, and draped fabric over the newly created shape.

The finished dress turned out even better than I had hoped, especially paired with the hat and my American Duchess shoes which have a definite witchy feel to them.

I absolutely plan to continue my yearly Halloween novelty print frock making so long as I can find fantastic Halloween prints!

Dress:  Made by me, McCalls 8141
Hat:  Made by me, Simplicity 8486
Shoes:  American Duchess "Alice"
Earrings:  Judith Jack

4 comments:

  1. What a fun outfit -- the dress and hat from this print is really wonderful!!

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  2. Estás estupenda con ése modelito tan apropiado ara ésta fecha. BESICOS.

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  3. This is great! I didn't look twice at this pattern when it came out and now it's on my list. I love your take on it!

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  4. The shoes, the headline, and the hat...again, you have outdone yourself.

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