QUEEN OF HEARTS - Costume for Alice in Wonderland Children's Theater Production

comments (8) February 9th, 2010 in design, garment construction, embellishments, embroidery, reader's closet

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I made this costume for my grandaughter, Beth Ann when she played the Queen of Heartsin Alice in Wonderland,  in a Youth Theater production in Austin, TX. This is the only picture I have.  Check the zoom to see the whole thing!

I used part of an old Daisy Kingdom pattern for the red and white satin top (back zipper) and drafted the sleeve length (to measure) to the puffed sleeve portion.  Using gold thread I machine embroidered the fabric for the puffed sleeve top and created and inserted white satin bias piping between the upper and lower portion of the sleeve. I drafted a pattern for the skirt portion and made it longer as in a gown, with the center white panel matching white for white at the waist.  I embellished the white  front panel with appliqued red hearts, and machine embroidered tiny gold hearts on the seam edges where the red meets the white. Heart embellished white lace, trimmed the sleeve at wrist and at neck.  I created a lined, crinoline and tulle underskirt with elastic waistband, so that it would puff out and so that she could wear it under another costume or long skirt.  The red satin heart appliques were ironed on the white satin center front panel with double stick film, and were trimmed with red sequins and the heart applique on the blouse top was trimmed with tiny pearls.  The underskirt was lined to not scratch her legs from the tulle and I had hand stitched tulle puffs to hold the puffed sleeve portion out.  I hand stitched the hem so that white lace would show at the bottom.  The whole thing took me a week to construct AFTER I measured, designed, drafted, selected fabric, and cut it out.  It was a labor of love and a little "over the top" even for me, but great fun!

With her white crown and a red heart satin magic wand I made her,  trimmed with machine embroidery and sequins (not shown) made her a truly regal Queen of Hearts.  In any case, she won MY heart!

Pattern or design used: My Own Design - Queen of Hearts---A combination of an altered old pattern with created ideas of my own, enlarged and measured to fit. posted in: design, garment construction, embellishments, embroidery, reader's closet, notions, designers, sewing machine, garment, seam, art-to-wear, edge, measuring, thread, hand stitching, hem, marking, commercial patterns, zippers, needles, hand drafted patterns, cutting, cuff, interfacing, waist, trimming, iron, collar, ironing boards, sleeve, shoulder, underlining, sergers, fusibles, embroidery machines, stabilizers, beading