OhSewCrafty Blog

• Pattern: Simplicity 4940, View B
• Size: 14
• Fabric: 8 yards poly satin, organza for yoke, suedecloth for vest, assorted trims
• Time to sew: 1 week in October 2014

Here is my Lord of the Rings outfit- the design is from Eowyn’s dress, but the color is more like something Arwen would wear.  The main fabric is pretty, but synthetic, hot to wear and it ravels like crazy.  The pattern specifies lace for the yoke and for some reason I bought organza instead, probably because I couldn’t find a nice lace at Joann that day.  I have dreams of sewing this again with better fabric!  Anyway, the trims are very cool, though I had to deviate a bit from pattern requirement (couldn’t find anything of the specified width).  In my opinion, the trims make the costume.

The pattern is fine, easy enough if you follow the instructions, though anything made with so much yardage will take a while.   (Volume in the skirt accounts for the yardage).  I subbed an invisible zipper for the dress because that is what I had on hand, and I prefer the look anyway.  I barely had enough length to do a rolled narrow hem at the bottom.  I’m 5’8″- tall but not extraordinarily so.  I would add a few inches of length to the dress pieces if I sew this pattern again.  

I love sewing Halloween costumes and I had a lot of fun wearing this in 2014, carrying Ollie dressed as a dragon, in the neighborhood Halloween parade.  I wore it Halloween night too, it was more comfortable then, in a cooler weather.

I wore it again this year.  Though I intended to sew another costume (medieval dress), I failed to acquire the materials in time.    Oliver needed a coordinating costume and I didn’t want to dress him up as dragon again.  My husband suggested a knight.  

So I sewed a knight’s tabard, with crushed velvet, satin blanket binding, and flannel.  I used the tutorial at Make, Jane, make!  Though, I cut the tabard in two pieces, instead of one long rectangle, since I wanted a natural slant to the shoulders.  This provided a better fit but it made attaching the trim trickier- I had to do a little tuck at the shoulders.  There was a problem with the neck opening- though it was the same size as another shirt, it wouldn’t fit over his head, because the tabard isn’t stretchy.  So, I cut a slit in the back neck, sewed narrow hems on the “placket”, and a hook & eye at the top.  For the fleur de lis embellishment, I downloaded an image, resized it, and printed it out as a pattern.  I cut the design out of white felt and appliqued it to the tabard.  I sewed snaps onto the trim at about his waist level, to connect the front and back of the tabard.  A cord/belt would be better but I positioned the fleur de lis too low and the belt would have cut across it.

The pattern for a little sword, made of black and grey felt and reinforced with cardboard, is also courtesy of Make, Jane, Make! and it is quite an ingenious design.  I will probably make more as he grows.  I thought about making a shield too, but he’s so little (20 months), I felt one “extra” was enough.  We went to a big party with other kids and a little boy around 3 years old had so much fun playing with the sword. 

The helmet, I used the tutorial at Wine and Glue, and also made use of this tutorial from Stitched by Crystal because I had to draw my own pattern for Oliver’s head size.

I used felt, which doesn’t ravel and has plenty of body in just one layer, so I cut fewer pieces and skipped some of the steps. For piece 3 (the plume), I used liquid stitch to attach the crushed velvet to both sides of the felt. (Crushed velvet doesn’t have enough body to stand up on its own.)  I suppose I drafted the pattern piece wrong, but once attached in the center back seam, it didn’t have enough ease to stand up straight.   So, I cut it into fringe that splays nicely and is a nice stylistic element, IMO.

Next year, I want to sew the whole family costumes for the Renaissance Festival. Maybe Oliver’s outfit will still fit, but if not, his costume was pretty quick to sew (about 4 hours for the 3 pieces including cutting and drafting).   And I want to do a family costume for Halloween.  Maybe a wizard of oz theme if time allows, or vampires (only Oliver would need one, since I sewed vampire outfits for me and DH a long time ago- 2004-ish).