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Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My! Dorothy Gale Halloween Outfit

Lions and Tigers and Bears....Oh My!  Dorothy Gale Halloween Outfit

Hello my Pretties (Get it??  "My Pretty".....from the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz??).  Long time no see.  I'm such a disaster pants!  Really and truly.  I haven't made anything this year!  Except of course the million and one things I made for my Brother's Wedding....which I have still to show you!  But on the bright side, I got published in a Wedding  Magazine....Yippee!!!!!  Well, my Brother and his lovely new Wife were in the magazine but my blog got a mention as I made everything for their big day.  So I'm very chuffed to see my wee blog in glossy print.  I promise I will have photo's of some of the things I made, but because I had so much to make, I forgot to take photos of a lot of the things I made.  So I'm in the process of trying to gather photos from friends and family who wisely did take photos!  I'm such a numpty!  You'd never believe I was a Blogger!

Anyway, as I haven't made anything all year, I thought I would cheat and show you something I made last year!  So, last year I got an email from my sister, T saying something like this.....

"Look at this fabric I found.  Its really cheap and I bet it would make a really great Dorothy Gale outfit for me for Halloween.  I'm sure it would be really easy to make and it would be cheaper than buying the outfit from the Halloween shop".

Now......Here comes the complicated bit.  T doesn't own a sewing machine.  In fact, I'd be amazed if T has a needle and thread in her possession.  And she has NO sewing machine skills whatsoever.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not attempting to slag my sister off or insult her in any way (she knows me by now, lol).  I'm in the same boat, haha.  However, I DO have a sewing machine AND a needle and thread, BUT like T, I also have NO SEWING SKILLS WHATSOEVER!!!!  And I'm not being modest here when I say I have no sewing skills.  I honestly don't!  I took a fancy one day and decided I wanted a sewing machine (just one of many whims).  Christmas came and Scrubby Loops kindly bought me said sewing machine.....and that was it......there it sat, gathering crafty dust and taking up space on my floor.  And why?  Because I'm 33 years of age and have never even plugged in a sewing machine in my life!  The last time I used one was when I was 12 years old in Home Economics class.  But because I had been off sick with the flu, I was behind in the sewing class so I managed to give big Doe eyes and a pouty lip to my HE teacher and she pretty much made my wall hanging for me.  So to say that I have no sewing machine skills at all would be a MAJOR understatement.

But, thankfully (and now all modestly goes out the window, heehee) I manage to pick things up pretty quickly.  No, I don't have a photographic memory where I remember each and every detail and I couldn't tell you what a dart is or how to whip stitch, but if I see something once or twice my brain seems to make sense of it and I can somehow fumble and fake my way through whatever it is I'm attempting and manage to make something that is recognisable......most of the time, lol.  Believe me.....it doesn't always work out that well, heehee. So.....numpty here gets all excited about removing the dust cover off her sewing machine and replied to little Sis saying....

"Ohhhhhhh thats a great idea, but I think I can find the fabric cheaper.  I'll have a look and get back to you.  I'll also see if I can find any tutorials on how to make this outfit and we can have a play with my sewing machine".

 How do I get myself into these things??  I'm telling you, I sometimes take my role as a big sister too seriously, lol.  And those little suckers of siblings of mine have me wrapped around each of their little fingers......and thats 4 little pinkies to be wrapped around!  That's a lot of wrapping, lol. Ack well, what else are big sisters for, eh?

And having never even plugged in or threaded a sewing machine before, I was in need of major help.  So I went on a search and luckily I am a subbie to the very talented Whitney from Whitney Sews on Youtube and I just happened to watch her video on making her Halloween Mini Mouse Costume.  Thank goodness for Whitney, lol.  I didn't do the top part the same way as Whitney did, as T wanted a back to the top too.  So I had to modify the design and seeing as I had NO idea what I was doing, I think I pulled it off quite well, lol.  If you want to check out Whitney's tutorial, here it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3edrGKbXLY&list=PLEQFQ2ki0-YDET_Rx6BrfDdThG8uYm7Fh&index=25


Here it is!  Dorothy Gales dress.  It has a simple white shirt style top under it (which I didn't make....obviously) and has a beautiful belly band that goes around the waist and ties in a pretty big bow at the back.  There were 2 big white buttons added where the strap meets the front but they were added after the photo was taken. The skirt part of the dress is a circle skirt and I even put in a zip!!!  A ZIP....can you believe it?  Ok, I put it in upside down, lol....but come on........that's a pretty damn fine dress for someone who has never sewn anything in her life and the zip may have gone in wrong, but it was perfectly sewn in, lol.  The dress still worked though, regardless of the upside down zip.  I like to think of it as a quirky Loops touch, lol.  It's certainly one of a kind.....Move over Dolce & Gabbana.
My sister is pretty tall.  In fact she is the same height as me  (how, is a total mystery considering our parents are wee short arses...sorry Mammy & Daddy, but you are, lol).  So at a lanky 5Ft 8", she doesn't like wearing tall heels as she doesn't like to tower over her fella.  Total opposite of me of course.....I'd have been wearing 6" heels with no concern of who I was towering over, lol.  Anyway, I managed to find an old pair of reddish coloured kitten heels that I bought years ago and never wore (because they were too low, lol).  To decorate them, I bought red sparkly sequins trim off ebay.
 So, these sparkling beauties were made by hot gluing the sequins trim round and around the shoes.  I started at the top back seam of the shoes and went from there, working my way around and down the shoes.  I had to ensure that each layer overlapped the prior so there were no gaps.  Any little gaps that did appear were simply filled in by cutting off individual sequins and gluing them over the gap.  I made the shoe buckles using black sequins, added some tinsel like ribbon made into a bow and glued on one of my wee blingy buckle sliders to the centre.  They look incredible when the light hits them.  I wish you could see them in  real life.
Look at those beauties sparkle.  So pretty!  Sorry there are no photo's of T wearing the outfit, but she didn't want any photos taken until she had her whole get up on, including a brown plaited wig, make up AND her tiny miniature Jack Russell, Luna, in a basket.  Yes, she was putting her dog in a basket.  So, I have asked for the last year for photographic evidence of the whole outfit......and I'm still waiting.  Oh the cheek, lol.
And as I always round up my blog posts....that's it from me folks.  I will try to be a better blogger, I promise.  I'm still destashing and doing out my room, so I will have more things up on Ebay soon.  Oh and I still have to do my Freebie Frenzy too.  I have stuff that I don't want to bother putting up on ebay....all perfectly good crafty bits and bobs.  But its a mix of this and that and its too much bother to list on ebay.  So, provided you are happy to pay the postage costs.....I'm sticking them onto a blog post and offering them for free on a first come, first serve basis.  I will do a "Heads Up" post letting you know the rules and giving you an idea of when the Freebie Frenzy will be posted.  Also, I may be doing a Miss Congeniality Giveaway very soon too.  If you have no idea what a "Miss Congeniality Giveaway" is, check out near the bottom of this post for details.

Laters Gators.....

Loops  xxx
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Comments

  1. Hi Lee
    Well the dress looks fab and the shoes wow are gorgeous and i bet your sister really look the part clever you
    Hugs Dianne xx :)

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  2. A brilliant post a super dress and fabby shoes. Well done you in pulling the outfit together for your sis, Jx

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  3. I think you did fantastic work on the dress and shoes.

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  4. Jumped in at the deep end there then lol...... what a great job you made of it and hope your Sister sends some pics for us........ I just love these shoes, you may not post a lot but it is always worth the wait and read lol
    Tilly

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  5. I just love reading your blog posts - they always make me laugh out loud!! First of all, congrats on getting a mention in the wedding magazine!! How exciting!! And wow, the dress and shoes look amazing!! You did such a fabulous job!! And the upside down zipper could be your design signature ;)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  6. OMG Lee I want those shoes! So pretty and sparkly and well done you on making this gorgeous little creation. The shoes are the sort of things I love, red and sparkly, not high heeled, I want them - what a fab idea though - may pinch that at some time lol! x

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  7. So sorry, I forgot to say well done on the wedding magazine - which one was it - we could all go take a look to see it if it is online x

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  8. WOW, Dorothy would be proud of this dress... well done to you it's fantastic work...Love the shoes.....Hugs May x x x

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  9. Love your Dorothy dress and scrummy shoes. My daughter used to have nightmares about the witch in the Wizard of Oz. Love Alison xx

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  10. Fab to hear from you! Loved reading your blog! Made me chuckle as I have made a Dorothy outfit before too! I used glitter on my shoes and they sparkled soooo much x

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  11. Hi Lee, Never feel the need to apologise for not crafting. There are no 'shoulds' in blogging. They stunt the creative spirit. I personally think of creativity as a wave, going up (lots of creativity / ideas) & down (little to no creativity). The greater the level of creativity (e.g. at the level where you get mentioned in a wedding magazine - Congratulations) the longer the down time.
    As for your Dorothy Halloween Outfit - it is awesome! You really came through for your sister.
    Crafty Hugs, Theresa x

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  12. i'm gonna be dorothy too this year.
    you had an awesome ruby slippers! :D

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  13. Lee, you are truly and amazingly creative. Love those red shoes with all the sequins (where I come from they used to say "red shoes no knickers" :-) can't wait to see you next week!!! Maddy x

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  14. Congrats on the magazine!!! For not sewing very much you did an amazing job on the dress!

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Helloooooo! Anybody out there??!! Hey....there you are! Thanks for leaving a comment and stopping by my Blog. Lee x