C.W : Filling up my dress up box

I actually love dressing up, whether I'm in my 20s or younger or when I get older I think I will always love costumes.

Before August I was invited to a costume party and it took some time to set my heart to something as it was themed to something from your childhood. I picked Hades, but I didn't have the time to do something really fun like I had originally planned. I made a female version and bleached the ends of my hair to apply blue to it. However, I did a wardrobe costume with a dress, and added pieces or accessories  - so this isn't what I want to share. I want to share that I made a alternative costume, a unicorn outfit. I want to share this unicorn horn I made!


Made a lollipop stick, wadding, bright fleece, several sparkly or organza fabrics, ribbons and thread. The little  'gems' lying around were gonna be loose inside or glued to the outside, or just under the top layer of material. The ribbons allow the horn to be tied to the head or to a head band.

I am sorry I didn't take any photos of the construction. But I'll do my best to describe my process.

I started with the lollipop stick, and glued the wadding to it, just a basic cone shape to begin the shaping. This then needs to dry.

Then I used strips of wadding, I created the spiral shaping, stitching this into place, This is then layered on with two more layers, With less and less wadding nearer to the top, so the cone is heavier at the bottom.

The boldest, and sparkly fabric is then layered to cover it from the bottom to the top. This is then roughly stitched down in a spiral pattern, before layering the yellow fleece, in strips down the horn - not matching the spiral exactly. This is then stitched down, this time more neatly following the spiral again and the edges. More stitches are applied to add more colour - using pastel blue, yellow and pink threads. Just using seed stitches.

Now the bottoms is tidied up a little, bringing in the wadding and the fabrics that have already been applied, Create a rounded a base to work into more later. The next layer is the pink organza. This layer doesn't cover the entire horn, in one layer, it's a strip of fabric with the edges folded in, and spiraled till it covers the horn, this is then stitched down along the spiral and the bottom to tie the remaining down, cutting down on too much excess before folding the edges in.

To neaten the overall shape, stitch the spiral in, making sure stitches are even and neat. Then stitch down the folds and loose areas down.  With the horn complete I then added how the horn could attach to my head, for me this was ribbons, I could then tie this to my head, to a headband or a comb etc.
Whilst if some else had the option this might go for hair grip or clips. But I live this ribbon and if I did opt for a comb or something else, I could tie these to nice bows.

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C.W : Filling up my dress up box

C.W : Princess Bubblegum

My work space, whilst working - not as big I thought.

I took four to six days worth of my time for a friend. This was to make a dress for a costume party. She asked for princess bubble from adventure time. She really wanted to do this character, she looked at costumes to buy bit at silly prices for a basic dress. The crown alone was £20+ easy. Costumes adult or child are difficult to find. Even any cosplay versions are easily £40+.

After researching the character design, to see want I would make, even though we were sure of the basic dress she often wears was what we wanted - as bubblegum does have a collection of costumes - I took the friend shopping for the fabric. She picked the colours that she thought best for her ideas of the princess bubblegum. She wanted a shine light pink and a strong bold purple. We ended up also shopping for glitter and make up. Neither of use went for pale makeup despite our characters being very pale. The entire process wasn't photographed in full, so apologies to anyone interested in seeing that. I only have photos of the work space and the nearly finished dress and the completed dress.

I started with a pattern with the length wanted - in the bodice and skirt. however this was a fitted dress with panels, and a yoke with/without sleeves. So, I adapted the sleeve pattern and bodice pattern to be how I want it to be shaped. Partially based on the sequined dress in the photo above, which had a higher neckline, but wasn't right up to the neck - this was a night out costume party, meaning it could be very warm. Though the bodice pattern took time to make it, it also came together quickly. The waist was just right but the bust was a little large but again with this being for a night out it was preferable to be slightly loose.

For the skirt and sleeves we wanted extra material to gather so I used the size 16 from the pattern rather than the size 10, but when these pieces were compared to the size 10 this creates the amount I need to gather. The bodice pattern I made had the size 10 and dress measurements to base the sizing of the bodice on.
I also edited the sleeve pattern for more height in the arch to allow for more material to gather and also allow for more height in the gathering if needed for the space to create a puffy princess sleeve. On top of the size 16 pattern piece I also extended the sleeve as normal for a gathered sleeve.

I put together the bodice and skirts first, which allowed me work out sizing and measurements against the dress and my friend with the paper patterns. These seemed about right and allowed me to return the dress - as I had written down the measurements, to refer to later.

The next job was the sleeves and collar. Planning the zip placement - which I changed to the back of the dress. The waist band was final piece to be planned. I had a zip, elastic and interfacing, so my friend didn't have to worry about these pieces when we were shopping.

The bodice and skirt were the first pieces to be sewn, this includes a front bodice lining to avoid the light pink showing anything worn underneath. I also stitched to the point where the zip's length would end on the edges of the skirt. Once the skirt and bodice were sewing together. I next gathered, sewn the edge, hemmed the edge of the sleeve, sewn in the elastic and added the sleeves to the bodice.
The zip's placement had to be planned, before I could continue. However I had to back off from sewing it till I had the waist band ready - pattern piece cut, stitched, turned out, added interfacing and stitched the interfacing into position. Then it was ready to sew onto the dress, then I could add the zip, and finish that area of the bodice and skirt.
Finally the last piece was made, interfaced and added - the collar. This was quite fiddly due to the stitching and ironing, and repeated the process so it sat the right way - you must do the interfacing, then the whole collar the wrong way, then the right way and then add to the dress the wrong way before finally doing it the right way so it sits the right way, and neatly on the dress. Confusing but anyone out there having trouble there are YouTube videos out there - this wasn't meant as a tutorial on making a dress, else I would have explained the processes more clearly.

Finally the finishing was all that was left - this usually includes the hemming, the zip and so on.

I really enjoyed making this dress and would like to say its my full first dress - despite creating one in college, which I did do by myself. But it was a themed project and though wearable not designed with a wearer in mind - it was based on bacteria. I was really happy to have a project for a week and that a friend trusted me to make this and even more so to shop with her to select the fabrics.

Anyway thank you for reading x

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C.W : Princess Bubblegum