Alice in Wonderland

"Um" from Alice in Wonderland

Picture from Google Search

I LOVE Alice's "Um" dress, and so this will be my costume for Book/Movie Day during the Halloween Costume Contest at my fabric store.  When I was watching the movie, I thought, 'That's gorgeous.  I want to try to make that.'  But with no practical application, the idea fell to the side, until now! 

So, TONS of research on this.  I thought about it for a long time, Google'd every picture I could and drooled over images that people had taken who actually went to premieres and showings of the costumes on display.  It's kind of irritating trying to piece together how the costume is actually constructed because there are several different versions in different sizes and the promotional pictures are different than the ones in the movie.  Ugh.  Well, I finally got a general idea of how I thought it was constructed and I came up with a first idea, which I threw out.  Then I came up with a second idea, which I liked until I found this blog which is where I was led to through Google when I found the above picture: http://hollywoodmoviecostumesandprops.blogspot.com/2010/10/alice-in-wonderland-dresses-and-stayne.html

Here, it is very clear how the skirt is constructed with the great photography of this blogger.  After having an idea of how it was constructed, I started coming up with my materials list and fabric choices.

Here is the red and black tulle I'll be using as well as black crinoline.  My original sketch is in the photo, too, but I didn't end up using that.

I won't outline the drama I went through looking for a white fabric with a black stripe that was sheer.  Suffice to say, I raided my friend Karyn's stash and found five yards of this sheer, which is close enough for my tastes, but I can hear the comments now.  No black stripe? Yes, that's right, I need the stripe.  So, I thought of  trim, and realized that would cost me a small fortune to put fifteen five-yard stripes on this fabric, AND we didn't have enough.  So, I thought I'd try cutting up black fabric to make the stripes.  That would be MUCH cheaper in the end.  Especially at $2.99 a yard at my fabric store.

 This is the black fabric I found.  It's actually black sheer with an 1/8" black stripe in it, but it's a polyester knit sheer... I tried cutting it to make the stripes using both scissors (not recommended) and a rotary cutter (I made it through one cut and I was done).  Okay, so, I'd have to try another avenue.

A close-up of the black stripe.

So, I work at a fabric store - I thought maybe I'd try the trim anyway, since I seem to be running out of options.  It's 0.49 cents per yard, and I needed fifteen stripes that were five yards long.  If you do the math out, that's 75 yards of trim.  Even at that price, I cringed a little.  Of course, I counted it out anyway because this would be MUCH easier to apply than cutting up that black striped fabric.  There was only forty yards. Double UGH!

I'm being shot down left and right here.  But, I just so happen to have a fantastic boss and he's letting me order ribbon from the company we get out trims from. There should be plenty to add the stripe.  I'll update you on this part of the costume when it gets here.

So, for lack of anything more fun to do, I started on the skirt part of the costume.  There are yards and yards, and YARDS of tulle and crinoline in this skirt.  So far... more than fifteen yards... good thing this stuff is light.

I started off with the base of the skirt using the black tulle because it would be softer brushing against my knee than the itchy/stiff crinoline.  I fashioned a quick black slip and attached the tulle to the bottom.

I mostly used my regular sewing machine for the tulle, but I used the ruffling foot on my serger for the crinoline over-layer.  Of course, after I got the over-layer on I had to go running around in the skirt to see how it functioned... with a few added spins for good measure... and I was pleased to see that it makes it up the stairs without me having to lift anything up. 

The white underneath is another pettycoat for a princess dress for Lisa, my co-worker.  She'll be the Disney Princess Ariel for Halloween.  I'm working on that, too, but I don't know if I'll get around to logging it's progress.  We'll see. : )









I think having both crinoline and tulle there adds dimension to it in more than one way.





Well, the costume has layers of red chiffon over the tulle and crinoline, so I made a quick circle skirt out of some red chiffon and threw it over what I had finished so far of the skirt to see whether it was the right weight and shade.  I think it's a little too thick, but I doubt we're going to get the perfect weight of red chiffon in by the time Halloween rolls around, so this will do.

The top two are with flash on and they give you more of an accurate idea of what the chiffon looks like in person, though the color is brighter.

The color is more accurate in this one, though it looks more opaque, which is what I don't want.  I'm still debating this chiffon.  So, with this success, I eagerly moved onto the red part of the over-skirt because I ran out of crinoline and I have to wait until the order of it comes in for me to get another four yards.

You can barely see it.  I attached about 5" of red tulle to a waistband and put it under the red chiffon to get an accurate idea of what it would look like.  I'm really hoping this chiffon will work out.  I keep going back and forth with it.

 

It's sort of easier to see the tier-affect with this next layer of red under the chiffon.  It's kind of crooked, but I'm getting tired, so....

Well, that's it for today.  I had the day off, so I got a lot of sewing done besides this too.  You can sort of see the pictures going from day into the night.  I'm beat.  This will be continued when either the ribbon or the crinoline comes in.  As of right now, though, I'm pretty happy with how it's coming.