Thanks for all the Mary Poppins love yesterday. You’re all as sweet as can be.
I am so excited to show you the other 2 costumes……..eeeeeeeeh, Halloween is so fun!
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In case you missed yesterday………….here is the tutorial to make the Mary Poppins dress.
My daughter asks every day if it’s Halloween yet. Sorry little Miss.
But to finish off the outfit, let me show you the Mary Poppins accessories.
She has a lot going on with her ‘Jolly Holiday’ look…….and you don’t want to forget anything.
Ready for the following??
So first of all…….the hat.
I just bought a simple white hat here and then picked off the flowers that were stitched on. Worked great.
Decorating the hat is pretty basic. I just wrapped some tulle around the base of the hat and tied a big bow in the back. Then I placed a strip of tulle under the chin and tied it to the tulle on both sides at the base (above the brim) of the hat. Then I glued on some mini red silk flowers from Michael’s, and covered up part of the knots at both sides.
Pretty easy. But Mary Poppins has to have a hat!
Next up……..the pettiskirt.
Surprise…….I didn’t make the pettiskirt this time! Haha.
I have made some in the past (here’s my pettiskirt tutorial here) but just didn’t have time once my kiddos chose costumes. So I bought one here (the premium pettiskirt). And actually, because it only cost $16.50, I bought two, to make it even fuller. The single one is actually pretty full and is a great deal for only $16.50……but I wanted some really big poof. So for $33, we have a really full pettiskirt that would normally sell for $80+ at boutiques and such. And we can use it for so many different costumes and dresses. Yay! (And just in case you’re wanting to order…..the people over at ‘Always Underpay’ were fantastic with my order. My shipping was free with a code I used [see if “columbus” still works] and then I talked to them over the phone about quicker shipping. I payed $5 extra for RUSH shipping and I got it in 2 days, not the 3 days that they estimated. They are only one state away so if you’re further it could take a bit longer…….but it was sure better than waiting a few weeks for my order. Loved them!)
And because pettiskirts are generally made to be about knee length (and I wanted mine mid calf), I took the elastic out of both pettiskirts, sewed the two skirts together along the very top……..and then added another 3 inches of fabric to the top to extend the length of my pettiskirt. I also made sure to add enough so that I could make a new casing for the elastic so that I could re-thread it through at the top.
That was it.
Now………the umbrella.
This sweet little umbrella. I wasn’t sure how sturdy lace fabric would hold up being pulled in all directions as umbrella fabric. But, let’s just say I was completely shocked. The lace holds up great and is such a sweet little touch. I bought 1 1/2 yards of this nice lace fabric with a scalloped edge, from Joann’s. I think it was about $8 a yard…..but then I used my 40% off coupon. Not bad.
Anyway, I found a purple umbrella with the scoop handle on it and decided to take it apart. All umbrella’s are a little different but here’s how I took mine apart. I first un-picked all of the threads at the end of each umbrella spoke.
Then I un-picked the threads that secured the fabric about half way up each spoke.
Then, I couldn’t get the top off to remove the fabric nicely…….so I just cut it nice and close to the very top of the umbrella.
Then I taped over the metal parts of the umbrella and then spray painted the purple plastic parts with “Krylon Fusion for Plastic” white spray paint. (I bought it at Wal-Mart.) I used regular spray paint first but it peeled off. Bummer.
Then, I cut one of the triangle pieces away from the main umbrella piece to use as a pattern piece. (I could have unpicked it to get an exact size but I knew I could add some width when cutting to be accurate.)
Then, I cut out 8 triangle pieces with the finished scalloped edge along the bottom. I used my purple pattern piece but added a 1/4 inch to both long sides and then another inch and a half or so to the top, so that I would have enough length to fold under in the later steps.
Then I sew each piece together along the sides, creating a circle of lace pieces. Then I serged each edge as well, to make it nice and finished and secure. (Using a zig-zag stitch would work great too.)
With this new lace umbrella piece inside out, I found the hole at the very top and slid it onto the top spoke of my umbrella.
Then I used quilting thread (normal thread would work too……just wind it more times) and knotted one end and hooked it through the fabric. Then I wound it tightly around and around the lace fabric and also the base of that post at the top of my umbrella. Make sure you are winding enough of the fabric so that it doesn’t slip out when the umbrella opens.
Then I knotted the end of the thread and secured it in place. (You can skip the needle and just wind and tie some thread……but I can get my winding and knots to stay put when I use the needle to knot the ends. But it’s up to you.)
Then I flipped the lace down over the umbrella and then lined up each seam with a spoke. Then I used my same needle and thread to sew the end of each seam down to the end of the spoke. (There is a hole through the sides of each of those white ends.) I did the same with all of the spokes.
And then after opening it up, it expanded nicely and was nice and taut. I didn’t even bother sewing halfway up each spoke like the original umbrella was. It really didn’t need it and I knew this umbrella wouldn’t need to hold the weight of water pouring down on it. So, I skipped it.
That was it. SO fun. And so worth it.
We may need to start re-decorating all sorts of umbrellas.
And lastly……..the boot covers.
These just kind of fell together. I may do a few things differently next time but they work and give the boot effect.
But these are just little covers that go over some white little heeled shoes that my daughter had. I made them so that the top flap of the cover would only cover the scoop of the shoe but next time I think I would extend it to go all the way to the toe so that it would just cover everything. Oh well, next time. But you can choose what works best for you.
Okay, I’m really sorry but these are hard to see. The white on white mixed with my bad lighting really produced some poor pictures. Sorry……but hopefully you can see enough to get the idea. :)
First, I bought a half yard of that stretchy velvet-y knit at Joann’s in the Halloween Fabrics. I don’t remember the name of it. It’s the same stuff I used to make the bodice of Cinderella’s dress here. You could use anything but just be sure it’s stretchy.
I cut a rectangle shape that was tall enough to extend from the heel, all the way up to a little lower than mid calf. And then I cut it wide enough to wrap around the biggest part of her calf…..with some seam allowance added in there too. Then I cut a scoop at the center bottom, that would fit over the top of her foot, right up against her ankle. (Make sure that the stretch is going left to right when you’re looking at the fabric like this. So if I were to grab the right side and left side and pull…….it would stretch.)
Then I cut a scoop piece that would fit over the top of her foot, that was long enough to cover the shoe and its buckle and such…….and also cover part of the sides of her shoe. Then I lined it up with the main rectangle piece and cut the same scoop out of the bottom of it. (Again, make sure the stretch goes from left to right on the little piece too.)
I cut two of each shape for each boot cover. (So 4 of each for both boot covers.)
Then I folded the rectangle piece in half lengthwise (with right sides together) and the scoop at the bottom corner. I sewed a seam down the side (which will be at the back of the leg/foot) that contoured the shape of her leg. I tried to go in at the ankle but out at the heel and calf. You may need to try this on the leg a few times to get the curve of that seam correct. And because it’s stretchy, you want it to fit snug so that these will stay up.
Then, I sewed the other rectangle together the same way. Then I turned one of them right side out and slid the one that was inside out inside of it. I match up the ends and the scoop and pinned them in place.
Then I placed the two curved pieces together with wrong sides together, matching up the bottom curve, and sewed them together along the edges.
Then I matched up the bottom curve with the curve of the main boot piece and pinned the curved edges together.
Then I sewed them together.
When you flop that piece down, you can see more of a boot shape.
Trim the bottom edges just a bit and then add a bit of bias tape along the bottom edge. (I made my own bias tape out of the same stretchy stuff but it was a little difficult to fold. So I didn’t fold it on the underneath side……only the top edge where you could see. More on bias tape here.)
I did the same along the top edge of the boot cover…..but I made sure to use a zig-zag stitch so that it would still stretch when going up over the calf.
Then I bought some Cover Button Kits and used red satin to cover 10 buttons.
And then stitched them onto the outer sides of each boot cover.
Then I placed 2 strips of elastic along the bottom of each cover to keep them in place. I sewed each piece of elastic to each side of the boot cover.
And then I slid the boot cover on her foot first, then the shoe, then slid it down over the shoe and adjusted.
They worked great.
Whew. And that’s everything.
And completes the Mary Poppins ‘Jolly Holiday’ look.
Remember, click here for the dress tutorial.
And let me know how it works out for you!
Enjoy.