Monday, October 28, 2013

Miss Mush Library Dress

J. loves the TV show Wayside High.  I think it's the accents more than anything.  Well, that and the crazy behaviour.  We've been on the waiting list for the books at the library for the past month but nothing yet; they must be good to be so popular!  J.'s an avid reader so I'm sure she'll love them when they do come in.

Anyway, the costume: I started with the Library Dress from Oliver and S.  It's a size 8 with 10 inches of extra length. It's a bit big for J. but that was on purpose -- you never know what the weather is going to be like on Halloween but she can wear layers underneath if she needs to (which she likely will!).


The fabric is a lovely soft purple chambray from Fabricland.  *Sometimes* I get lucky there.  It was on clearance and the person who cut it for me gave me almost a metre extra, that coupled with the fact that it was an extra wide bolt made this a very economical costume.  


My girls prefer zippers because they can do them up themselves so I replaced the button placket in a very scientific way -- I sewed a zipper in using a 3/4" SA instead of 1/2" and replaced the facings on the bodice with lining.  It worked but was not the most correct way to do it, I'm sure.  


I improvised for the hat and the apron using an old sheet.  J. wasn't happy with the hat and I might try again before the big day. It ended up being too puffy on top and not quite big enough to be comfortable as I neglected to factor in the wig in my calculations!


I've never been good at styling hair but I learned to do a sock bun!  In a plastic wig no less.  It's pretty cool, I must say because you can't see the sock at all.  It stood up to a day of play and I didn't even use bobby pins.  

J. is very literal and when we put all the pieces together, she wasn't totally convinced that she looked like Miss Mush.  I would argue the side-by-side pictures tell a different story :)




Cost:

Fabric: Chambary used 1.5 m $3.98, white was scraps + old sheet $0
Pattern: Library Dress bought from Fabrications $18.02
Zipper: stash 
Wig: $9

Total: $31