Costume Elastic

Costume Elastic

Can you sew? Help please with halloween costume disaster!!?

I have made a Belle costume for my daughter. (teen).

I didn't have a pattern and just tried to invent it (big mistake). I sewed triangular shapes to make the skirt and gathered the seams to make it "ruched/gathered". It looked great. But, I had the waist too huge and when I gathered it in on elastic it is so bulky it looks AWFUL! What can I do? Cut out some of the fabric? ( need the width at the base to fit the hoop underskirt) - remove the elastic and make the top smaller and tie with a big sash???? help

It sounds like you'll have to undo your ruching and re-sew the side seams so that they meet in a tighter circle around the waist. (Doing so may also shorten the lengths of the skirt significantly, if its as huge as you make out). Generally, skirts are elasticized to fit over the hips so that measurement (plus an inch or three) should be the smallest diameter for the waist.

If that is still too big to your eye, split the back seam down 6"
or so. The elastic waistband can then be made to fit your daughter's waist tightly, meeting at the back seam where you've sewn hooks and eyes to close.

Patterns really are a timesaver, and frequently go on sale at fabric stores. I'm a theatrical costumer and I frequently pick up patterns that catch my eye or are of something I'm sure I don't have yet. I never know when I'm going to be asked to make a Japanese kimono or an 18th century ballgown with panniers.

Plus, its fairly easy to resize these multiple-sized patterns up or down. I never cut the original pattern but trace over it, extending my tracings as needed to get the right size. I've scaled up kids costumes to fit adults that way!

Working with patterns you start to learn the tricks of how they were created, and how they can be interchanged. I frequently find myself looking at patterns with a critical eye and recombining them, like "I like that bodice, but with this collar and those sleeves".