I’ve always wanted a poodle skirt. It was a popular costume when I was a kid, and seemingly easy to put together, I just never did it until last year. When planning group costumes for a Halloween cruise with my costuming friend Tina and my blogging besties Miranda from Spooky Little Halloween and Cheyenne from Sense & Serendipity, I made the executive decision that we’d all wear poodle skirts one evening…which also meant that I was in charge of making them.
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Straying from the typical poodle or cat, I asked each of them to pick their favorite animal. I chose a T. Rex, Cheyenne a white tiger, Miranda a bat, and Tina a flamingo. After we moved to the new house, all my shorter curtains became costume fabric supply, so I set aside 16 curtain panels for these skirts (outside fabric and liner). And for the appliques, I used scrap fabric and Heat-n-Bond. So this was a purely stash busting project and I didn’t have to buy anything!
Adhesive: HeatnBond UltraHold Iron-On Adhesive Value Pack, 17 Inches x 5 Yards
I stole cartoony animal clipart from the Internet for patterns, and made the appliques according to the package directions for each color fabric that would be ironed on by layer onto the skirts. I set them aside and cut the skirt circles using the Simplicity 5403 pattern. We were different sizes, but the circles were roughly 72″ in diameter, so I just made sure the hole opening had the same(ish) circumference as our respective waist measuements. You could actually use a 72″ round tablecloth, come to think of it.
Pattern: Simplicity Dog and Cat Print Retro Skirt Sewing Pattern for Women, Sizes 14-22
Once the two halves of the outside fabric was sewn into a circle, I positioned the animals off-centered on the right or left, depending on which direction the animal was facing. I wanted our four to be alternating and sort of random, but also alike. I ironed on one color/layer at a time, then zigzag stitched every edge of every color of each applique. Then I zigzag stitched black sequin trim in random loops and curves to make a leash. I also sewed on diamond crystals for the eyes.
Sequin trim: WINOMO Metallic Flat Sequins Holographic Faceted Sequins Trim Ribbon String (Black)
Diamond crystals: Choupee 130PCS Sew on Glass Rhinestones Mix Shape
By the fourth and final animal, I really nailed down the zigzag stitch. I wasn’t great at it before, but the other ones were with black and it wouldn’t really be noticeable from afar. On Miranda’s her black bat with orange border really popped!
I’m awful at curved hems, so I made these skirts with gold liners. Once all the animals were done, I attached the liners with right sides together and stitched the bottom hem, turned the skirts right side out, ironed, and finished the hem with a top stitch. I also installed invisible zippers, though I’m not great at that particular skill either.
Zippers: Erlvery DaMain 100Pcs 12 Inch Nylon Invisible Zippers Bulk for Sewing Craft (25 Colors)
I made waistbands out of the gold liner fabric, as we would all be wearing wide elastic belts over them. I suggested to the group that black would be the most uniform and easiest to wear with other things.
Belt: GRACE KARIN Women’s Wide Patent Leather Fashion Dress Belt Black M
Here’s a closer look at our quirky animals. What do you think? I like how each of us styled the skirts differently with our shirts and shoes (and Miranda’s funky bat glasses). My shirt (I’m the T. Rex) and neck scarf were also Amazon finds. I was going for a mean girl vibe.
We had a blast living in our own sock hop that night on the cruise, and received so many compliments from other guests! Up next are more costumes from the cruise, and eventually the Halloween cruise itself!
[Related: Halloween Cruise? Don’t Mind if I Boo! (Part 1: The Cruise) and Halloween Cruise? Don’t Mind if I Boo! (Part 2: The Costumes)]
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