Non Star Wars The Queen of Hearts rebuild - Help needed.

Last summer, I made the Queen of Hearts from Disney's Alice in Wonderland for the Comic-Con Masquerade. Due to lack of time, money, and a sewing machine that decided to break a few days before the convention, my dress was less-than-spectacular.

[image=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/3776465772_85f4a12d64_o.jpg]

The bodice was a nightmare; I'm trashing that one and want to start completely over on it.

The broken sewing machine prevented me from making the collar a lot smaller, sewing my sleeves on, and fixing anything else that I needed to.

The wig was only a 3/4 wig and was styled the day of. It didn't cover the bottom half of my hair so I had to actually use black makeup and paint my hair black. Easily fixed this year by buying a full black wig and getting it styled a hell of a lot earlier.

The crown is the least of my worries. It was made with fun foam and glitter paint and sewn onto the wig. I'll probably upgrade it, I just don't know to what yet.

The underskirt was all right but ended up being too short, laid weird in the front, and I just didn't have the time or the funds to fix it. That shouldn't be too hard to remake this time. I'll also need to make either a crinoline or white skirt behind it.

The overskirt was fine. It was the only decent thing that came out of the whole thing, even though I now abhor fur and velvet because of it. (The odd angle in the photo is my knee, btw). However, you can see it pulling down my waist and see the top of my poofskirt peeking out underneath.

Kelldar's Snow White gave me some new ideas on how to tackle the collar of Doom.

As the skirts had to be rip-off-able for the skit (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atYXx2ZNh_A#t=1m10s">Just watch the skit for explanation</a>), I plan on removing all the snap tape and velcro and make it a solid costume.

I also want to actually make the white and red heart bloomers that she has and I plan on trying to find comfy red pumps.

So right now my biggest problem is making a new and improved bodice and attaching it to the preexisting skirt.

Why attach the bodice to the skirt? Because that skirt is HEAVY. I want shoulder/back support from the bodice to hold the skirt up, and also to have that seamless transition between the two, since that's how it's supposed to look.

So here's what I want to do, theoretically.

Since the skirt is like window-drapped (not sure what the proper term is for that), right now it's only held together by a waist band. What I want to do is make the bodice close in the front along the color-changing seam and have the skirt be closed right there too, so the whole velvet part of the dress is one big overcoat.

What's the problem, you say? I don't know how to do this. I can't find a pattern for a dress that closes in the front that I could model it off of, since there's no way I can freehand this. I was thinking it probably would need to be double lined or so, and so that there's a flap in the front that folds over, snaps/buttons onto one side to hold it in place, and then closed with hooks and eyes or something.

[image=http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b248/legomania4/Lips005.jpg]

Then underneath, I can just wear like a tank top, the poof/hoop skirt, and the yellow/black underskirt.

I really want to go this route mostly because it'll making having a face to attach the snap tape for the collar easier, it'll be easier to get on/off by myself, etc.

Another option I have considered is to just make a new bodice, attach it to the skirt, and have it zip up in the back. This might be easier, but I just don't know if that's the route I want to go.

So yeah, any and all suggestions/tips/hints would be fantastic!

 

That sounds pretty much exactly like how I'd do it. With correct placement of the hooks and eyes, in theory, you wouldn't even be able to tell that it comes apart in the front. And it's definitely a good idea to have more than one thing holding it together, with all that weight. So yeah, your plan does not sound like a crazy one, at least to me.

 

Found a better under-skirt pattern: an old McCalls bridal pattern. Kay-Dee used it for her Purple Senate Leia and I like that it's a big full skirt but not gathered.

[image=http://www.debsrecycledsewingpatterns.com/images_pat/mc/mc3449.jpg]


I'd have to look at the actual pattern but I might be able to use that bodice.

If not, the original pattern I used was pretty decent, so I could use that once more and modify it again.
I used Simplicity 3146 and modified Glinda's bodice.

http://www.simplicity.com/p-2112-costumes.aspx

 

Finally was able to find that skirt pattern and bought it.

I spent yesterday taking the skirts apart, taking off the snap tape and taking the top band off so it's in 3 pieces.

I'm looking for new underskirt fabric. As much as I like satin, I think it just looks too "comic-y," if you know what I mean.


I found this cotton jacquard that I think would work nicely. I just need to find a similar patterned jacquard in a darker shade of yellow now.

[image=http://www.fabricfabric.net/images/swatches/RR119.600x600_thumb.gif]

http://www.denverfabrics.com/catalog_itemdetail.aspx?ItmID=RR119

 

I think Simplicity 3782 [link=http://www.simplicity.com/p-2009-costumes.aspx][/link] might have the shape you're looking for, and even if for some obscure reason it fastens up the back of the bodice, it should be easy enough to change it to a front-fastening. McCalls 4107 [link=http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m4107-products-1009.php?page_id=915][/link] contains several front-fastening bodice variations.

Butterick 5441 [link=http://butterick.mccall.com/b5441-products-10544.php?page_id=916][/link] and 5161 [link=http://butterick.mccall.com/b5161-products-7803.php?page_id=916][/link] are various styles of crown, and might provide some inspiration.

I hope this is of some help, and good luck with the project!
Anyara