Holiday Jester WIP pt. 2 — She's DONE! (Patreon)

I spent all day today sewing, and I just put the finishing touches on the holiday Jester costume! (Well... there are always some caveats; I want to make some quick little hair clips tomorrow, and I would like to restyle the wig. But it's basically done!)

I made the full dress layer first. The skirt is a circle skirt, but I ended up doing all the trim and then deciding I wanted it much shorter, so I took out much of the length at the waist and ended up pleating it. I pulled the bodice pattern from Simplicity 8768 and the sleeves from Simplicity 8506. I had a request for a tutorial on how to do fur trim, so that will be December's tutorial video!

I made an entire capelet that was way too big (it looked fine when patterned, but the fur trim made the whole thing look very oversized), so I picked it completely apart, re-designed it, and sewed it all over again. Painful, but worth it, because the second one is so cute! When I tried on the bow for the first time, it resulted in the cutest WIP photo I've ever taken:

Then I added the first of many, many snaps in this costume... haha! I have a snap addiction. They're my absolute favorite closure to use, because they're super strong, they come in a million sizes, and they're way quicker to sew on than hook-and-eyes or buttons. The capelet closes with a big 1" snap, and the bow snaps on as well, so that I can easily remove it if the capelet needs to be cleaned.

All that was left then was accessories! First I made some furry legwarmers to go over my boots. Then I dissected some sort of Southwestern-style thrift store belt to make the belt and the straps for the boots (which... also close with snaps. Don't judge me!! I didn't have four matching functional buckles!!) 

I also put together a sash and a super-cute potion bottle holster (it's functional! there's... you guessed it, a snap around the bottle neck, so the potion can be easily accessed in case of low HP!)

And finally, I tacked some faux leather bias tape onto my Jester gloves! (I plan on remaking them from a stretch material for my standard Jester costume anyway.)

I'm no longer too surprised when I whip up a costume in a few days, but I am surprised by how well-made this one is, considering the timeline! I'm happy with pretty much every piece of this. Now I just need to find a convention cold enough to wear it!!

Next steps: I'll spend tomorrow working on dance choreography and a shot list for the "Jesters" music video! I'll also restyle my Jester wig, make some winter-y hair clips, and make sure all my equipment is packed up for the shoot on Thursday. On the day of the shoot, make sure to keep an eye on my Patron-only Instagram! I'll do my best to share updates there throughout the day.

...is it Thursday yet?