Last year when we were at the Renaissance Festival, Anya loved watching the ladies dressed up as gypsies.  She loved their outfits, and those cool hip scarves with all the coins.

I decided not to make one of those cool hip scarves, since sewing with chiffon is a pain in the arse.  Also??  I could buy one for $3 on Amazon.

So…what I did make:

• Big patchwork twirl skirt.  Took FOREVER.
• Satin Brocade vest.  Took FOREVER.
• Leather belt.  Took FOREVER.
• Shirred knit peasant top.  Didn’t take FOREVER…yet the sizing was too damn big.  Seriously, OTTOBRE??  I could wear this top!  Reason #1 that I like to make my own patterns.

The Skirt

I took about 6 different fabrics that sort of matched the satin brocade I was using for the vest.  I cut them all out in uniform pieces while watching SkyFall.  Took about the entire movie to cut them out and then pin them all together.

Then, it was serging each edge.  I did it in one long strip.  Next I cut the first layer, and then each subsequent layer was 4x the first layer.  I gathered the layers on the serger and then serged each level together.  I put in a waistband, and then top-stitched all the main seams.  I did a rolled hem on the serger for the hem.

Satin Brocade Vest

The brocade was a gift from Anya’s aunt Susie.   She had made a horse show jacket for one of her girls and this was left over fabric from it.  Plenty to make a little vest for Anya!  I drew out the pattern and put it up against her to make sure it would fit.  I needed to give her longer arm holes, and then I was good to get going.

The vest is fully-lined with crepe-backed satin.  Fully lined vests are always a thrill and a half in getting the seams to look nice.  I ended up doing the final seams at the side seam with some hand-stitching.  After all the seams were enclosed I top-stitched the whole thing.

I did a lot of pressing with a press cloth for this vest.  The seams tended to not stay flat before the top-stitching.

I added interfacing at the back “V” (to keep the shape), and at the front where the grommets were put.  I made sure to test the grommets on a piece of scrap fabric.  Always a good thing to do when you have completely put together something that took forever.  You don’t want that last step to hose the whole deal.  There was a little thread pulling where I put in the grommets on one side, but I am sure I am the only one who will notice.

Leather Belt

Hey, more leather!

Yes, I love to work with quality materials and not “Vegan Leather” (a.k.a. pleather).

I drew out my pattern and sized it up against her waist.  I decided to do it in 3 pieces and join it with silver rivets I purchased at Michaels.  They have a nice little leather section where I got the rivets and a leather punch.  The leather I purchased at a local fabric warehouse.  They have some great colored hides.

Once I cut out the belt pieces, I decided to put accent pieces with the dark brown leather.  I drew one of my Rorschak designs on a piece and did a reverse appliqué.  The front accent pieces have random patterns sewed into them.  I attached them at the sides with the studs.

I have a grommet press but that didn’t work…at all.  It sort of set them, but they definitely need to get pounded together with the set tool and a hammer.  If I pounded too hard they went offset, though, so be careful if you try this at home.  Be gentle, but not too gentle.  I did it on some scrap leather pieces first, but still screwed up a few that I had to take off.

I decided to just have a tie closure.  Reason?  I didn’t have one that worked in my stash, so I went old school.

Shirred peasant top

This is from Ottobre 1/2010, and it will fit 3 of her.  I am unsure how this is supposed to actually fit a size 8 girl.  I realize she is a skinny size 8, but still…HUGE!  It reaches almost to her knees and the neckline is wayyyyy to wide.  I shirred it all, and even after blasting the elastic with a ton of steam to get it to tighten up…HUGE.  Oh well, if she doesn’t want to wear it I can at least wear it.

No kidding…it fits me.  The sleeves are short, but it.fits.me.

So one costume down…

 Kai wants to be a knight.  Off to search for fabric that looks like chain mail!