Lydia Costume

Anyone that knows me knows that I love a good costume, so when I client of mine asked me to take on the challenge of creating a Lydia costume I jumped at the chance. 

Like a lot of children from the 90's I was introduced to Beetlejuice through a Saturday morning cartoon show. Later in my teens I went on to discover the movie by Tim Burton that originally influenced the cartoon. So when my client ask I was more then happy to oblige. 

You can follow these steps if you'd like to make a halloween costume, or some cosplay fun. You can also follow Steps 1-4 to make yourself a great poncho!

Let's get started

1.       I laid the fabric on the floor so that I could measure and plan out the shape before I cut it. When I got the shape cut on one side, to avoid making any mistakes I used the scrap fabric to duplicate the same thing on the opposite side.

2.       After the shape was done on one side to copy the complete form I folded the length of the fabric in half and cut the same shape on the opposite side.

3.       With the wrong sides of the fabric together I sewed the out edge together. Once complete flip the fabric so the right side is facing outwards.

4.       Moving to the neck opening, first I cut ease slits around the full opening. This will allow for easier movement of fabric and reduce buckling (and pilling) once sewn.  I turn the fabric of the neckline in between the two layers and hand stitched in closed.

5.       Using fabric chalk I measured and marked where the spider web would fall from the neckline to the hem. This made it easier to map out even spacing. Having the lines roughed in I used a 2-sided heated adhesive tape to lay the lines.

6.       Peeling back the adhesive protector I followed the same adhesive line with a black bias tape.

7.       Iron to activate adhesive

8.       I used the same procedure to establish the curved lines of the web as I did with the straight lines. (steps 5 -7)

Finish the construction of the piece by trimming any ends of the black bias tape that goes past the edges of the garment. If you're not confident in the security of the two-side adhesive tape that you've used you can use your sewing machine to stitch along the middles of the bias tape you laid down. This will re-enforce the line work making sure it's not going anywhere.  

Ta- Da!!   Voici Lydia!

If you're a fan of the cartoon (or a Google search away) Lydia wears this great red and purple poncho paired with a black long sleeve turtleneck and black leggings. Sometimes a simple costume can bring you the greatest joy. 

Have fun making!