Madness!

I've been talking about this for a long time, and finally I have something to show! I'll be posting pictures as I make progress ^^

So. My intention is to dress as Alice Liddell for Halloween. She's a game character if someone doesn't know... I'll be doing the Madness Returns version on the costume, for various reasons ^^


Wikipedia if you want to read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice:_Madness_Returns

Sorry for the blurry pictures :/
I started with the petticoat. It's just a simple skirt I made from a piece of white sheet. The simplest skirt ever. Just a long rectangle, roll the top, put a rubber band inside the roll, sew the sides together, sew the hem. That kind of skirt xD I sewed some white lace to the hem.



A closeup of the lace. It's the best I found, others were a bit too flowery:



Then I started making the dress from a blue sheet fabric. I took a bunch of measurements of myself, and drew the pattern. Yes, from scratch! I drew them on squared paper. I guess I could take pictures of the patterns as well, so you could see how simple it is...
I don't have pictures of the early stages, sadly. But it really is just a top with oversized sleeves and a skirt xD I put a long zipper in the front, so it'll be easier to put on (and take off, duh).
I'm not sure what I'm doing in this picture, but I see the top and the sleeves are done, and I've attached the zipper to the top. I guess I'm making the skirt part?



Proof that I'm sewing the whole thing by hand! In this pic I'm sewing the skirt part of the dress to the top:



And here it is with a finished zipper and stuff... The sides of the skirt are undone, and I hadn't finished the hem yet:



That's it for the pictures for now. I have finished the dress, I shortened it and sewed the hem, so the lace of the petticoat is visible from under.

The dress looks like a little doll's dress in the pictures, but I assure you, it fits me perfectly xD
Next I'll be working on the pinafore.

If you have any suggestions on how to make the skull in her bow (on her back), let me know ^^ I've been thinking that I could do it out of paper or something. I mean, using glue a lot, so it would be hard on the surface. Then it wouldn't be too heavy... I dunno, we'll see :3

oh it's GREAT...good job girl! i think you're going to be awesome!

honey it's not my style but looks wonderful

Mile, thank you! It'll be pretty awesome after I get all the pieces together :B

Natt, it's not really my style, either, because I usually dress in black and more goth clothing, but that's what the character wears, so I don't really have a choice :D But thank you very much ^^

wow I'm so impressed! Did you use a sewing machine or this was all hand stitch?

I sew but I've never made clothes so I wonder if someday I can try this haha

looks nice

secretpersonfp, yes, all hand stitched! My sewing machine is old and heavy (made of iron), so I'm not that keen on using it ^_^; It usually "chokes", and the lower thread won't move freely... So yeah, I trust my hands more ^^
I'll post the patterns soon-ish, so you can see how easy it is to make clothes :)

Krissy, thank you!

It looks really cool I like it^^

I've always wanted to sew a dress or something, but I'm not sure how to begin.

YW.KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

I've been wanting to make the same dress to cosplay in, that's so cool.

Hey, that's awesome!
Great job darling

Thank you all ^^

Those of you who'd like to do their own clothes... All I can say, is that start with something simple. Like, the first thing I sewed for myself, was the pin cushion! I really should make a new one, because it's not that great xD I'd put a rubber band under it, so I can wear it on my wrist.
Then maybe try sewing a top. You can draw the pattern yourself if you have basic knowledge on how to make them, or you could take an old top apart to see their patterns, draw them on paper, and make more tops!


Now, sort of an update. No pictures, though. Just my thoughts and intentions :B

The pieces of the costume:
Petticoat
Blue dress
Pinafore
Bow and skull
Tights
Boots
Vorpal blade
Omega necklace
Makeup
Hair

The petticoat and the dress are completely done, and now I'm doing the pinafore. I have the front/back piece ready, next I'll need that... long part that is used to tie it in the back. And then the lower front part with the pockets... I have no idea who designed the pinafore for Alice, but I don't know how it's supposed to stay like that. I mean, the white back part has to be sewn on the long piece in order to look like that. But I have a solution for the whole thing. In my head. It works there quite well xD We'll see how it works IRL. What I'm gonna do is, I'll sew the front/back pieces to the long part used to tie it around the waist, and have a small clasp to close it. The clasp will be hidden. Then the bow will be a separate thing, that I can put on the back. Attach it to the long piece :DD
I'm sure the bow will look a lot better if I do it separately, I can sew it into form, if that makes sense. Also, attaching the skull to the bow will be easier.

Then I'll need some red fabric dye, so I can splash it a bit on the front of the pinafore :B

The black and white striped tights I have now, too. I ordered them from Cybershop, and they delivered so quickly!

The boots I also own. Well, almost. I'm not gonna buy new shoes just for this, so I'll be wearing the boots I have. They don't have belts on them, but I don't really care :P My boots are real foot-killers; the heel is 11 cm ;_; I'm sure I'll be fine for one night...

The Vorpal blade is Alice's basic weapon in the game. I'm gonna try and find a fake knife that would look good ^^

The necklace I'll be making myself from polymer clay!

Hair. I don't need to do much, just dye my hair black and it'll be just perfect. My hair has been black for many years, I just have a horrible outgrowth right now xD I guess my hair is slightly longer than Alice's... :3

Makeup. I found this tutorial on Youtube, and I think it would be just fine. I already own black and brown eyeshadow, but I needed the red. So, I ordered my first Sugarpill Love+ eyeshadow, and that, too, arrived very quickly! I've tested it and it's gorgeous! So now I can recreate this tutorial ^^



So yeah, I almost have all the pieces! I'll post more pictures later :)

I LOVE A:TMR and your costume looks so badass so for

Looks like it's gonna be sick

Thank you! ^^ It'll be awesome, I'm pretty confident about that!

New pictures!

Making the pinafore. By hand, of course!


Then I made the front pockets. I cut the shapes from black fabric and hand-stitched them onto the pockets:


Closeup of the shape and the stitching:


Then I had to search for the right places for the pockets, and I thought that I maybe should have made them first, then sew the front to the long part... It was frilly and difficult, lol:


Finished pinafore:


I found this... plastic... rip-thing, that I used for the closing system... Hum, I explain so well xD So I didn't use a clasp after all, just this. It's very strong, I think I could roll on the ground and it wouldn't come off!


Then I needed blood splatter for the pinafore! So I bought this fabric paint, color name "wine red"... I had never used fabric paint before, so this was exciting...


Splishy splashy!


Closeup of splishy splashy:


So yeah, the pinafore is done, apart from the bow part ^^ It's looking quite brutal with the "blood"!

I got the fabric paint from Tiimari (a crafts store). I also wanted to find something for the skull of the bow, and luckily it's Halloween time, so there was plenty of skeleton shit in the store xD I bought this fella:


^ I decapitated him before I took the picture xD The skull is light enough for the bow, and it's a good size and it looks pretty close to what Alice has:


But of course, the skull isn't yellow in Alice's bow, so I painted it white with acrylic paint:


And then with black I painted more detail. It looks a bit crappy, but I don't really care, it's good enough, hehe:


So now I have to attach the skull to the bow, and then attach them to the pinafore... Eep.

I have practiced making the makeup, and I'm getting pretty good at using contact lenses (my eyesight is the crappiest ever, so I NEED glasses, but Alice doesn't have glasses, hence the contact lenses). Tomorrow I'll buy the black hair dye and... dye my hair :B

Maybe soon I can post pictures of me wearing the whole thing... Eep :B

Madness Returns is one of my favorite games <3 Your doing great job with that you know Kick ass!

I agree. Its amazing
I cant wait to see pictures <3

Thank you <3
I haven't played the game, because we don't have... um, money, lol. And I probably want it on PS3, Which we don't have either xD

I'll post pictures when I can. Though I'm not that photogenic :<

Im so sorry to hear that I know how does it feel not having money :/

Tell me about it lol...I don't have a quarter to my name right now.

We have enough money to pay the bills and buy some food... The ends of months are usually macaroni+tuna diet xD Not enough money to buy any new games. But it's OK, I can get them when they are on discount. Today we bought a couple of games from Steam Halloween sale, though. The Rock of Ages and Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. They only cost about 10€ together... Bloodlines isn't a new game at all, but it's so awesome ^^ So if you like vampires, I highly recommend it!


My costume was finished yesterday! \o/ I tried it on, and it looks pretty awesome :3
My hair is now wet, I just dyed it... I hope I did a good job, it has been a long time since my last dyeing. I really don't want to do it again tomorrow :B

The hair dyeing was a success ^^

Some more pictures of the progress...

I sewed the bow into the back of the pinafore. Looks pretty ugly :D


Closeup:


Then I used my hot glue gun to attach the skull onto the bow:


And last but not least, I made the Omega necklace out of polymer clay. I used a bottle to flatten it xD Here I'm cutting the shape:


Right out of the oven:


Then I made a loop of the piece of wire sticking out of the shape, and attached a chain and a screw.. lock... thing...:


Then I needed to paint it silver. I was gonna use acrylic paint at first, but I thought it wouldn't be metallic enough. Then I remembered I had a small can of silver enamel paint that I took from my dad when I adopted one of his hobbies; assembling plastic models :3


It only needed one coat ^^ The result was quite good:


And lastly I covered it with a layer of transparent glossy varnish. I thought it would protect the paint or something:



So there's the progress... I'll try to take some pictures of me wearing the costume. If not, I'll show you the pictures from the Halloween party I'm going to tomorrow xD

i love it when people put effort in their costumes!
i sewed like a madman this week and finished all my pieces
ill definitely take pictures on monday when i go to the halloween party

Yeah, I worked on this thing for about two weeks :D I would've been faster if I had used a sewing machine, of course.
I can't post pictures today, but I'll try during the weekend.
Can't wait to see your costume, mimi :)

I'm dying for Madness returns!!! I'd love to see a picture of you wearing the finished costume <3

Looks like its all coming together great!

Haha, I was also Alice for halloween. Amazing game

OMG AWESOME. lol I haven't been looking at this thread but I love it. And the claspy thingy you used, the sharp kinda edged stuff?, that's velcro lol.
I love this, but I am scared to play the game because I get scared easily.... U.U

*throws Phoenix Down*

I'm raising this topic to post a few pictures of the finished costume! Finallyyyy, yes xD I just got excited over the "new" boots I found at the recycling center, and they are perfect for Alice so I felt like taking pictures since NOW it's complete @_@

The previous boots I used have high, high heels and they are too big for my tiny little baby feet, so it was painful to wear them. But THESE fit so nicely and look awesome ^^

Sorry for not showing my face, I just couldn't fit into the picture no matter what I did O_o I wasn't wearing any makeup, though, so no harm done...
THE DRESS IS REALLY really wrinkly since it's been in a plastic bag for a year xD And it's really loose on me now, I seem to have lost weight since I made it. Hihi.

Riley wrote:And the claspy thingy you used, the sharp kinda edged stuff?, that's velcro lol.

Velcro, huh... Okay, that it is xD All-plastic velcro, the loop side isn't soft like it usually is.

It came out so great! It looks just like her dress.

That is effing sick Good job my darling.