Alice in Wonderland Costumes

I have had a very busy couple of weeks making a beautiful Alice Dress and 11 Card Soldiers  as per the latest film starring Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. The Dress is made with Organza over turquoise taffeta with a white lace edged petticoat. I have made it almost exactly as the film to fit a 26 inch chest. The dancer tried it on and danced in it last night and it fitted perfectly. I made some striped stretch fingerless gloves too using white stretch mesh and drawing the stripes on with a permanent marker pen.



Alice in Wonderland Dress
 

I made the cards out of dark red vinyl lined with red lining material. They consist of a tabard with a hole cut out for the neck. I made a helmet out of stretch jersey and designed a heart shaped mask with a cut out for the eyes. I used back permanent marker pens to draw on the hearts and details on the mask. I made leggings and long sleeve top in the jersey fabric, attaching some heart shaped gauntlets to the sleeves with numbers and a heart motif. The vinyl is quite difficult to work with, you feel like you have been in a wrestling match by the time you have sewn up the eleventh tabard. I was surprised that my machine managed to cope with the quadruple thicknesses of the sides, but you just have to take it steady and almost go one stitch at a time on the risky bits. I managed to not break any needles, which is quite an achievement. To get the masks on correctly, I had to try each one on and pin it to the helmet whilst I was wearing it, which was another struggle.

Alice in Wonderland Card Soldier Costume

 

 

I had the original caterpillar costume back to alter, so I have taken a couple of pictures. I had forgotten how much detail I had put into it and how heavy it is. The head is made of a plastic wire netting frame covered in wadding and the body has curtain wire running through channels to give it the caterpillar shape.

 

 

 

 

 

Caterpillar Costume

 

My next blog will be about the Red and White Queens.

 

 

chrisdavoilecostumes.org.uk