truebluemeandyou: Halloween & Cosplay DIYs

EDIT: Links updated 2022

All photos in the main collage are by Cynthia DeGrand at cynthiadegrand.zenfolio.com. They can be found on EvaDress’ Blog here.

This is an advanced sewing project from EvaDress. The Bat Dress was inspired by the illustration Travestissement Chauve-Sourisin in La mode Illustrée, Journal de la Famille,1887 below.

About the EvaDress Patern

The $28 pattern by EvaDress can be bought at evadress.com here. You can also buy the Bat Dress Pattern on Etsy here.

The 21 piece pattern includes:

pieces for the wings

corset bodice

flounced skirt

gloves

polonaise

fichu

The dress comes in the following sizes:

Size set A: 33" to 39" bust, 22" to 28" waist, 33" to 37" hip

Size set B: 41" to 45" bust, 28" to 34" waist, 39" to 43" hip

You can find a post on making the Bat Dress Gloves here.

The Bat Dress Crinoline Progress is detailed on EvaDress Blog here. 

EvaDress’ daughter made the Bat Bust Ornamentation using paper and fabric mâché. 

Other Bat Dresses

Sewing to Distraction has an entire post dedicated to her experience sewing the EvaDress Bat Dress here.

For another interpretation of the Bat Dress, check out Darling and Dash’s post here. The Bat Headpiece was made from, “Black striped netting over the shoulder drape gathered and pinned to front with furry bat.”

Bat Dress Background

There is an excellent post on Victorian Bat Dresses on Cogpunk Steamscribe here, titled: The Victorian Batgirl: a Steampunk Feminist Perspective

Below is a Victorian German photograph of a “Bat Woman” costume found here.

Another Bat Costume photograph is from the Museum Victoria here.

Lastly, check out this Bat Fan from the 1900s that sold at auction.

 “Hand painted, exceptionally rare miniature bat fan. On thin shaved wood. One of the most unusual items we have seen. Wingspan 3.5 inches. Circa 1900.”

DIY Gothic Altered Chocolate Boxes - I Love You to Death!

Take regular boring chocolate boxes and turn them into gorgeous gothic chocolate creations.

Top Photo: DIY Gothic Altered Chocolate Boxes tutorial here, Bottom Photo: DIY Chocolate Planchette tutorial here. Both tutorials are from Me and Annabel Lee.

List of things you’ll need:

Foam sheet/cardboard -> for the base

feathers (i used these :

Scissors

Glue (i used hot glue)

A headband

STEP 1:

Cut out the base (i recommend using a real wing as a reference. The height of the base of the wing should be a bit bigger than the height of your ear.

i labelled them left and right, but it’s pretty useless to do that.

STEP 2:

I painted the base white because the feathers aren’t opaque, and we could see the purple of the base.

STEP 3:

It’s time to glue the long feathers on! Make sure to position them before gluing, to make sure they look ok. Make sure to to follow those handy guide!

STEP 4:

Position the second (round) layer of feathers! I fold over any feather that went over the base on the top, to keep it looking clean.

STEP 5:

Now is the time to add the fluffy feathers if you want to!

STEP 6:

Time for the back! You can either leave it white or put feathers on the back too.

STEP 7:

Almost done! It’s time to attach them to the headband. If the one you have is made of plastic and is smooth, you should wrap some thread around it and glue it to the headband before the wings, so that the wings won’t detach

This is the pink thread i used, it’s embroidery thread. I used about the length of my arm for each side, and i then lathered it in hot glue. Not super clean, but it works.

MAKE SURE YOU VERIFY THE PLACEMENT OF THE WINGS BEFORE GLUING THEM SO THEY’RE NOT WONKY!!!!

Next, the actual attaching. You can glue the ears directly onto the headband.

STEP 8:

Wow! Your wings are done! Good job :3

Feel free to message me if tou have questions! I’m not the best at explaining stuff ;-;

Also, if you made these, could you reblog with your finished product :3 i’m curious to see how it turned out!

You are going to need:

- acrylic paint in your desires colours (if you want to put light colours on dark fabric pick up white paint too to use as an underpainting so your colours show up)

- paper sheet

- masking tape

- exacto knife

- makeup sponge you don't mind ruining

- printer (optional)

This is made using my trusty method of stenciling. First you need to pick up a pattern - for biggest chance of success pick something high-contrast and with as many details as you think you'll be able to cut out by hand - if in doubt go simpler so that there's higher chance you finish the project.

I picked the danse macabre skeletons (imagine the background is black)

If you have a printer put your image in an editing progam (if you don't have one downloaded use canva, its online and free) and invert the colours to use less ink.

If you don't have a printer I suggest taping a piece of paper to your monitor and tracing by hand, or you could even do it by putting the picture on your phone zoomed in and tracing it part by part moving the paper as you move the picture underneath. Of course you can also just design your own print, add stuff, change em, anything.

Then what you do is you cover your paper in a layer of masking tape from each side - this is to give it structure and pervent marrying of the paper to the fabric.

Then you get an exacto knife and slowly cut out everything you want to print. Don't rush this step or you'll risk ruining your stencil. Make sure to leave structural supports for your stencil, you can either incorporate them into the design or just leave out stripes that you can fill in later. You can check how your stencil will look like by bringing it twoards a light source, to track if you like the direction the project is heading.

This particular stencil took me 2 hours I believe (i did it last year I don't remember)

Then you masking tape the stencil to your shirt, pant, bag, whatever honestly, this will work on any flat fabric and make sure to put a barrier inside so the paint doesn't bleed to the other side - it shouldn't do that but it can so why not pervent it.

And now using acrylic paint you dab on the paint thin layer by thin layer - the goal is to have not a lot of paint on your sponge so it doesn't bleed but to work it into the fabric really hard so your graphic is durable and doesn't crack. You don't need fabric paint or to mix in any medium since you're working the plastic so deep into the fibers. For white paint i usually do 4-5 coats, for dark paints on light fabric usually two is enough, but it's up to you entirely.

And now just let it dry for a while and it's ready! It's safe to wear probably within 10 minutes, just check if it's not sticky. Best thing is that the stencil is reusable so you can make more, you can do it in different colours, different garments, you can do just about anything. Have fun!

Washing care is how you would take care of any graphic tee - wash inside out on the "hand washing" setting in a washing machine and let air dry and also use minimal detergent - If this is too much to ask just turn it inside out when putting it in the wash, that's where most protection comes from.

The first leaf vest in my video is this light green one made from a textured cotton I found at the thrift store. The veins are painted, and I did a running stitch along the edges because the texture of the fabric made the painting turn out a bit rough, but I don't think it made much difference.

For more Halloween infographics go here.

This infographic briefly covers symbols for:

Death

Death Personified

Colors of Death in Different Cultures

Gravestones

Afterlife 

Made a hood to wear at home because my head was cold. The hood is just a big square folded in half and sewn part way into the middle in a Y shape to make sort of a pair of little darts, and then the other two edges sewn together and the remaining hole in the back gathered in somewhat uneven cartridge pleats, with the extra fullness being pleated into the neck.

The cape part is the rest of the fabric (which was a 1.3 m piece of cotton flannel from the thrift store) with the larger leftover rectangle forming the back and the smaller rectangle being cut in half mostly diagonally and added to the front.

It was a very quick project done almost entirely on machine, which is unusual for me. There are a few things I'd do differently next time - I'd make the hood a bit shorter so the front edge doesn't block my view so much, and I'd put the button loop right on top of the neck seam instead of sandwiching it inside the front edge seam of the hood. I'd have to cover the ends of the loop with a patch, which would be a good use for the neck hole cutout.

EDIT: Links updated 2022

All photos in the main collage are by Cynthia DeGrand at cynthiadegrand.zenfolio.com. They can be found on EvaDress’ Blog here.

This is an advanced sewing project from EvaDress. The Bat Dress was inspired by the illustration Travestissement Chauve-Sourisin in La mode Illustrée, Journal de la Famille,1887 below.

About the EvaDress Patern

The $28 pattern by EvaDress can be bought at evadress.com here. You can also buy the Bat Dress Pattern on Etsy here.

The 21 piece pattern includes:

pieces for the wings

corset bodice

flounced skirt

gloves

polonaise

fichu

The dress comes in the following sizes:

Size set A: 33" to 39" bust, 22" to 28" waist, 33" to 37" hip

Size set B: 41" to 45" bust, 28" to 34" waist, 39" to 43" hip

You can find a post on making the Bat Dress Gloves here.

The Bat Dress Crinoline Progress is detailed on EvaDress Blog here. 

EvaDress’ daughter made the Bat Bust Ornamentation using paper and fabric mâché. 

Other Bat Dresses

Sewing to Distraction has an entire post dedicated to her experience sewing the EvaDress Bat Dress here.

For another interpretation of the Bat Dress, check out Darling and Dash’s post here. The Bat Headpiece was made from, “Black striped netting over the shoulder drape gathered and pinned to front with furry bat.”

Bat Dress Background

There is an excellent post on Victorian Bat Dresses on Cogpunk Steamscribe here, titled: The Victorian Batgirl: a Steampunk Feminist Perspective

Below is a Victorian German photograph of a “Bat Woman” costume found here.

Another Bat Costume photograph is from the Museum Victoria here.

Lastly, check out this Bat Fan from the 1900s that sold at auction.

 “Hand painted, exceptionally rare miniature bat fan. On thin shaved wood. One of the most unusual items we have seen. Wingspan 3.5 inches. Circa 1900.”

DIY Halloween Coffin Purse from Etsy

The $8.13 Pattern for this Coffin Purse from Etsy seller PerfectLittleParcel here.

What I like about this pattern is that it is all done with hand sewing.

3 Halloween Crochet Collars and Sleeves from Etsy

Top Image: Requiem Collar and Cuffs Crochet Pattern from OurWidow for $11.00 here.

Lower Left: Victorian Skull High Collar Crochet Collar from LunarStill for $3.91 here.

Lower Right: The Abramacabra Skull Crochet Collar Pattern from MadToymaker for $4.40 here.

I have posted so many Halloween Skull DIYs here.

Find the DIY Crochet Skull Shawl Free Pattern from kungen och majkis on Ravelry posted here on my blog.