Tag Archives: bodice

March 29, 2026 · 5:21 pm

Faerie Queen in Spring )O(

Early spring blossoms

Merry meet all,

Snow coats the streets and sidewalks, determined to resist spring. The Pagan Association of Nova Scotia is hosting a Beltane Ball in May. I bought a ticket and I was completely inspired to work on my costume. I want to be a Faerie Queen! 

Although the event is in May, I”m busy preparing for it now. Faerie Queens are busy. I’m seized with inspiration. I pored over pinterest fae photos to get inspiration, including the faerie art by Brian Froud.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a beautiful purple/ pink faerie dress. I examined the dress more closely and I noticed it’s in need of repair. The elastic in the casing in the sleeves was expired. I whipped out my sewing tools and patiently seam ripped the sleeves. I decided that clear elastic was too frail, even for a Faerie Queen. The sleeves are fixed. I want to add longer lower sleeves to the dress and make a shoulder ruffle. The faerie dress is fragile. The sleeve ruffle might stabilize the fabric. I lightly touched up the edges of the sleeves and bodice using clear nail polish to prevent fraying. I sewed  beautiful lavender colored embroidered flowers to the front of the faerie dress. That made the dress look even more beautiful. I want to sew a zigzag stitch to the dress hem. I sewed a shimmery trim to the dress hem. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also made a lovely hobo bag. I didn’t want to carry around a backpack all night, especially since I may be wearing faerie wings. I sewed myself a lovely magical hobo bag. I just love it. The faerie dress and the slip need more mending. 

I sewed a short overskirt to the faerie skirt and trimmed the overskirt with ribbon. The overskirt isn’t visible with the faerie dress, but I am sure if I dance or something, it will be visible then. The deep purple overskirt sprinkles faerie glitter everywhere. 

I am so proud of my faerie leaf mask. It turned out better than I expected. I don’t have the skills to work with leather (yet), so I used the cardboard from a cereal box. I painted the mask green using three coats and let the paint dry between coats. I used a scissors and an exacto knife to cut it out. I found a pattern and etched in the fine arched lines of the mask. I cut out the eyes. I used a hole punch on the far sides of the mask to be able to secure ribbon when I want to wear it. I plan to add moss, leaves (lots!), and feathers. I’ve decided to use artificial oak and maple leaves and glue them on with a hot glue gun. I promise to add photos when I am done. I also have to get my mitts on a pair of faerie ears. I found my faerie wand and wings. The fae gifted me a twig and I want to add it to the crown. I can’t wait till I get to Michaels arts and crafts. I glued green felt oak leaves, artificial leaves and flowers to the mask. I love how it looks. I have to make the large green felt oak leaf more stable and created a green butterfly from clay. I adhered a clay loop to the butterfly so I could hang it from a chain. The butterfly had to be secured with hot glue. I secured two long green velvet ribbons to the mask. I glued two green felt maple leaves to the back of the mask. I want the front and the back of the mask to look great. I repainted the back of the mask. I touched up the black paint on the mask with gold acrylic paint.  I painted a clear sealant to the mask. That makes it permanent and it also added a nice shine to the mask. The mask looks even more amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The corset – I seam ripped the fasteners on the corset. I’m installing eyelets to use as fasteners. Yup this sure is turning out to be a faerie queen costume. Today I installed the eyelets and laced up the bodice. I love how it’s all coming together. 

 I want to add herbs, gemstone chips and a tiny scroll to a small vial with a cork top, and coat green and purple candle wax on the cork, then insert a jump ring to attach to a chain, add another jump ring at the bottom of the vial, then add another fairyish charm such as a butterfly/ fairy feather or a gemstone. One vial is a gift for my friend and the second one will be for me. 

Today I attempted to sew the crinoline sleeve to the dress.  I could not sew the long sleeves to the shorter sleeves because both sleeves needed an elastic casing. I will use a safety pin to adhere the lower sleeves to the upper sleeves. The lower sleeves are beautiful. I did finally finish mending the slip, sewed in the zigzag stitch at the hem of the faerie dress, and sewed the shoulder ruffles but I still have to sew them onto the sleeves. I may have to sew by hand because my sewing machine does not like crinoline. I glued a few flowers to the dress. The faerie dress was a lot of work to repair, but I learned a lot in the process, so that made it worth it.

My crown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought these beautiful butterfly clips which I will adhere to the dress. I have the faerie wand, mask, ears, wings and gown. The last detail I have to work out is a crown. I have a few options: the gold Arwen crown, a circlet, the circlet that came with the wings. I’ll figure it out. I have a few options for how to style my hair and makeup. I still have lots of time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to coat the frayed parts of the faerie dress with clear nail polish. The fabric is fragile and tends to fray, so that should take care of it. I glued the fairy wings back onto the poor fairy. She can now fly and flit over tops of flowers or sip honey nectar tea. I touched up the faerie house a little bit. I painted a white crown of thorns with a spellbinding mixture of brown, green and gold. I love how it turned out. It looks regal, and earthy. The gold enhances the earthy brown color nicely. 

I sewed a second corset today. The corset is black with embroidered butterflies. I had to sew the black mesh fabric to natural black cotton because I didn’t want the interfacing to show. I sewed the lining separately then sewed them together. I had to make a slight adjustment to the corset size. Once I figured out how much extra fabric I needed, I stitched that to the corset. I have to install the eyelets. Then it will be complete. It looks great with the faerie dress and skirt! I used a pdf underbust corset pattern from Etsy. 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally installed the eyelets into the corset. The corset is complete. It was a lot of work to do that, but well worth it. I love how it looks now. Sweet and edgy. I set up my work area at the table, and hammered the grommets into the fabric. I hammered on a cloth covered board. I could see the indents from the hammering. I am happy the corset is done now. I chose deep blue velvet ribbon for lacing the corset. The corset looks beautiful. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made a jar of faerie dust for a friend and I’m soon making one for another friend. I bought miniature bottles with chains from Michaels. I love that store! I ground chamomile, calendula, elderflower, lavender and rose petals to a fine powder then added the ground herbs to the jar. I sealed the jar with beeswax. It really looks like faerie dust. Well, it is!

 

 

This faerie queen will celebrate Beltane in style with my beautiful Beltane gown. Till then,,…

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

 

 

 

 

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November 17, 2024 · 7:19 pm

Witch Gown in Progress )O(

 

Greetings darklings:

The wind grows colder. Golden leaves are strewn over the streets and clog the gutters. Yes my darklings the dark half of the year is back. I love this time of year.

I have been busy sewing the blue Arwen gown I posted about earlier. I am so close to finished and yet so far from finished. I have finished the sleeves. I sewed in a casing for the cords on both sleeves.  I worked in the cords through the casing on both sleeves. The cords average about thirty centimetres.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I seam ripped the grey sari trim from Etsy and I made a facing the second time. This time, I got it right. I sewed in the facing only instead of sewing the facing the way it says to in the instructions, I just sewed it in next to the collar seam. I had to seam rip the entire centre back seam because it was uneven. I have basted the centre back seam. I want to sew the zipper in tomorrow at the library. I love how the dress looks. It is very fairy like. I sewed a second collar with the navy blue knit fabric and the embroidered blue lace. I plan to sew that on or slip stitch it onto the first collar. I want to arrange the second collar over the first collar to look like there is 2 dresses like in the photo below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took a break from the dress and began working on the bodice. I cut out the pattern pieces and I had left them aside for some time. I ironed them all. I was on my own. That means no room for error. 

I’m using this beautiful midnight blue velvet/ velveteen. It is the most beautiful colour. I did a gathering stitch on the front of the bodice and the double darts in the back of the bodice- which I did perfectly for once in my life. It is doing the eyelets lacing strips on the front of the bodice that has taken the most time. The seam allowance on the bodice front was hard because it did not want to stay down.
I sewed three blue lace sections onto the front of the bodice, one on the right and the left and one in the centre. Then I added interfacing to the wrong side to stabilize the lace up section. I stitched down the eyelet strips by hand and then I realized I could not get the laces through the eyelet holes. So I seam ripped the eyelet strip and wove the ribbon through. Tip: I burnt the edges of the ribbons first with a lighter just a little to make it easier. A safety pin refused to go through the eyelets. I stitched the strips down again. Now it is done. Argh. Now I have to sew the shoulder seams and sides of the bodice and then sew on the bias tape and a zipper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I photocopied the pattern piece & printed it out. I adhered interfacing to the pattern piece and cut out the dart section I needed. I was using a dark coloured fabric so tailor tacks or chalk was not letting me be as precise as I had to be. I marked with pins where the dots were. I laid down the fabric under the whole pattern piece and lined it all up and marked with chalk where the darts had to be on the fabric. It was easy! It is probably why I made great darts because that step allowed me to easily see where it had to be. I am so proud to have sewn such perfect darts. The darts are shown in the photo above but they may be hard to see. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I sewed the shoulder seams and the side seams of the bodice together. I trimmed the hem of the bodice a little to make the edges of the fabric meet evenly.  I also sewed the bias tape to the hem of the bodice, the upper part of the bodice and the armholes. I am so tired and sore now. This project has been a lot of work and a bit more cost than I had planned. I had to order a pattern for the dress because it was initially missing or so I thought. I had to buy the fabric which cost more than I thought. I still have lots of fabric left over. I bought a dress form. It has cost a lot but I believe it is worth it. I stapled the receipts together. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is too dark and cold to wear the dress now. I put in a lot of hard work and time to make the dress. If I don’t do it now, it will eat at me all winter. I only have a little to do now. I have other projects to concentrate on so that is why I am glad I devoted the time I had to it now. I still have to sew in the zipper into the back of the bodice and a zipper into the back of the dress. I have decided that tomorrow I will sew the blue lace trim onto the hem of the dress. I’m sewing the trim onto the right part of the fabric- the top side. I trimmed the raw edges and excess of the hem earlier so there will be no issues with it later. I can’t wait to see how this all looks and to get to do the Grand Reveal!

The bodice is beautiful. I have to touch up 1 or 2 spots where the lace and the trim  is loose on the fabric but that is easy to fix with a slipstitch. I can’t decide what I should use for the braided trim to go on the bodice – the hem, the upper part of the bodice and the armhole seam.  I love how the bodice turned out and I am sure it will still fit despite the fabric taken in because of the darts, the gathering stitch and the seam allowance. 

Today I finished the bodice. I can’t believe how beautiful it all is. I learned how a zipper is set in. I learned a lot! I know now which presser foot – the zipper foot to use. I know how to line up the fabric with the zipper foot. I know how to sew a machine baste and how to hand baste the zipper in. I know which stitch width and stitch length to use for sewing a zipper in. I know how to sew it in, line up the presser zipper foot and seam rip a zipper out. I am so proud of myself. I did way better with that than I ever expected. I just need way more confidence in myself. I always relied on someone else and now I can do it on my own. I seam ripped the machine basting after I sewed. I am so much more confident in myself now. 

I am not lining the body of the dress, only the sleeves. I don’t need to fully line the dress which would be a total pain in the ass. Instead, I own a chemise from Holy Clothing. I can wear that with the dress. I still have to seam rip the zipper out of the dress that goes with the bodice and redo the sleeve upper cap area. I am doing all that at the library. That saves me a ton of frustration and tidying up. I need the extra help. I have taken so much care with the garments this far. I just can’t have the upper cap of the sleeve sewn in wrong and the zipper done wrong. I just can’t have it. Then I am done! I want to sew grey lace trim on the inside hem of both sleeves and sew a white trim in under the neckline. I want to check it all over for holes in the seams. I can’t believe I have gotten to this point. 

Update!: The sleeves and the zipper are done! I repaired and sewed the second collar to the bodice. I finished sewing the grey lace trim to the lining of the sleeves. Now all the hard work is done! I want to put the finishing touches on the dress and then it is time for the Grand Reveal! 

 I can’t wait to do the Grand Reveal. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I await what the dark half of the year has to offer. I will  finish the dress tomorrow night. I have many other projects to focus on. I can’t wait as it all sounds exciting! 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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January 18, 2022 · 2:56 pm

Wool coat of my dreams in the Making

Merry meet all,

I am bitten by the sewing bug once again! My next sewing project is a wool coat. Inspirations seized me! I wish the muse would arrive and help me with writing the same way but that’s another story. The coat will be tons of hard work. I am nervous about sewing it so to combat my anxiety, I have researched how others have done it and how it is done. I have been lucky so far. The pattern is vintage and has lots of details: a lined hood with darts, buttons and buttonholes, facing and interfacing, upper and lower collars, a centre front and back with middle fronts and backs, and side front and side back. It is enough to scare the most seasoned sewer. 

This project will not be an instant overnight effort. It may take me a week to a month to sew the coat. I have the lining fabric, I have cut out the pattern tissue, the pattern pieces. I want to do a mock up of the whole garment but I can’t afford it right now. I did a mock up of the sleeves. I am really glad I did for two reasons: I realized I needed to add an inch to the lower hem of the under sleeves on each arm and I learned how to sew the under sleeve to the upper sleeve. I also learned how the sleeve would feel on my body. I can easily move my arm up, down and in a circle. Making adjustments early on in the construction of the coat saves a person so much pain later on. When I cut out the pattern pieces (of the wool), I laid the whole 4 meters down on the floor and cut each pattern piece out in a single layer. I had to sweep and mop the floor – cat hair much? Then I flipped over the pattern tissue to cut the pattern on the left side. The fabric covered the kitchen floor. 

I like the colour of the lining for the coat. It matches the coat and has a brown reddish colour but it will do. The interfacing is black except for the belt. The black interfacing will match the brown wool coat. The fabric for the coat is a gorgeous brown soft wool/polyester fabric. I love it. Oh so beautiful! The interfacing for the belt is white but it will be concealed. I have the threads, a belt buckle, the belt pattern is cut out and ready to go and I cut out the pattern too for the belt carriers. The belt does not go with the McCalls 6800 pattern B, but I love how couture it looks. So the belt stays. 

I pinned the centre front, middle front and side front patterns together and tried it on. The centre front pattern piece stops just above my knee. The pattern of the coat has a high and low hem. I hope it all fits me correctly. I might get a bit of fabric from Fabricville so I can do a mock up of the rest of the coat. Or if that isn’t possible, I can pin all the pattern pieces together and try it on and see how it fits on me. I don’t own a full length mirror or a dress form (at least not one that truly mirrors my figure), so I have to wait until I can get a mirror. In the meantime, I will pin all the pattern pieces together then see how it fits on me. Again, if I am to make a mock up of the left side of the whole coat for myself, I need newspaper, tracing paper, muslin etc, to do it. 

I still have to cut out the lining and the interfacing for the coat. After that, I need to transfer all the markings and notches to the wrong side of the pattern on the wool fabric. I am going to make my own press cloth. I don’t want to scorch the wool and so I will not be pressing on the top right side of the garment, only on the wrong side. I sew the facings to the lining and sew the lining and facing to the coat. That is so just nightmare inducing. I can’t get my head around how I turn the facing and lining to the inside of the coat. But I am not at that stop yet. I am grateful that I had enough fabric for all these pattern pieces. I searched for the fabric at Fabricville but I didn’t see it there. I purchased 4.5 meters of the beautiful soft brown wool. There was not much remaining on the bolt after that. I also bought the wool on sale – 50% off a meter! Excellent. 

Anything that is worth doing is worth all the hard effort. I am confident I will turn out a beautiful brown wool coat. This investment has to last a lifetime. Wool is a resilient fabric! I completed the bodice corset that I sewed to accompany the awesome black witchy top I bought from Killstar. I need to add on a black bias tape so the lining of the corset doesn’t show on the outside or top side of the bodice. I need to stock up on extra bobbins. 

This may be extra ambitious of me well, anyone hoping to sew a wool coat is ambitious period, but I’m sewing my own press cloth. I just laid two pieces of white cloth together and tucked in the raw edges. I ironed and pressed it. I will sew it once I have an extra bobbin. I was hoping to go to Fabricville today but I have to wait the delivery of a parcel- a bad ass hoodie from Wish. I have muslin for a press cloth fabric but the sewing machine won’t sew muslin. Argh! I am not the patient type but in order to make the coat, I shall have to try. 

The next turn in the Wheel of the Year is Imbolc! I shall keep you posted!

 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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