Monday, October 8, 2012

Making of Cleopatra costume


I can be a bit of a procrastinator at times, and in the past I've scrambled last minute to make Halloween costumes for my kids. Although they all happened to work out in the end, thank goodness, it was way too stressful for my liking. So this year I told myself I would 'get on it' earlier. I started working on it over the weekendWe used materials around the house: a pillow case, a paper shopping bag, and vinyl sticker paper.


1. I used a pillow case for Cleopatra's dress. I traced a dress I found in Maya's closet onto the white pillow case.  I chose a dress with simple lines. I left a 1cm seam allowance around the perimeter of what I traced. Cut out then sew. 

2. For the collar, I made a template out of card stock I had on hand. You can use a cereal box, cardboard, construction paper, pretty much anything that is a little thicker. The template really is a larger circle with a smaller circle inside. Make the inside circle a size that would fit comfortably around the neck. Cut around the larger circle, then cut out the center. It should look like a donut. Cut the 'donut' in half. I traced the half onto a gold shopping bag to make the base for the collar.



3. Make another one for the back of the dress. You will need two total.
Sew them onto the white pillow case dress.

4. I used a handle of the shopping bag, which was a nice golden rope that I sewed onto the collar for detail.


5. I then cut out gold vinyl sticker into rectangles and added it to the collar. It accentuates the fanned out look of the collar. I had Maya cut out her own jewels out of red and blue vinyl sticker sheets, then she applied it to the collar. It was a great way to get her involved with her own costume and she had so much fun doing it. We get our vinyl adhesive paper from our local hobbie shop. They sell it by the sheet.


 Gold, red, and blue metallic origami paper applied with glue would work nicely too.  



 She did a terrific job adding the 'lapis lazuli' and 'rubies' to her collar!  I thought it came out really nice and regal looking considering it was all made with what we had around the house. 



I hope you have fun designing your own costume!