Gothic Queen of Hearts
“Alice in Wonderland” Youth Theatre Murray Bridge Players and Singers 2018
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| Concept drawing created on Prêt-à -template |
I volunteer my sewing skills for an amateur Theatre group. They have stage a production once or twice a year. For the second half of 2018 the Youth Theatre staged an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's classic story of "Alice in Wonderland".
The Director of the play oversees the set design and costumes as well as directing the play. This director was also part of the youth theatre herself at only 16. She requested a Queen of Hearts costume with a pants suit and a high low jacket with large collar instead of a more tradition dress.
The above drawing is my submission for the costume. Some changes were made during the construction process to suit the actors proportions and the need to walk up stairs and sit.
Kwik Sew stirrup pants pattern 2057
Bustier McCalls 7615 view A Corset top.
The main body of the jacket was made from a black polyester fabric with a bit of shimmer. It is backed with black cotton drill and lined. This is the original shape of jacket before front shaping.
I started with view A of the jacket. The unlined sleeves are unchanged from the original pattern. The front opening was cut back so the bustier could be seen under the jacket.
The peplum was made of 3 layers. Originally I planned to use the red vinyl to line the whole peplum. This changed once I cut it out and pinned it to the dress form to check the drape.
Because the vinyl was quite firm and tended to kink rather than fall it didn’t drape the way I wanted.
I removed the vinyl from the waist line and replaced it with foiled sequin look fabric. This fabric gave a nice drape from the waistline and the vinyl stiffened the hemline to maintain the waves.
The outer peplum is the black shimmer fabric backed with a layer of manmade horsehair like fabric. This white stiffening helped the peplum to flair out more from the waist but still drape nicely and stopped the fabric puckering during embellishments.
I drew my design for the embellishments in pencil onto a paper pattern. I traced over the pencil in black texta and transferred the design in smaller elements to sheets paper using a light box. From these I made individual stencil by cutting the design out of the paper with a craft knife.
This allowed me to transfer the design to the back of the wrong side of the vinyl. Each piece of the design was cut from the vinyl and pinned to the paper pattern.
I used red tailors tracing paper to transfer the design from the paper to the right side of the black fabric peplum so I could accurately place the vinyl pieces but not see any remaining chalk once the design elements were in place. Each vinyl element was cut and glued to the black fabric.
After letting the glue set I freehand machine embroidered the vinyl to the peplum.
Sewing the roses onto the collar
The original collar pinned to the jacket
Collar Back. Inside showing the Boning and layers of interfacing, sparkle red organza and black faux leather skirt with scallop edge.
I had to be careful bout the position of the roes so they would not be squashed or sat on when worn.
The corset is made from the shimmer satin. Originally I made it in a red vinyl with a white backing but the fabric was old and had perished somewhat so it started to peel and deteriorate. So i used it a the lining and remade to outer layer in the satin. The corset was very stabilised and really held its shape.
The original fabric chosen for the top was a faux patent leather look fabric in fire engine red. The red coating didn’t wear well and started peeling of the white base even before I had completed construction so I used it as a boned base. I made another top out of metallic red shimmer satin and sewed them together as one. I put bra cups between the layers to shape the bust. I used an open ended zip as the back closure.
The above drawing is my submission for the costume. Some changes were made during the construction process to suit the actors proportions and the need to walk up stairs and sit.
Pattern
For this project I used McCall’s 7641 as the base for my jacket.Kwik Sew stirrup pants pattern 2057
Bustier McCalls 7615 view A Corset top.
The main body of the jacket was made from a black polyester fabric with a bit of shimmer. It is backed with black cotton drill and lined. This is the original shape of jacket before front shaping.
Peplum
A peplum is part of the jacket and flairs out from the waist. For this design the length of the peplum was lifted because the actress had to walk up and down stairs on stage and we didn't want her tripping over with the limited field of vision caused by the high collar. The shape of the peplum was a combination of the two pattern views. The fullness was reduced by overlaying pattern pieces 18 on top of 17. This new peplum shape reduced the fullness overall which allowed for the embellishments to become a feature on the back.
The peplum was made of 3 layers. Originally I planned to use the red vinyl to line the whole peplum. This changed once I cut it out and pinned it to the dress form to check the drape.
Because the vinyl was quite firm and tended to kink rather than fall it didn’t drape the way I wanted.
full vinyl peplum creased and changed shape at the waistline
With the softer metallic foiled fabric a softer drape was achieved
I removed the vinyl from the waist line and replaced it with foiled sequin look fabric. This fabric gave a nice drape from the waistline and the vinyl stiffened the hemline to maintain the waves.
The outer peplum is the black shimmer fabric backed with a layer of manmade horsehair like fabric. This white stiffening helped the peplum to flair out more from the waist but still drape nicely and stopped the fabric puckering during embellishments.
The back of the peplum showing the man made horsehair fabric and the wrong side of the sewing embellishment
This allowed me to transfer the design to the back of the wrong side of the vinyl. Each piece of the design was cut from the vinyl and pinned to the paper pattern.
I used red tailors tracing paper to transfer the design from the paper to the right side of the black fabric peplum so I could accurately place the vinyl pieces but not see any remaining chalk once the design elements were in place. Each vinyl element was cut and glued to the black fabric.
After letting the glue set I freehand machine embroidered the vinyl to the peplum.
Collar
The first collar I made was slightly the wrong shape. It would not sit on the shoulders and curve around the neck because the neckline curve was too shallow. I made the collar and added the embellishments before i realised this.
Close up of the 3D appliqué roses and stems
Sewing the roses onto the collar
A fitting showed that the collar was too big for the actor
The original collar pinned to the jacket
The reshaped collar meant I had to cut off the lower part
Back collar outside
3D Roses
I made 3D roses from a flat piece of the vinyl. Each one is manipulated and hand sewn into a rose shape then stitched to a flat flower shaped base. A diamanté is stitched in the centre.I had to be careful bout the position of the roes so they would not be squashed or sat on when worn.
Corset
The corset is made from the shimmer satin. Originally I made it in a red vinyl with a white backing but the fabric was old and had perished somewhat so it started to peel and deteriorate. So i used it a the lining and remade to outer layer in the satin. The corset was very stabilised and really held its shape.
The original fabric chosen for the top was a faux patent leather look fabric in fire engine red. The red coating didn’t wear well and started peeling of the white base even before I had completed construction so I used it as a boned base. I made another top out of metallic red shimmer satin and sewed them together as one. I put bra cups between the layers to shape the bust. I used an open ended zip as the back closure.
Original vinyl corset which matched the boots perfectly
Binding the edge
Pants
I used stirrup pants for the costume because the pants were being worn with knee high boots and needed to stay smooth and taught. If you have ever wondered how the Star Trek uniform pants are always straight and taught it is because there is a strip of elastic worn under the shoe that holds the hem in place. The black fabric had a bit stretch but not much because of the application of the red foiled half circles. The waist is elasticated, it’s a very simple pattern with two pattern pieces.
Crown
The Queens crown is made from a gold leaf headband I bought at K-Mart. I wired assorted beads to it with gold wire.
The kids put on a great performance and everyone was very proud of their hard work.
For Alice I made two versions of the same dress
The Cheshire Cat was an upcycled purple jumpsuit with a metallic spandex top I made underneath.
Wilma Pictured with her creation.
The little kings robe was an upcycled adult dressing gown. The tails are lined with the same fabric as the Queens pants.
