Elf Costume 2 with Cape

  This is the second elf costume I have. (I actually made it before the other costume, but I'm posting it later which is why its my second.) This one was really straight forward as I just followed the pattern exactly as I was supposed to...Well, I never follow a pattern exactly, but it was close. I took out a ruffle around the neck to make a casing for the elastic (instead of stitching it directly onto the fabric with a zig-zag stitch) and combined the top and bottom pattern pieces to avoid an empire waist seam and another elastic. The waist cinch pattern I found in another costume pattern I had and that one I did follow the pattern...mostly. I added some boning in front of the eyelets to make them more secure, but its an alteration hardly worth mentioning.
   Below is my dramatic posing in the green cape I made long before the costume, but went so well I decided it was a set. The cape is simple and made of cheap flannel trimmed with black fringe, but it worked out better than I thought it would! All it takes is a brisk walk and it will billow out behind you. How can you get more classy than that?

Elf Costume 1

  This is one of my elf costumes. It can double as a fairy costume as well, but I designed it with "elf" on my mind. I used a prom dress pattern with a few added "leaves", no boning as I didn't have any and didn't want to go buy some, and shortened it to near half the length of the original (which would have been far to long for me anyhow). The fabric was something I already had on hand (you've probably noticed by now that I wasn't in the mood for spending money) and helped dictate the length of the dress. The green fabric was mostly a scrap when I found it, but I still managed to make every inch count in getting what I wanted out of it.

   The caplet I'm wearing was made by sewing several triangle of cloth into a circle. I then cut a hole into the center of the circle big enough for my neck and finished the raw edge with bias tape made from the same cloth. Then I hemmed the opening in the front of the caplet and added hook n' eyes and the acorn buttons for decoration. I used pinking sheers to the finish off the raw edge at the bottom of the caplet for a more rough and leafy look.

~As a side note, I'd like to mention that I did mange to make the whole thing without one trip to the store. I always consider such projects as a triumph.