Although its been  a while since I actually made this, I finally got the chance to blog about it! It was Halloween when I wore it, but the party as a Murder Mystery one which is not necessarily a Halloween thing!  It was my first Murder Mystery Party so I wanted to make my costume! When I started writing this, I still don’t have many pictures of the costume!  I really need to find myself a photographer.  This is the only picture of me wearing the costume from  the night when I am not laughing. I tried really  hard to be serious! But who can be serious being dressed up like that?

I was Cruella De Ville (in case you don’t recognise her, she is the evil fashion icon in  Walt Disney’s Dalmatians 101 movie). For this I wanted to make my costume! Thought it would be fun! So I started by making myself a board on Pintrest for ideas for make up and look! I decided that  I will not go overboard with it! meaning I wanted to make something that I could easily wear with other occasions! At least the dress, I wanted to make it wearable! I mean I will  not always be Cruella de Ville.

The dress – I used Rachel’s (House of Pinheiro) Brasilia pattern, that I made before and really liked how it fits me. So I made the dress back with red insets. Also used special zig-zag stitch on my machine to hem and attach the bias facing to the dress with contrasting thread!  Second time around it all went pretty smooth! So happy with my invisible zip!  It is almost invisible! And a good job  since I  used a red one. Also my darts  meet at the points perfectly. On my first Brasilia they did not meet on the seam!  For the hem and neck and armholes I used one embroidery stitch on my machine! But I super personalised my dress by using the wrong size on one of the stich. Arghh.. Honest I did it on purpose! LOL

Fit  wise, I made no changes from my first try – here is the link – Just cut and put it together!  I stretched the centre seam a little  and ended up with a ripple at the top of if! But I can hide it with a chunky necklace  with  the right length! Just have to buy one to match ! Also I got a bit carried away with the pressing and burnt a little the fabric and in the right light it is a bit shiny now! However I happy with the dress! And my original plan worked! It is very wearable and I don’t have to keep in the wardrobe for Halloween or other costumed parties!

The Cape – Well I did not really want to spend the money to get a pattern for that! Call me stingy if you want, but I figured that it will not be that hard to make a pattern for one, considering I have invested a few years back and got myself the ‘Patternmaking for fashion design’ (which was not cheap). And surprise or not it shows how to make a cape pattern! 

It did not take me long to make the pattern as I already had the basic bodice pieces made. The instructions were pretty easy to follow. I used the same patters to make the lining for the shell. I used less than 1m of Dalmatians fur fabric that if I remember correctly I bought from Funky Fabrics and used red lining! I could not splurge on a full length cape! I think that would have been why to much for a party . And although I liked the costume and character I don’t  see myself being Cruella at all costumed parties to warrant a full length cape!  I have enough left to maybe make a little bag or pillow case or maybe a little bed for Bella! She will sure love me for making her a bed out of  a dog’s coat!

The only issue I have with the cape is that I did not make it flared enough and at times it was not sitting right when moving about. It would have been ok, if I would have made it longer like a cape coat. But I know for next time to add some more fullness! Not bat for my first pattern! Might get a bit more courage and make some more of them.