BOO-Thousand-Twelve: The Making of Regina

You ready for this? Now, if you know me or have been following long enough, you'll know that I love dressing up. I will probably never grow out of it, and I hate those Halloweens where I'm just not feeling creative. Luckily, the past two Halloweens have been rather brilliant, if I do say so myself. Last year, I found the perfect dress and went as Bellatrix Lestrange.  This year, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to go as Evil Queen Regina from Once Upon A Time. Being evil is just way too much fun. :)

She has the most elaborate, amazing costumes in the whole show.

The hard thing was, I didn't even know where to start. Since she rode horses when she was a girl, a lot of her outfits are some sort of twist on a riding habit with boots, leather pants, a corset/vest, and some sort of big flowing coat/riding habit/cloak thing. A little elaborate and not something you could just go pick up at a store or find something that would work at D.I. My roommate decided to go as Red Riding Hood from the show, so one Saturday back in September, we went on a thrift store adventure to see what we could find. Unfortunately, there wasn't much, but I did find a hideous, sleeveless dress for an obese woman. What got me excited though was the fabric it was made out of: black velvet with a red, sparkly, swirly pattern. All too perfect for some sort of evil, royal get-up. I bought it for $7, hoping there was enough fabric on that thing that I'd be able to make something out of it.

I slowly started assembling the costume. I had the tall, leather boots. I found some hilariously awesome pleather leggings on Amazon, as well as a black corset for $20. My friend let me borrow her old Women's Chorus skirt and allowed me to pick open the back seam. But the coat part of the costume just seamed (punny) too daunting a task to even get started on. Although my mom used to make our Halloween costumes every year, and Granny works all sorts of magic with a sewing machine, I've never sewed anything more complicated than pajama pants, a skirt, or Jedi cloaks with Granny's help. I put it off making it, hoping that genius would just strike, and focused on other things. A weekend sale last Saturday at Hobby Lobby got me these little treasures. 

Fairy-tale charms: Skeleton key ring and an apple. So Regina!

Heart box: Regina collects the hearts that she rips out to control people.
If she crushes the heart, the person dies.
I stained it by marinating some rusted steel wool in vinegar and adding some ground Pero (you could use coffee).
I was so thrilled it turned out so great.

Black lace for a collar
I wanted a big, stiff, regal collar. I got a yard of this black lace that was perfect. Problem- it was pretty floppy. I mixed up some water and corn starch on medium-high heat until it thickened and took on a translucent quality. I laid the lace out flat and painted the boogery goop on it. I dried it with a hair-dryer, and voila! Stiff lace! I went over the pattern with sparkly red fabric paint to add some Regina-esque bling.

By this time, I was feeling pretty darn crafty, and so Sunday after church, I pulled out the fabric and set to work. I tried to follow some sort of pattern by referencing my black blazer, and I used chalk to draw out the shapes of the pieces of fabric before cutting. This whole time, though, I really had no idea if this was going to work. Who just wings a full-on royal jacket? Me, that's who. Luckily, the fabric was stretchy, so I knew I had some leeway. 

A bit after midnight, just as I started sewing, the bobbin cartridge jammed.

Not fun.

The culprit?

I finally cleared the jam after unscrewing some things and set to work with Once Upon A Time, Downton Abbey, and a First Presidency Christmas devotional to keep me company.

The sleeves were the scariest, especially since the only fabric I had left for them already had a big seam in it, but it turned out great! I just hand-stitched the sleeves to the vest part, and I was so happy with the way it looked.

At 4 AM Monday morning, with one sleeve left to hand-stitch on, I turned off the lights and zonked out on the couch (actually, I've been sleeping there for over a week now...). I went to my 9 AM class, and then it was back home to stitch that last sleeve on. I still can't believe I actually sewed it. As my mom said, the sewing fairies were definitely with me that night.

Monday night was the ward Halloween party, so as soon as I was home from school, I attached the lace around the collar and wrists with hot glue. Hot curlers, a curling iron, theatre make-up, and lots of hairspray later, the transformation was complete. Hooray for pre-Halloween practice runs, though, because I was able to make it even better for Halloween night. I added the glitter to the collar, and came up with a faster method for doing my hair that did not involve curlers. I give you, Regina.

I went to school as Mayor Regina Mills of Storybrook, her non-fairy-tale land character.

...and saved the good stuff for the night. :) Thank-you, Chelsea, for the photo-shoot. I kept busting up into giggle cuz I couldn't take her or myself seriously. :)

Yay, awesome friends. Chelsea made a fantastic Red Riding Hood. Other roommate, Chrissy, was the Chiquita Banana lady. Maureen was Hermione, and Maddy was a fantastic Lucy Ricardo. We walked through the town to my choir party where I won "Best Costume" and had a super fun night with super awesome people.

All in all, a successful Halloween, although I miss the pillowcases full of candy. This costume was much too time consuming and is much too awesome to only wear once, so I will most definitely be looking for other opportunities to bust it out. Can't wait to see what my inspiration for next Halloween will be. :)