Halloween is a one of my favorite holidays - pumpkin patches, corn mazes, costumes and candy - it doesn't get much better than that. It's no secret around my house that at least one of my girls (ahem, this one ^) uses Halloween to annually refresh our collection of dress-up clothes with cinematically inspired pieces that she's been day-dreaming about. But make no mistake, we are not garnering any awards from the Academy by transforming into anything gruesome or grotesque. Only lovely ballgowns and pieces like this whimsical, ruffle-y skirt for my two girly girls. And mama made, please.
Abby loved the Violette Field Thread's Vivienne Skirt Pattern for her version of the Mad Hatter. I followed the instructions pretty faithfully except when creating the ruffles. I used a woven fabric and, rather than using my serger to finish the edges of the ruffles, I cut each fabric strip wider to allow for a narrow hem on the top and bottom of each band. Also, I left the decorative buttons off of the skirt, mostly because in the middle of the night, (when I was finishing this costume), I didn't especially miss them.
The base of her hat was a doll-size top hat from the Christmas section of Michael's. I used a craft knife to cut a slit on either side of the hat so that I could thread a ribbon through and hold it securely on her head. Then, I decorated it with ribbon, buttons and bits of a floral pick with large pink sequins on it.
I like the whole outfit and the slightly steam punk feel of it. I originally intended for her to have a raspberry pink corduroy blazer but, unfortunately for this happy hatter, it wasn't finished in time for Halloween (and is still 3/4 of the way finished and hanging in my closet). Halloween is over but all of the fun dress-up pieces will have starring roles in upcoming skits, performances and fashion shows with my daughters and their friends.
Photography by Jessica Peterson
This is positively fantastic. I love the fabric choices and steam punk vibe.
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