Edith Cushing (Crimson Peak)

Gothic horror. Late Victorian costumes. Billowing nightgowns. How is a girl to resist?

Source.

When I planned this year's Halloween costume in February, I was going as the Woman in Black, but after watching the trailer (and suffering a sleepless night because aaaaaugh!) I remembered I had eleven meters white fabric just lying around.

The nightgown is sewn in two layers. The overlayer is a see-through polyester something with slubs, over a modesty layer of plain ol' boring cotton. I made the pattern from a sloper, for practice,. I started in July, so I had plenty of time to torment myself over every tiny bit of the costume, from pattern to what kind of interfacing would be best to use.

I made far too many sleeve toiles, and even took the time to baste everything by hand. Usually I just pin and sew very carefully. The insides are neatly finished (as usual), the yoke is lined, and weirdly, overall I am pleased with it. When I finish anything, I usually have a list over things I would have done differently.

I live in the middle of nowhere, so in my experience, what I can get of sewing notions and such is rather limited. And yet, sometimes I go to the shop with the lowest expectations and find small treasures, like these pearl buttons.

The buttons are just for show. I dreaded sewing button holes since my machine would rather eat fabric than do as I want, so I evaded the whole thing and sewed some pushbuttons in underneath instead. The lower sleeves have functionable buttons at the wrist.

While lining the yoke I put the dress onto a mannequin. It made lining very much easier, but every time I left the room and came back in, I'd almost give myself a heart attack. Toughest viking in town.