I am SO VERY EXCITED about this post, friends! This year, for the first time, I sewed my own Halloween costume, and Oh. My. Glob. I LOVE IT! Our school held a teacher costume contest, and it had to be TV show themed. I wanted to make something that the kids would know, as last year my decision to be "Reigning Cats and Dogs" just went over everyone's head. I turned to one of my favorite shows - ADVENTURE TIME! And of course, decided to be Princess Bubblegum!


Princess Bubblegum has an adorable wardrobe, as you might expect, full of pink and purple. Her main outfit is a long pink gown with short puff sleeves, and a purple peter pan collar, waistband, and sleeve cuffs. I also wanted to make it with KNIT fabric, which is easier/faster to sew and would be comfortable to wear all day. I decided to try the Colette Moneta dress, which includes a peter pan collar variation.


PATTERN:

For P Bubs dress, I only needed to use certain pieces of the pattern, so here are the pages I printed:

Pattern Pieces Used, Version 2: Front Bodice (A), Back Bodice (B), Short Sleeve (H)
Pages printed from Variation 2, Size XS-XL: 23-26, 28-36, 39-44

Pattern Pieces Used, Free E-book: Peter Pan Collar Front (G) size XS-XL, Collar Back (F) size XS-XL
Pages printed from Free E-book: 15, 21-22

My own added pieces - Waistband, Sleeve band / cuff, Skirt

Sizing: Small at the Bust, graded to Medium at the waist

Design Changes: Added waistband, altered sleeves, gathered floor length skirt

I altered the sleeve pattern piece to make them poofy and gathered using this tutorial, and added a sleeve band / cuff in purple

The waistband was cut to match the length of the lower edge of the bodice. If I add a waistband to this pattern again, I will move it up one inch.

The skirt is the width of the fabric, edges stitched together, and gathered to fit the waistband



Dress Construction Notes:

- Sewn with Archibald (sewing machine) and Clarence (serger)
- Very straightforward sew, except for my added design changes, which were also pretty simple

Tips for sewing the peter pan collar:

- Press pieces before sewing, but be sure not to stretch them out
- Interfacing not required if using a medium weight knit (like mine)
- After stitching along the outside of the collars, clip notches in the curves to reduce bulk and smooth out the edge
- When sewing the collar to the bodice, be sure your front pieces overlap at least 1/4" - this will cover the raw edge when it is flipped to the outside. If they are not overlapping enough, your raw edge will peek out from between the pieces - ask me how I know :P
- You could stitch in the ditch at the shoulder seams to help anchor the collar to the dress (I didn't ;)
- Tack the peter pan collar tips to the dress at the front *mine didn't lay flat, but I blame this on my heavier knit fabric


FABRIC:

Pink - Reversible Knit Fabric from Joann's
Purple - Same fabric, different color, in scrap stash, used to make this Ivy Tee last summer

This is the "solid" side, which has a slight heathered look to it, and some sparkle! The other side is a very subtle stripe, which you can see better in my orange Plantain tunic, using this same fabric :)

How awesome that I had the exact color purple in my scrap bin, and it is the same exact fabric as the pink, just a different color! The OCD part of me is very pleased right now :)


CROWN:

Supplies: Gold satin headband, 1 sheet gold cardstock scrapbook paper, blue plastic rhinestone (all from Joanns), hot glue gun, scissors or rotary cutter/mat, white cardstock

Construction:
- Cut long strip of both gold and white cardstock, wrapped around middle of headband and glued together and to headband
- Freehand cut out the shape of the crown, using large spool of thread to trace the circle at the top, with additional 1/2" at bottom to wrap underneath headband at front edge (this was the third attempt ;) and hot glue at bottom edge and corners
- Hot glue blue circle gem to top of crown et Voila!


HAIR / MAKEUP:

Hair - Wig, purchased here on Amazon - styled in these photos in a bun to see the dress better. You can see it worn down in this picture on instagram. Not going to lie, I kind of love having pink hair :) But I am too lazy to deal with the constant upkeep. And this length - OMG. I kept getting tangled in my own hair all day!

Makeup - I almost purchased pink body/face color and went all pink, all the way, but decided to just go super pink on the makeup instead! :) And I've never talked about makeup on the blog, but I got hyperlink happy, so here we go:

Cheeks: Benefit's Hervana Blush* - my favorite blush, applied super heavy for P Bubs!
Lips: Lancome Juicy Tubes lipgloss over Pink Lady lipcolor
Eyes: L'Oreal Colour Riche Lipcolor in Pink Lady on lips and eyes ;)
Neutrogena powder eyeshadow duo on eyes (over lipstick)
Urban Decay eyeliner in Rockstar*
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara*

*my go-to makeup, worn daily :)


FINN HAT for the hubs:

Made using the free pdf download available HERE *Did not watch the video until after attempting construction...I assumed it would be easy enough to sew for an accomplished seamstress like myself. Wrong! Lol. What I learned = I've been spoiled by well designed pattern piece markings. Pattern piece number 1 should say "cut on fold" at the front and if you want to line it, you need to cut two. Same goes for piece number 2, and piece number 3 should say "cut four". Fabric is white blizzard fleece, from the remnant section at Joanns, total cost $1.88 :)


WOW! Long post - sorry! But really, this is the most effort I have ever put into a costume and I want to brag about it share the valuable knowledge gained by this experience ;) I am definitely saving this if/when I go to a Comic Con! So what did you do for Halloween this year?! And what is the most awesome costume you have ever made? I am already planning to use this pink wig next year and rock an awesome Sakura ensemble :)