Sewing Wings and Things

For Halloween 2022 I have decided to make both of my children their costumes. I am super excited about this, if also a little nervous about the vast workload I am giving myself.

Costume 1 - Fairy

My daughter Ava, who is 4, has requested a fairy costume, which is great because it's seperate elements that can be reused over and over again for play.

The first element I made her is a leotard and I used the Lilac pattern from Sunflower Seams patterns.

I use a stretch velvet with a black lining, I would recommend nude but I only had black so that is what I used.

This pattern was great and the instructions where really well written and layed out and considering this pattern uses the borrito method twice that is actually saying something.

The only thing I would change about this is to use the lower back line next time, it is difficult to get in and out of with the higher back.

The Skirt.

I started with a strip of satin which I used as the skirt base. I pre-ironed the waitband so it could hide the tulle attachments and the elastic. I sewed the back seam and the hem before attaching the tulle squares.

I pre cut all of my tulle into squares. I pinched these in the centre and attached just the centre of each square to the underskirt at the waistband. Ths gave the skirt lots of volume whilst also giving it a whimsicle jagged edge.

Once all the squares where attached to the underskirt I refolded down the waitband and attached it, covering the tops of the tulle and leaving a gap to insert the elastic.

I still felt like the skirt needed some more details to I headed back to spotlight and purchased some trim which I have no attached with some hand stitches.

Finally, The Wings!

To make the wings I used the Twig and Tale Woodland Sprite Pattern in a medium size. I used a combo of cotton quilting fabric and the end result is stunning! I love that they are flexible and durable and that she can comfortably sit in them without getting poked by wires like with wings from the shop.

These wings were certainly a challenge but I think it was absolutely worth it for the end result. They are incredibly comfortable for Ava to wear and they look beautiful!

Make sure you press really well as you go to get the wings to sit nicely and to look their best.

Costume 2 - The Dragon

My sons costume was a much simpler project than my daughters. Hunter is only 2 so he was not going to stand wearing a full costume for longer than 1 minute so again I turned to Twig and Tale Wings collection.

Hunter adores dinosaurs so I figured that the dragon wings would make him the happiest.

I used a plain homespun for the main fabric with a shiny dance fabric for the applique peices. I used the medium sized wings with adjustable straps so that the wings can continue to be used as he grows up.

These wings were far easier to make than the fairy wings because of the size of the applique. I'm very glad I made them first to work myself up to the fairy wings!