Becoming Bellatrix (Stage 2)

Okay, the movie premier is getting closer so it's time to really buckle down and finish this dress. Today I worked on the arm gauntlets.

So this was tricky. I'm not the greatest at sewing things without a pattern. America's next top designer I am not. So I had to do a lot of guessing. A LOT. Some things worked and some things didn't. But that's how you learn.

For starters, from what I can tell from the picture, Bellatrix's arm gauntlets have individual grommets. Now the tool that you need to do that cost more than I wanted to spend so I bought grommet stripping instead which - as I found out - is a pain in the ASS to work with. Live and learn.

When it came to cutting out the actual gauntlet, I totally guessed. And, in hindsight, I wish I would have made them a little longer and a little wider. If I was taking this costume to Dragoncon or someplace where there would be a lot of professional costume designers and cosplay peeps, I would have scrapped them, but for a movie premier I figured they'd work.

After cutting out one gauntlet, I used the first as a pattern to cut out three more.

Because I don't have a serger, I didn't want to risk major fraying, so I thought it would be best to sew two gauntlets together and flip inside out rather than fold the hem over.

Now I flipped them inside out.

And it was time to sew the seam closed.

Next, it was time to pin the grommet strip to the gauntlets and sew that on. MAJOR PAIN sewing around those little metal grommets even with a zipper foot.

Then I had to do the same thing to the arm holes on the dress. Also a MAJOR pain.

Next came the fun part: FABRIC PAINT PEN!!!

Now it was time to poke holes through the grommets and thread them.

As I was trying the gauntlets on as I thread them, I realized I'd forgotten to remove one of my pins. Ouchy.

After making sure I had given myself enough thread to keep circulation in my arms, I finished threading the gauntlets and tied knots in the end. That's one of the fun things about this dress. If you look at the original image, everything is very raw. The dress is torn, frayed, grommets were skipped in the threading and the actual thread hangs off the dress by a couple of inches. This is all great stuff because it means you can mess up and it looks like you meant to.  Which, *cough cough* of course I meant to.

And, lastly, I had to thread the grommets on the top of the gauntlets to the dress and try the whole thing on to make sure it fit.

Like I said, I wish I would have made them a little longer and a little wider. But, overall, I'm happy with the way they turned out.

Stay tuned for my next Becoming Bellatrix post where I'll be making the corset.

Oh, and I bought some sparkly pink fabric today. I can't wait to tell you what I'm going to do with it. Here's a hint: It will be truly outrageous.