Tag Archives: costume

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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January 9, 2026 · 11:29 pm

A Victorian Nightgown

Merry meet all,

Today I want to share with you how I sewed a Victorian nightgown. 

I bought a pdf pattern from Stella Pattern on Etsy. I usually use a regular tissue pattern, but this time I bought a pdf pattern. I knew I could never get the pattern I wanted from McCalls or Vogue patterns, certainly not a Victorian nightgown pattern. I downloaded the files and read them carefully. I wish the seller told me how much fabric I required for the pattern. That would have been helpful. Here is the link for the pattern I bought on Etsy – 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1831703923/victorian-nightgown-sewing-pattern?ref=yr_purchases

The construction of the Victorian nightgown had some unforeseen challenges.  I bought 4.5 meters of yellow eyelet cotton, 100% cotton, on sale. 

I downloaded a pattern size, which turned out to be the wrong size. I used size 14, when I should have used a 16 or 18. Our bodies change as we age. I needed to make adjustments to the pattern. The pattern consisted of two long front and back pieces, the neckline facing, sleeves and sleeve flounce and hem flounce. I cut out the pattern at the library and that was not a good thing. It was not till I did a fitting that I realized the body of the nightgown would be too tight on me. Okay I altered the armholes after checking that out in a vogue sewing book. I cut into the armhole seam, basted the sleeve in and then basted the sleeve in twice, and then decided how much more I needed to cut into the armholes. I did not trim the seam, but I did cut into the seam and clipped the seam to make the armhole have more room to fit my arm. That would make the whole nightgown more roomy and comfortable for me, which a nightgown should be. I may need to alter the neckline facing. 

I cut out the flounce for the sleeves twice. The second time I cut out the sleeve flounce correctly. The pattern says to cut out on a fold. I am so happy that I cut it out again -which is why it is a good idea to always have more fabric. It is easier to make something larger, rather than smaller. The sleeve flounce needs to have that fullness. 

So once that was done, and I was happy with how the nightgown felt on me, I permanently set in the sleeves. When you are constructing the nightgown or any other sewing project, that is the best time to make the alterations. Not when you are done sewing, because you are not truly done. I got distracted when I cut out the front and back pattern pieces, and ended up having to sew the front piece center section together, which was supposed to open on a fold. Oops! I made a very slim seam allowance and with the arms not fitting earlier, I was glad I did. That meant more room for me. 

The fabric is very delicate. I stitched slowly and carefully. I know sewing machines can sew fast, but I chose sewing carefully. The end result is the nightgown looks great. 

I decided that the best way for me to know the front from the back was the slim seam allowance in the center front pattern piece. The back center section has a slightly wider seam allowance. 

I sewed the neckline facing, and I set in the sleeves and I sewed the flounce. The flounce intimidated me. I had to figure out how to sew the two big sections together. There was a front and a back, but by the time I figured out how to sew the front and back together, and stay stitch and hem the flounce,  I could no longer figure out back from front. I pinned the flounce right sides together. I stitched the flounce to the nightgown hem and pressed it. I clipped the seam allowance, pressed the seam allowance and checked the flounce and the hem. There were two spots where the fabric was caught in the flounce or a hole in the seam, but I quickly fixed those issues. 

The eyelet cotton was very easy to work with. I stitched a zigzag stitch into the center back seam allowances and the arm and arm flounce pieces. The eyelet cotton  material is very light and delicate. I did not want it to fray or unravel. I did my best to whip stitch the seam allowance for the arms. The zig zag stitch was a huge challenge, because the seam allowances are narrow and the fabric is fragile, but I managed. I snipped the stray threads.

Next, I want to line the nightgown. I have to mimic the nightgown pattern, but I will manage. I always wash the fabric first to eliminate the formaldehyde preservatives the stores use on the fabric to extend the fabric shelf life in the store. I will then cut out the pattern, except I am not making another flounce, neckline stitch or sleeves. I just don’t want the nightgown to be so see through. 

I bought white thread to correspond with the white lining material, which I also bought on sale at Fabricville. The eyelet cotton was 66.67% off, so instead of paying $90 for the fabric (unreal!), I paid $40. That and the threads and the lining material, this took 3 days to sew and cost me $50! It is sewn correctly and neatly and will always just fit me. The zig zag stitch ensures it won’t unravel or fray too much. I set in the sleeves three times before I was happy with the fit. 

I washed and dried the fabric. They put formaldehyde in the fabric to give it a longer shelf life in the fabric store. Now I just have to make sure the fabric is on the grain and start cutting! 

Once I am done sewing the lining together, I have to sew it to the nightgown. The pattern is always sewn right sides together. I have two meters of fabric, so the lining will be easy to do. I just have to keep in mind the alteration I did to the nightgown and do that to the lining or just add an extra inch to the whole pattern. I am sure it will be lovely. 

Today I tried – tried being the key word there, to make a lining. I seam ripped the neckline facing. I sewed the neckline again and this time I did it correctly. The nightgown is now done. I will check tomorrow for any small touch ups that need to be done, but it is complete and correct. I think the victorian nightgown looks great. It fits true to me. It is just beautiful.  

Does this inspire you to sew your own nightgown? I hope so.

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

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February 17, 2025 · 5:05 pm

Grey gowns and grey skies

Merry meet all,

Recently I sewed myself a lovely grey dress. I intended the dress to be worn with the black overdress from Holy Clothing. Today’s post will focus on the sewing of the dress. I love how my dress looks! Tres beau I wanted a dress that was similar in style to the chemises from Holy Clothing but I knew I could make it much cheaper myself. Shown below is a photo of the chemises from Holy Clothing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made one big mistake- well, okay a few mistakes but that happens with sewing. I didn’t initially have enough fabric to cut out the pattern pieces. I wanted this dress to be ankle-length. As a result, I had to make new calculations. I had to add more fabric onto the hem of the dress to extend the length of the dress. But more on that later. 

The dress – a work in progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pattern of the chemise in the photo above is very different but I think I achieved it with my grey dress. 

The grey dress shown with the black overdress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I finally had enough fabric and had all the cotton pieces cut out and marked, I proceeded with the sewing. I used the pattern Simplicity pattern 5189. The pattern is simple and uncomplicated. I wanted an easy pattern. I am still suffering burnout from sewing the Arwen dress. However, I did make a few changes from how the pattern is meant to be completed. I made some modifications. I added the short sleeves and added elastic to the hems of the sleeves. I didn’t have a wide enough neckline to add in elastic. Next time, the dress will have a wider neckline so it can be worn off the shoulder. I added a ribbon and grey lace trim to the neckline and the cap sleeves.

I could not believe how easy the sleeves were to set in. I added the grey embroidered fabric lace to the front of the dress. I love it. It is a dark silver romantic 3D floral lace with beads. The trim is just beautiful. I also added a grey drawstring ribbon in the neckline and sleeves. 

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/766918166/dark-silver-romantic-lace-3d-flower?ref=yr_purchases

The hyperlink leads to Etsy and which exact seller I purchased the lace from, in case you are interested in buying it for yourself! I sewed the extension of the hem. That was a lot for me to figure out. Ugh it could have been better but I didn’t have all the fabric pieces together when I cut out the patterns. It still looks good though, thanks to careful sewing and pressing the seam allowance after. I had to sew sections together and I had to fix the sewing machine. Thankfully, the sewing machine was not hard to fix. I eased in the hem extension sections to the existing dress hem. I want to add ribbon to the seam to conceal the section where I had to ease it in. 

 

Almost Done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had to remove a few puckers from the seams, and do a fitting to make sure the dress fit me. I am very happy with it. I believe in taking my time and sewing my best. I wish I had a larger table to work on instead of my ironing board. That would make a huge difference for me. Also I don’t have the best lighting to do sewing in either. I hope that changes soon. My other option is to sew at the library. Then I can have access to a large table and better bright lighting. That really improves the quality of sewing if I am not straining my eyes. I can’t wait for the warmer weather to return, because that means everything is brighter. I cannot wait for spring. 

I ordered a pattern for another long simple dress to sew. The pattern is Simplicity N6775. I want to sew a nightgown dress to lounge around in at home. Something I can relax in and feel comfortable in. I hope I have enough fabric for it – the blue knit tricot fabric I used to make the Arwen gown. The pattern is simple. I just want a pullover dress that is relaxing and casual. Fabricville did not carry the pattern to my dismay so I had to order it online. The link below connects to the website that has the pattern if anyone wants to get the same pattern. If not, I will buy more fabric. 

https://simplicity.com/new-look/n6775

The grey dress looks ultra feminine and a little sassy – which is the embodiment of feminine, right? Right I love the dress. It can be worn on its own or with the black overdress. Sewing the dress myself saved me a ton of money rather than paying for shipping and handling and ordering it from Holy Clothing. Now I plan to order about 3-5 meters of the organic cotton cambric fabric and making another simple dress with it. I want to dye the fabric green though. But I hope to have enough of the blue cotton knit for the dress I want to lounge around in. Sweatpants are not feminine. I am enjoying sewing my own clothing because I don’t like the clothing in the malls. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune though. I want to share an image of the finished grey dress with Holy Clothing. I hope they see what I did and see how they inspire me! The cotton cambric is the fabric that they use at Holy Clothing. 

My book launch for my published novel The Cult of the Spider People: Bone Chillers #1 is fast approaching. I am so nervous. I also hope the launch is successful. 

Don’t get me wrong. Sweatpants are great but I love my feminine witchy style. Bring it on! I hope this inspires you to sew your own clothing. 

Blessed Be Spiderwitch

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December 31, 2021 · 1:52 pm

Miranda Spiderella the Goth Doll )O(

 

 

Merry meet all,

I hope you all had an amazing holiday! 

I watched an episode, Demon under the Stairs, from the Haunted Museum recently. As I did, I suddenly experienced the worst pain in my jaw. It might be coincidental but the timing sure is worthy of note. Like I am not kidding, it was the most painful thing I ever experienced next to the nightmarish experience I had at the dentist’s office. Needless to say, I am no longer visiting that dental office. I am buying a big chunk of selenite to protect me from anymore possible ‘attacks’. I mean you know, just in case. 

I watched a video about demons on YouTube in the past. As I watched, I felt a big muscle spasm between the shoulder blades. That really hurt too. Maybe it was coincidental or maybe I need to up the ante of this pain I suffer when watching certain videos. For any of you who are reading this, I do have psychic protection posts I wrote in the past on this blog. 

Energy is real and all around us. Energy makes everything happen. We are composed of electromagnetic energy. The Universe is energy. A leaf has an energy as does an orange. As I type, rain falls from a grey leaden sky. I keep pining for summer but winter is here. Sometimes I have seen so much ice and snow in my backyard it seems that summer would never return, but it does. I hate winter but I know it passes. The change of the seasons never ceases to amaze me. Everything is energy and nothing is finite. 

 I am inspired to sew a scary doll. She is not haunted but she will be hopefully if I take her places that are speculated to be haunted. The photo shows the layout of the pattern pieces. The body of the doll is white. The hair which will be mostly made up of black and some purple yarn, she will have buttons for eyes, and her dress is a black and white spider print fabric I stashed in the sewing cart. The sleeves are the same fabric as the dress. The stockings are a grey fabric with a black bat print and the boots are black. She will get a witch charm necklace, a broom and a witch hat. I think she will be so Goth and cute. I can’t wait to work on the doll! Then of course, she will need a name. No, I will not name her Morticia. There are a thousand dolls named Morticia. Claudia would suit her though. Maybe she will need fangs and a driving hunger for blood? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ha! The entire doll – the body of the doll and the dress has to be sewn with a 1/4″ inch seam allowance. I had to find out how that is done. My needle plate shows a 3/8″ inch, 5/8″ inch and 7/8″ inch seam allowances. So the 1/4″ inch seam allowance is before 3/8″. You can now imagine that means a tiny, narrow seam allowance. Now I know where that is indicated because 1/4″ inches is 2/8″ inch. I have to see slowly and carefully. Wow. I will never be so precise as now. I made a doll in the past and I was never this careful. That’s because I am now using a pattern. To make it worse, the body of the doll and the clothing which will forever be a part of the doll is white. It will all show if I screw up. I will mark with tape where the mark is where I have to sew. Sewing slowly and keeping an eye on it will be the only way to get this done. This is not a rush job. I have  never needed to sew in a 1/4″ inch before. Needles to say, I don’t look forward to it but it is not impossible. That’s why marking rulers and understanding math can come in handy- and patience!

I can’t wait to stuff the doll and sew the costume. But that comes after patiently sewing the doll and minding the seam allowance. Or it is all for naught. Too much work to go through for nothing. But anything worth doing is worth doing well. I will post photos as I go along. This will be a fun weekend project. I googled goth scary witch dolls. I am going for a scary cute goth look. The buttons I wanted to use might be too big for her face. I ordered black skull buttons online at Amazon. I don’t want to use regular buttons on the doll. I need a button at the collar and on her boots. Skull buttons will make her look edgy and with attitude. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to make this doll, use the pattern by Kwik Sew 4390. That is the pattern I used. You have to have all the fabric at hand that you will need. The clothing is sewn to the doll’s body and is never intended to be separate from the doll. The body of most of the doll is white. The stockings and the booties (See legs of doll in the photo) are the clothing. The arms are white and the face and neck. The hair piece that gets sewn to the head of the doll has to be the haircolor and the yarn has to match. Since the yarn hair was black, I used black cotton for the hair front and hair back. Be sure to use matching thread. Sew the eyes on last or before you attach any other parts to the doll. I wanted to use big buttons for her eyes but the buttons were too big.  Here are some photos I took on the progress of the doll: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you sew the arms and legs, you cut out four pieces. The arms have to look right on the doll and are reversed of each other. One right arm and one left arm. The same goes with the legs. Our arms and legs face a certain way. It is no different with a doll. 

When you sew the head to the body (front), keep a straight seam allowance. If you want to, you can use a pencil and mark a very light straight line from the notch marked on the forehead all the way down to the neck. The seamline of the head of the doll to the body must be straight. The notches and points have to meet. It is the same with the back of the doll. I stuffed the arms and legs tightly and packed the stuffing down firmly using a wooden dowel but not hard enough to tear fabric or seams. You have to get the details of the doll’s body right or otherwise don’t bother. 

Leave the back of the doll open for turning and stuffing. Take your time with this. Take your time making the entire doll. This is an act of creation so go slowly. Sew the doll with love and it will show. I sewed the smile on and traced a light line on for the smile with pencil then stitched over the pencil marks. I sprinkled in mugwort and mandrake then stitched the back of the doll by hand. Once you have correctly and nicely sewn the body, you can progress with the clothing. 

The right arm of the doll’s sleeve cap features spiders. The left arm of the sleeve cap features the webs (where the spiders hide!). I drew an eyebrow on her brow very carefully with a sharpie pen and I did the same with her lashes. The pocket fabric is upside down and the collar fabric is wrong side up but it somehow works. The pocket can still hold spells!!! For the hair braids, you sew the braids to the head where the darts are. You can use whatever color yarn you want, but have lots of it on hand. If you want, you can sew a weft of the yarn hair and then sew it on by hand. You have to sew the yarn on by hand, Mark with a water soluble marker where you want to sew on the yarn. I have included a video here to better demonstrate how to sew on the yarn. Before you sew anything, watch this excellent video!: 

I highly suggest you sew on the yarn by hand. If you use a hot glue gun, you will regret it. It won’t have that seamless look. Hot glue makes a mess. Sewing with needle and thread spares you lots of agony. I made the doll a dress and tacked it on to her body the same I did with the collar. I sewed on a pocket to the dress before I sewed the dress together. I had to sew the dress by hand because for some frustrating reason the machine refused to sew this fabric together. The dress comes with a slip. I gathered the fabric together but I had more luck just cutting the fabric to truly fit her body and I pinned the slip to the doll. Make sure to use thread that is the same as the yarn and the head of the doll. 

I made the doll!!!! I love her and she is just sooo cute! I was successful in sewing the slim seam allowance. I stuffed the arms and the legs then I sewed the back of the doll’s head to the body. I sewed the back of the doll to the front of the doll. If you want to make your own doll and are trying this, you can’t catch the seams of the arms and legs when doing this. Then I finally stuffed the doll. Tear the wool into little pieces then put the stuffing into the doll. Be sure to pack it in carefully. You also have to stuff the doll’s head firmly because you don’t want the doll’s head to be floppy. I recommend watching how the woman in the video sews the doll body if you are inspired to make a doll yourself. It is incredibly helpful. I love my doll Miranda Spiderella. She is cute and scary!  A perfect combination. 

I might hunt a little rocking chair for her for a nice place to sit. I am sure I will eventually find something. This will be fun and hard work. I will let you know how it turns out!!

After this project is complete, I want to sew myself a brown winter coat. 

Blessings, Spiderwitch

 

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October 25, 2021 · 5:10 pm

How to Enjoy Samhain Safely

Merry meet all,

Samhain is only days away!! I bet you are all excited. I want to share tips on how to better enjoy our fave time of year! Mm I enjoyed roasted acorn squash and reheated mulled cider for lunch. You can watch and subscribe to Lair of Voltaire for the recipe. See link below. 

On to the tips:

  • You might be attending a party or two. You may need (or not) a costume. Take it from an experienced sewer. It’s so much less time consuming and less maddening to buy a costume at the thrift shop than to sew one. If you wanted to sew yourself a costume, I would suggest beginning a few months ago. Anything can go wrong in sewing. Buying the costume ready made spares you that. Make sure you are comfortable in your costume too. And make sure it is something you will wear more than once. If you do only intend to wear it once, then donate it. Why should a one time item take up that space in your closet?
  • If you can, you may have accessories at home to match your new costume. This can save you money. It costs more to sew a costume than to buy one. If you want specialty fabrics, then you are looking at spending a lot. I buy a lot of broadcloth cotton because it is $5.00 per meter. Silks, chiffon, velvet and linen are astronomically expensive. Five or six meters of fabric can easily run you up to a hundred dollars. I was gifted a black wool cloak. There is no way I would have sewed it otherwise. So if you can, and are crafty, consider making or acquiring cheap accessories. Masks can affect how best you see everything. At night, everything is in shadow. Consider this too. Masks aren’t safe. Wear comfortable shoes. 
  • This may go without saying but if you have a black cat, please keep your kitty indoors where it is safe. Raccoons and owls eat cats, your cat might get hit by a car, or catnapped, or lost, or get a disease or be attacked by another cat. There are all kinds of dangers out there. So keep Fido indoors. It is one night. Even one fun night out can be a hazard for your fave feline. Or pooch, lizard or guinea pig. 
  • If you are on duty to hand out candy to adorable costumed trick or treaters, consider offering organic snacks or treats. I might say this because I have teeth that crack from those hard caramel chews and now no longer eat them. But I’m not you. Raisins are a good treat. If you still want to get candies for kiddos, there are plenty to choose from at the local drugstore. Chocolate is good. I confess I can’t resist it either. I just don’t prefer the caramel chews. (They ruin my teeth which has resulted in expensive dental bills). 
  • Honoring your loved ones this year doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The local dollar store has everything you need. That includes picture frames which are quite nice for photos of your deceased loved ones. They sell affordable candles, incense, trays and other dishes. I bought a bottle of rubbing alcohol and long matches. I already had a jar of Epsom salts. I found and gathered sand at the local small beach. I performed a banishing ritual. I wanted to use the Epsom salts and rubbing alcohol in my extra large cauldron. It cost about $5.00. Not bad. I love shopping at the dollar store. Being a Witch doesn’t have to mean spending a fortune. I found a discarded Tim Hortons coffee cup and used that to scoop the sand into the plastic bag. I needed the sand to quickly extinguish the fire in my cauldron if it got out of control. Another good life saving item to have on hand is a fire extinguisher. 
  • Getting evicted from your apartment due to fire is never cool. Safety first. Always. 
  • I know you already know this, but it’s a good idea to check out your little sister’s Halloween candy haul or your own kid’s haul before letting them eat it. There are all sorts of weird crazy people out in the world now. Accompanying little kids as they sweet talk neighbours into offering sweets is a good safe idea. They shouldn’t go alone. I read stories online all the time about people who go crazy and commit crimes. I don’t have children of my own but if I did, I would go with them as they tricked and treated and check ALL of their candy. Yup. Make sure that the kids’ outfits are safe and warm and comfy and their masks fit well too and let them see easily. It’s a weird world now. 
  • Be sure to social distance, sanitize your hands and wear Covid masks. It is a very good idea to keep a bottle of Echinacea tincture on hand too. Now is the time to stock up on lemons, raw ginger and jars of natural honey for the cold season. These ingredients will always outdo and outlast NeoCitran. NeoCitran does nothing as it has none of the nutrients that lemon and honey does. Lemon and honey are antibacterial and antimicrobial. They naturally boost the immune system. My throat felt scratchy. I drank a glass of water with a drop of Echinacea tincture and the feeling in my throat was gone. !! 

Have fun this Samhain (or Halloween, if you prefer)!!! I hope these tips help. 

BB Spiderwitch

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August 26, 2020 · 5:50 pm

Cosplay Nightfell Herbalist

Merry meet all,

I’ve been busy sewing myself a beautiful cosplay costume, Nightfell Herbalist. Here is the photo of the costume: 

It has been so much work. I’ve returned to the project for two reasons. I want to finish it before October 31st. I also want to wear it this fall. The pattern consists of a long knee-length coat and a mock corset with a very gathered skirt that has a gathered ruffle. I have the veil, choker, and black lace gloves. My kick ass black lace up boots will look great with the outfit. 

I have a large beautiful blue button to sew onto the bodice. I can’t wait to add the trim. Here are a few tips to make a cosplay costume of your own- in time for Samhain! Do own a measuring tape and seam ripper. Remember: the seam work goes on the inside so the polished seams show outside. Measure twice cut once! That can save you lots of heartache. It’s better to have too much fabric than too little. 

I made the skirt for the costume. After three tries to gather the threads, I ended up sewing in an elastic waistband. The skirt is a deep blue color to complement the beautiful mock blue corset. I’ve included a photo of the costume so far:

The skirt was hard. It is a good idea to measure EVERYTHING! Measure the skirt before you gather the material to know how much you have. Measure how small or ‘gathered’ the skirt will be when you are all done and see if it matches your original estimation of fabric. You will then know if you are on the right track. I did it that way and my guess for how much fabric I had after it was gathered was the same as before. I ended up making an elastic waistband instead of a zipper. It was too hard to do the gathers by pulling the threads. But when I sew the ruffle ( which looks ten feet long), I have to gather. I gather it in sections, then match the ruffle to the center, side and back sections then pull the threads. I had to hem the skirt ruffles and that was a lot of effort. I didn’t do a narrow hem because it would hardly be noticed and it was serious effort. Then I sew on the waistband. 

The ruffle was a little nightmare. I had to make sure the wrong side was facing up on all the five sections-which is now 4 sections. They were all stitched together. One side was right side up so I corrected that with my seam ripper. They are so handy. Then I hemmed it section by section. I set the extra fabric over my ironing board or over a chair to hem it. My ironing board is my work space. Since all the sections were stitched together, it was trying. But slow and steady wins the race.

The ruffle sections were hard. One side of the five ruffle sections were notched. I knew then how to sew each section together. I cut tiny triangles in the seam allowance to know which side was which- and matched the edges together that way. I had to sew 5 sections together so the tiny notches were a great guide. 

I have sewn the gathers into the ruffle. The ruffle is so long. I can’t quite yet grasp how so much fabric is pinned and eased into the skirt hem. The skirt and ruffle are both dark blue. I stitched the gathers in, using 2 different lighter colors of thread. The stitches were a wide length and I left long thread tails for each section. See the photo below:

Gathers2

Here is a closeup of the gathers on the ruffle:

gathers1

Today I shall adjust the gathered fabric into the smaller skirt hem. After that, when I am satisfied with how it fits and the gathers are evenly spaced, I will sew on the dark blue wide scalloped lace over the seamline. 

The costume is supposed to have a petticoat. However, I am ever resourceful and thrifty. I have a knee-length black tulle skirt already. I cut it from a Baroness costume I wore once ( but paid $60 for). Sheesh. I donated the costume but kept the tulle skirt. I will stitch it in when I have to add the waistband. It will work just as well. See how I saved money and time- and tears that way? Yups. 

I have to finish the sleeves. The sleeves are in 2 sections. One is the sleeve with the armhole. It joins to a lacy ruffled section. I plan to finish that this weekend. The back of the jacket is a problem. I plan to stitch on a section of black fabric to the back and finish the raw edges. A zipper would normally be added but that is physically impossible for me to zip up. My arms don’t work that way. I will add a snap to the back and with the extra fabric concealing raw edges, it should look nice. When the fabric edges join where I would add the zipper, it seriously pulls on me and feels tight. I like to believe there is always another way to finish something. 

Sewing is tedious and repetitive. It does demand a certain level of dedication but I believe the results are worth it!

I have completely redone the sleeves from scratch. This time, they are sewn properly. I sewed the beautiful sleeves with black cotton and lining. The ruffle was the hard part. The ruffle has four layers to it. The ruffle is dark blue on the wrong side and black on the right side. The ruffle is very gathered. The four layers are edged with ribbon trim on all layers. But the bigger ribbon trim really does the ruffle justice. Here it is in the photo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can tell that the ruffle is very gathered. The original size of the ruffle is about twenty-three inches in total to gather into fourteen inches. That is a lot of gathering. After I adjusted the gathers and was sure, and that my arms fit comfortably in the sleeves when I fitted it, I stitched on the bow and the small black button to the center of the bow. It looks so beautiful and feminine. 

I basted the back of the jacket and am now ready for the zipper. Once that is done, I shall sew on the sleeves. I have one or two spots to touch up then voila! Done!

Once that is all done, I can finally sew the button on the bodice. I shall add the veil, my lace gloves and witchy boots. I can’t wait to be done and wearing it in time for Samhain!

Update:

Well it turns out the cosplay costume is not ready in time for October 31st. I have sewn the sleeves onto the dress jacket. I also sewed lacy ribbon trim to the entire dress jacket opening edges. I shall sew a nice wide ribbon to the center back seam and stitch the zipper onto the ribbon. That will give me more room to fit in the dress jacket. I also need to adjust the mock corset to the rest of the jacket. I shall top stitch it to the dress jacket black fabric. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What they don’t tell you about sewing this costume!

The skirt has five sections but you can only match four sections of the ruffle to the four sections of the skirt. You can sew in the five sections of the ruffle. That gives you way more gathers. I went with four sections and it still looks great. The sewing quality has to be amazing. No room for error here. The stitches show whether they are perfect or not. It all counts! I had to redo the entire sleeves and ruffles because I realized early on the initial fabric was too heavy to take to being gathered. Oh- and do try multiple fittings as you work on this project t make sure it fits you perfectly.

The fabric didn’t want to gather as much as I would have preferred. The fabric on the back of the jacket near waistline. I still made every effort to gather the fabric and stitch it into the back waistline. 

The sleeve ruffle is very gathered but again, no room for error. Sewing the sleeves into the dress jacket took an entire afternoon. I basted and eased the sleeve into the armhole, I pinned LOTS, and I stitched the sleeves in twice into the armhole. The gathers show and whatever you do, take your time with this. It will turn out much better. Match up the ‘points’, for example, make sure that the top of the sleeve matches the top of the armhole point where it should meet. The same goes for the bottom armhole point then pin- a lot! Be sure before you begin sewing the right sides of the fabric are together. If you can turn your sleeve out and it is correct, then you sew. Then press/ iron it and try to tease out the fullness of the sleeve cap. Also, make sure that there are no holes or obvious puckers. 

Stay tuned for the next update!!

Blessings, Spiderwitch

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October 18, 2017 · 2:50 pm

Costumes

 

Merry meet all,

Are you all thinking of the perfect costume for that soiree or seance? The store aisles are full of costumes. It is still early while you chow down on candy corn or roasted pumpkin seeds to get a costume. The stores such as Value Village, a thrift store, carries an array of costumes, perfect for whatever strikes your fancy.

I have never worn a plastic costume for as long as I can recall. Samhain is a special time of year so your costume should be too. My Mother was a seamstress and was always sewing a costume at the last minute. I still own the spider web cape. That’s a good thing because that type of fabric is very hard to find. The spider web design on the black chiffon type fabric is hard to see but it is there. I attached the tiny black plastic spiders to the cape. It is still in great shape.

I know my dear readers know I am a seamstress. But if you choose to make your own costume, bear a few points in mind. Start now if you want enough time to make the costume and make any final changes/ repairs to the costume. Don’t go into too much detail of the costume, Do keep it simple. Some of my sewing projects took longer to make than I initially anticipated. Be sure you have all the materials and tools you need plus a friend’s assistance. Stock up on thread and other supplies so you aren’t racing to the fabric store 5 minutes before closing time.

The easiest choice is buy a costume. It may initially cost a lot but sewing is so complicated, the best solution is to buy it. But that doesn’t have to mean going cheap. A great costume at a decent price can still be found. I hope you all find the perfect costume. Don’t think that buying one is not as great as making your own. Sewing a costume is tedious and can result easily in frustration.

If you have costumes left over from your younger days, donate them or give them to someone younger like your  sibling. It is one night and the point of the festive holiday is to have fun. That brings to my next point. Make sure you are comfortable and safe in your costume. Make sure you can see where you are going and flame retardant can be kept in mind too. You should be able to move freely and feel good in it. It couldn’t hurt to check on your sibling’s costumes too. Masks shouldn’t hinder your visibility.  I’d much prefer to stock up on costume makeup than costumes.

The trick with costumes when buying one is asking yourself if you will wear it more than once. That way you get your money out of it. And not to sound vain here but compliments can help you earn your buck with your garment.

Good luck finding  that perfect Chewbacca or Spiderman or Wolfman costume!!

Blessings, Spiderwitch )O(

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October 5, 2014 · 5:17 pm

My costume

CIMG2562

Merry meet all,

I am working on my costume. Who isn’t inspired by Tim Burton? I am, I am!! The costume is the one from the much loved movie The Corpse Bride. I love that movie and I watched it the other night. 

The irony of it all is that the dress I chose from my wardrobe is the one I wore to my sis’s wedding years ago. I am not married but no reason I can’t be a corpse bride!! So the dress is the one in the pic- delicate blue lace all over the dress. I plan to sew a hole in the dress and attach fabric to show fake ribs, tear a high slit in the dress, and tear and stain the hem. It doesn’t quite reach to my feet. I may add more material to the hem. I need a long train. The material for this gown was free. The dress is also old. Perfect!!

CIMG2563

I have a lot of delicate blue lace. I plan to buy almost a meter of blue tulle and sew the tattered blue lace to it then shred the tulle for that undead just out of the coffin look. The lace is beautiful and torn in fragments. I shall post a picture here later. 

All I need to do is to make the veil, add the necessary details to the dress, get a wig, and do the makeup. I now have an even better reason for anticipating October 31st. I want to add some blue wristlets and of course, a bony arm. Well I have a whole month to work on it! Let me know how your costumes are turning out!

Here is a lin to a video about the Fall of the House of Usher: Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saFt_wKcnk0

 

I found a costume @ Value Village and I really like it. It is a white dress with black fabric going down the centre of the dress. Silver lacing on centre of black strip of fabric. I also found a veil. I am all set. I don’t care if I tear this dress up or smear fake blood on it. It cost $8. Perfect. I have included a photo.

CIMG2564

Blessed Be, Lady Spiderwitch )O(

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