W30 Day 6: Costumes

This is a bit early in the season, but bear with me.  I love Halloween.  I love the costumes and the pageantry of it all.  Perhaps costumes are a way of experiencing what it's like to be someone else for a bit, the thrill of being an actress for a day.  Further, I like historical costumes (yeah, I love Renaissance faires...huzzah!).  There's something romantic about long skirts and flowing sleeves.  Unfortunately, there is a sparse collection of costumes for plus size women in stores, so unless one loves being a witch every year, or does their costume shopping online, the alternative is to make the costume yourself.  Since it takes awhile to sew a costume, I begin a bit earlier than October to ensure plenty of time.  Ahh, see?  There's a reason why I'm talking about Halloween at the end of July.  :)

Last year I made a pioneer costume.  I used a plus size pattern but still had to extend the waistband because I would never have been able to fit into it without a corset to pull in my midsection.  I like the costume, but it feels a bit frumpy, partly because the sleeves are almost as wide as I am.  But it was fun to sew and I enjoyed the project.  I feel like making a new costume this year to reflect my twenty fewer pounds.  Something sweet and pretty to show off the somewhat improved me.  What could be better than a costume with a very full skirt and yards and yards of material?  Here's the pattern that I picked out for my new costume project.  It's hard to see clearly, but I'm going to make the yellow dress at the top.  The pattern goes up to my size, sort of, but I am going to have to modify it to fit my body.  Somehow when they plan out the patterns, I don't think they take into account that proportions change as a person gets bigger.  My bust and hips go with one size, but my waist runs two sizes bigger...eek!  

I'd like to make the blue and grey dress below the yellow one because it's so pretty, but I don't think that's a good choice for me.  It's lovely on the model, but I'm imagining that having those extra yards of fabric bunched around my waist isn't going to make me feel any trimmer!  That dress requires nine yards of material altogether--nothing like being encased in 27 feet of fabric to make a girl feel skinny!  

Anyway, I'll post pictures as I get working on my costume, but it's a reward to myself for my hard work at the gym and being careful with my food.  Huzzah!

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Completely random to this weight loss blog (my apologies), but I got the chance to to write a review for one of my favorite books, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, on http://peninherhand.wordpress.​com/.  Check it out if you're interested in ghost stories and haunted houses!  See?  This is still barely connected with my Halloween themed post above...sort of...not really.  :)