rosie cotton's "well i'm back" dress


Completed Halloween 2004

Well, after alot of thinking, I decided to make a hobbit costume. I really liked Rosie's outfits, especially her final outfit, but then I decided to just make a generic female hobbit costume. So I was in Joann's trying to find a good bodice fabric when I came across the perfect fabric for Rosie Cotton's chemise in her final outfit. So, I spent another hour in Joann's finding fabric for Rosie's final outfit. That must have been my lucky day, since I found all the materials I needed (and most were on sale! yay).

Fabric:
Green cotton quilting fabric for bodice
unbleached muslin for the center pannel
tan checked home spun cotton for chemise
pumpkin orange suiting for skirt (not very hobbity, but it was seriously the only plain orange fabric in the store, it'll work)
light green linen look fabric in sale bin for apron


10/10/04
My Rosie Cotton dress is underway. Patterns I'm using are:

Simplicity 9966 for chemise (shortened sleeves)
Mccall's 4696 for bodice (altered back)
simple hobbit skirt from www.alleycatscratch
Mccall's 4548 for apron


Ok, so my adventures in sewing started once more, only this time, I'm in college, with no sewing machine *cry*, but besides that fact, I'm doing quite well and want to finsih before Halloween...that gives me..let's see...not alot of time. So, what have I done so far?

Let's see, starting at the top. Chemise and sleeves are cut out and sewn together. I need to buy bias tape and elastic to finish it. I used Simplicity 9966 according to directions for view b, minus the lace on the neck and sleeves. I had to make the sleeves way shorter.
Bodice front is cut out and interfacing is put on. Lining is cut out. I drafted the back, but sadly, I didn't buy enough fabric, so..back to Joann's for me. I need to embroider the front pannel. Luckily we have an embroidery machine, and I found a design I like. Then I have to sew the lining, cut out the back, interface that, cut out the lining for that...basically I'm not very far on the bodice.
The skirt pannels I cut out following acs's directions. I gathered the top (man, that was waaaaaaay harder than I thought it would be.) Now all I need is interfacing and I can sew the skirt to the waistband.
Apron has not been started yet. I'll get to it....eventually.


10/20/04 Update!!!
My costume is nearing completetion! The chemise is done except for a few tucks and trims. For the apron I used Mccalls pattern 4548. All I have to do is hem it. The skirt just needs to be hemmed and have hooks and eyes attached. And possibly velcro.
The bodice was pure evil. Evil I tell you, Evil!!! NEVER use heavy interfacing and try to sew the flat side of the bodice front to the curved side of the bodice side. It will not work and cause you many headaches. I still don't think it is even, but I gave up and just went with it. I used strips of fabric from the skirt, folded over and sewing right into the seams for the orange piping. Also the cause of many headaches. I lined the front and back, if I could do it again I would make the bodice longer, it's a bit on the shorter side. (No more growing for me if I want to fit into it, lol) The back is kind of messed up. The bottom meets in the back, but the top overlaps and is too large. I must find a way to fix it. I could fold it over and run a seam...but it would be on an angle and look weird. So, I still have to figure that out. Once that is fixed, I can put the grommets in and be done with the evil thing.

10/30/04
Finsihed!!!!!!!!!! My costume is done, and just in time for Halloween! The chemise is finished, I hemmed the apron and the skirt and attached the hooks and eyes to the skirt by hand. I left the bodice back how it was, and just put grommets in. It turned out fine, a little loose by the neck, but nothing too serious. I need to get some pictures of the back. Overall, I'm happy with it!

Sadly, none of my halloween pictures turned out of me in costume. I want to take some more, but seeing as there is about 3 feet of snow on the ground, pictures on the dress form will have to do. Come spring, I am going to have a photo shoot in all my costumes, but thats a few months away, so inside shots will be on here instead. Hey, hobbits aren't used to snow you know. (By the way, for some strange reason my camera alters the colors of this costume a bit. I have no idea why. In real life the colors are softer, and closer to the picture on top.)