A Simple Escape

Growing up, my family didn't have a lot of money, and any money we did have often went to essentials like groceries and bills. So when Halloween came around, or when I had a class presentation that required some kind of costume, I was often left to my own devices and had to get creative. I remember when I was about ten or eleven years old I had to give a presentation about one of the Greek Goddesses of Greek Mythology and was absolutely mortified at the thought of going to school without a costume, so I took an old long white bedsheet and took a pair of scissors and cut the sheet in half. I then proceeded to wrap myself in the sheet trying to imitate the look of a toga and took some safety pins and tried to secure the look. I then decided that I wanted to accessorize my look by adding blue and pink fabric to the sheets, this proved to be tricky since I didn't have a sewing machine and would have had no idea where to start even if I did have one, so I did what any ten or eleven-year-old kid would do and decided that tying the blue scarf around my waist and using the pink one as a shawl was the best option. I went to school the day of the presentation, proud of myself and what I had accomplished, and while the other store-bought costumes my classmates wore looked better than the one I had put together, I was still happy with what I had come up with. After that, I decided that I wanted to learn how to create and recreate costumes so I took a few sewing classes and learned that I had a real passion for it.

A few years later my sister wanted me to recreate the dress Hermoine Granger wears in the fourth Harry Potter movie Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. It was in my eyes at the time a big project because my sister was and still is a huge Harry Potter fan and really related to Hermoine as a character. At first, I was nervous and so I decided to plan out the dress by sketching it. I went fabric shopping and bought satin at a l fabric store and bought around thirteen feet of it then I went on to buy chiffon and got around 32 feet of it. My sister wanted her dress to be blue so instead of buying pink and plum colors I bought blue and purple tones as well as lilac and blue. I then went on to draft the pattern, the bodice of the dress was made up of a main triangular shape in cups of the dress and then had two triangle shaped colors layers that went over the top. The seams were very hard but with practice they became easier to perfect. I then cut out pattern pieces and started putting together my lining. I pinned the lining around the neckline on the outer fabric and sowed and ironed the seam. I then went on to ironing the lining inwards and basted the top half of the bodice and then sewed it down. I did wait however, until the skirt was on to add a zipper and finish the lining in the back. For the sleeves I cut two somewhat circular flounces and overlooked all the edges and then I sewed them to the straps. I eventually got it done within two months and my sister was so happy with it and went on to have a very eventful Halloween. I then decided to take on sewing and creating costumes as a longterm hobby and started selling some of the costumes I made online.