Finally! The complete Sansa Stark dress

Well after two months of work and even learning new things I have finally finished the Sansa Stark costume. From a week long fabric search to the last few days of hand sewing it has been a great experience for me. Here she is the Sansa Stark purple dress.

In early May I got a message from a girl on Tumblr asking me if I could make her a Sansa Stark dress. After seeing which dress she wanted I decided to tell her yes even though I never made a costume like this or make one for another person. I had to figure out the best way for me to make the dress either drafting a pattern or working  with a store bought pattern. I decided to work with a store bought pattern with some modifications which cut the work in half. Before I  could get started I had to go to Atlanta to visit family so I had time to search for the fabric. 

The dress Sansa Stark wore in season 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones

After getting back from Atlanta I had fabric swatches waiting for me to test dye because I couldn't find fabric that was the color I needed. after testing and liking how well the fabric took the dye I ordered all the yards I needed. I decided to  make two dresses, an solid under dress and the printed over dress. Both fabric started off ivory and had to be dyed. In order to dye such large quantities of fabric I had to go buy a huge  plastic tub to dye the fabric in. I spent two days dyeing 14 yards of fabric. Once I had dyed and washed the fabric I worked on modifying the pattern. Not going to go into details about that because I'm  not trying to write a book here. Just going to say that I had  taken the pattern that had the bodice and skirt separate piece, and joined them together for the outer dress. I kept  the pieces separate for the under dress but did some changes to the skirt pattern. I also moved the zipper from the side to the back of the under dress.  After I finished  all the pattern work I was ready to cut out the fabric.

I started working on the under dress first. Cutting out the fabric and finishing all the edges, I was nervous about working on the bodice. I was worried about getting the fit right and making sure I got the pleats right. I spent weeks working on getting the bodice just right, even changing up the design a few times. I finally found a way that worked and stuck with it. After I completed the  bodice I sewed the skirt panels together and attached the skirt to the bodice. Once I completed the under dress(zipper, facing, and hem) I started on the outer dress.

The outer dress took less time because I had made single dress pattern pieces. The sleeves were even easy to insert, not one problem. After putting in the neck facing and hemming the outer dress I only had one thing to do. All I needed to do was sew on the  hook & eyes for the outer dress closure.

The moment I snipped the last thread after sewing on the last hook I felt a wave of ease and relief come over me. I was so happy to finish this dress. It was so much fun to make as well as improving some of my skills.

I'm still looking for a box big enough for the dress so I can ship it off. All of the boxes I have are too small and I have one that's too big. I hopefully I find a box in the next two days.

tried to get a picture of the sleeves but it was hard with just me.

Side by side comparison of both dresses. My dress photographs really bright but in person it's more muted.

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4th of July Denim and Dots

I love having an outfit for any holiday, so of course I needed to have an outfit for the Fourth of July. Last year I had a great  theme skirt but this year I want something simple.  I had decided to make a pair of 1940s jeans and a top. But I had a problem, I didn't know if I would have time to make anything at all. I have been working on the Sansa Stark costume everyday in June. So just in case I had time I ordered my fabric and it came around June 22nd.

Long story short July 1st came around and I hadn't even touched my fabric. I knew if I wanted to have something to wear I better get to work.
 July 1st I was able to get the jeans made
July 2nd I got a top made
July 3rd I finished hems, top stitching and whipped up a matching headband.

Surprisingly I had an outfit to wear on July 4th.

There are some fit issues with the jeans. They are a little too big in the waist but that's a good thing. I'm losing weight so I'm going to have to take in the waist and re draft my pants pattern. I won't be making another pair pants until this winter so I can put pattern work off til then. I left off pockets(as much I wanted them) cause of time and lack of fabric.

fabric before cutting

pants pattern ready for cutting



I barely had enough fabric for my jeans but I was able to get them. Earlier in June I wanted to make a playsuit and polka dot top. So when I ordered the fabric I ordered for playsuit. Anyway, after a while I went with jeans. After cutting out the jeans had this adorable  bib shaped scrap. When I had the jeans mad I pinned the the bib to the jeans to see if I could have dungarees. I'll be adding the bib and straps later on, making them detachable. I love a two for one outfit.

My red buttons I choose for my closure. I picked them cause they looked vintage. My jeans also have an invisible zipper closure. I would never trust my hips to just buttons, that could end up bad.

I forgot to take pictures while making the top. I was just trying to get it made.

The shirt is based off a 1940s pattern with some alterations. I left the sleeves off cause it hot and I’m already wearing jeans so I had to get rid of something. It's a simple pull over your head top, only took a few hour to make. I picked the polka dots print cause the color red, white, and blue was great for the fourth but it didn't scream THE FOURTH. I can wear the top any other day without looking like Besty Ross.

I had a few scraps of the top fabric left after making the top. So I whipped up a cute little headband to wear. I love a match hair accessories.

It was the perfect outfit for running to the store, cooking, and barbecuing. I was comfortable, cool, and cute.

plus sneak peeks of the Sansa Stark dress in corners and background

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