Halloween Sewing 2019- The Addams Family

I’m sew excited to share these Halloween makes! I lucked out this year- As soon as Ami saw the previews of the new Addams Family animated movie she was all in for us dressing up as the family. Now my son at 11 took a bit more convincing, but in the end he hopped on board.

I adore Halloween. Not the scary stuff so much but the dressing up. Although this year I did go all out with Martha Stewart inspired decor! The kids had black silhouette cutouts of birds and bats in their windows that looked so cool. My mom made our costumes when we were kids and we always made our own costumes growing up. While I didn’t learn to sew as a kid I did learn how to put together an awesome look.

Wednesday

Ami is a natural as morbid Wednesday. Her dress is a simple knit with attached collar and cuffs. The main body of her dress is a rib knit remnant I had from a jacket I made my brother and a very thin knit that is super soft was used for the sleeves and upper back. The neck closes in the back with a crossover double snap. Easy and comfy. The sleeve cuffs and collar were cut from an old dress shirt of my husband’s and then serged and tucked under the dress.

Pugsley

Originally I was going to paint stripes on a tee but that was taking forever so I bought a second red tee and sewed the two together in stripes and then cut away the excess. Nigel went with red and white like the animated film-which he loved-all those explosions! He’s wearing knee high black socks and grey shorts. We took the photos post trick or treating so he really is that annoyed!

Gomez

My husband Vic isn’t as in to Halloween as I am but once I make him something he goes all in. I thrifted his jacket from Goodwill and then drew stripes in paint on the collar. That got really tedious and I was on a deadline and running low on paint so the remainder was chalked in with Tailor’s chalk. I’m actually planning on taking this apart and recovering the jacket since I like the shape and fit. Vic then got into the theme and decided he was Gomez on Vacation. Cargo shorts, skull tie, high pink socks and sandals plus some cigars (his vice) completed his look.

Morticia

My sister gave me this long (and really lovely) black wig ages ago. Add in some pale makeup, a beautiful black gown and a red lip and I was ready to go. Ami was excited to help me do my makeup-especially since I rarely wear any. We went with full coverage foundation mixed with white face paint, a smoky eye, false eyelashes and fake pointed navy nails.

I really wanted to try my hand at a gown and figured when else would I have an excuse to make one! I used McCall 7927, a David Tutera Pattern, and found 2 perfect discontinued bolts of fabric at JoAnn’s that made this gown quite affordable at 5 yards each.

All the Details

McCall’s 7927 David Tutera

From website: Fitted lined dresses have deep plunge V front with or without inset, gathered forward shoulder, and invisible back zipper, with length, sleeve and fabric variations. A, D: Semi-fitted skirt. B, D: Full trumpet skirt with front slit and train. Wrong side of fabric will show. A, C: Contrast overlay.

Construction:

This is View B with the Long sleeves in a size 12. My measurements put me in the 14 but when I compared it to my sloper the smaller sized looked better. I tried the insert panel but the fit was way off. I winged it and hand sewed the CF up a bit higher, overlapping at the base. The bust on this wasn’t quite right, I’d really need a few more adjustments if I was making this for an event. (I really should have made a muslin.) The only other adjustment I really needed was narrowing the upper back. I have a pretty narrow shoulder. Other than that the fit was quite good.

I first layered all my lace on the solid poly satin and basted and serged all my pieces separately and then constructed it as one piece. I used some leftover silk in a bright aqua to line the bodice. The entire skirt is meant to be lined as well but this was already a hefty bit of fabric so I skipped that step. I also hand sewed a gold bracelet into the back seam that is held in place with an elastic and snap. That way I can put the bracelet on to walk and hold up the train.

I really love the gathers at front shoulder and the sleeve head is quite nice. The front slit that I wasn’t sure about makes this so easy to walk in. For how fitted this dress is it is extremely comfortable to wear- even in our Florida fall heat. Plus the shape of the trumpet flare train really makes a statement!

If you’ve read my blog for awhile you know I never where black. I haven’t since I moved down south to Florida. Making something completely out of my usual comfort zone was so fun! I just love how this looks and feels. So dramatic! Plus I love these pics I took on our balcony. It had just rained and I really didn’t want to destroy the gown outdoors.

Hope you all had a perfectly fabulous and spooky Halloween! Happy Sewing!