Handmade Costume Series: DIY Alice in Wonderland Costume tutorials

Sumo's Sweet stuff is showing us how to make cute coordinating Alice in Wonderland costumes for sisters. What's cuter than a little Mad Hatter, Alic and the Cheshire Cat? If you enjoy these Alice in Wonderland tutorials don't forget to check out the rest of the Handmade Costume Series!

Hi everyone!

I’m Sumo (or Summer if you wanna get formal) and I blog over at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff. My blog
has mostly turned into a sewing blog, but I do throw in the occasional
craft or recipe every now and then. I’ve got three little girls, so
sewing for all three of them is partially to blame for that!

My girls are all pretty young still, so I am able to get away with
making them dress in coordinating outfits. I plan on doing it
for as long as I can! (You can see more about how I dress them here).
Naturally, I wanted their Halloween costumes to coordinate as well.
Sometimes it can be tricky finding things for three girls to be
together. But after we checked out Alice in Wonderland from the
library a couple of months ago, I knew I had their costumes figured
out!

My oldest is my girliest and our blondie, so she is going to be Alice.
My baby is just little and cute, so she is going to be the Cheshire
Cat. My middle girl is a redhead – in every stereotypical sense of the
word! So what better costume for her than to be the Mad Hatter? I’m
going to show you what I did for all of my girls, and how I like to
use things that they will be able to wear in real life as well.

Let’s start with my Mad Hatter, shall we?

I knew I wanted the costume to be colorful and bright! I decided to
use my tutorial for the Skirt
of Many Colors.  You start off with your fabric and
elastic.

Follow the tutorial as shown, cutting your fabric pieces to your
desired sizes. The difference is that for your ruched panel, you will
need to cut your panels twice the length of all of your other
panels.

Start sewing your panels together as you normally would, right sides
together. Before you attach your ruched panels, you need to run a
gathering stitch along each side – length wise – of the panel. Find
the middle of your ruching panel and the middle of the panel you’re
attaching it to and pin them, right sides together. Gather the sides
evenly and pin in place.

Sew the two panels together. This is what it will look like at this point.

Repeat on the other side.

Once you’ve sewn all of your panels together, you’ll have the front
and back side of your skirt.

Gather some sparkly tulle and sew it to the bottom of the skirt.

Gather the top edge of your skirt pieces and attach them to the top
tier pieces of your skirt.

Sew the front and back together, add in your elastic waistband, and
you’ve got yourself one darling skirt – perfect for the cutest Mad
Hatter!

To go with her costume, instead of having a blazer, I wanted something
a little more comfortable for my daughter to wear. She’s only two and
is a busy body! I went with this shirred
bolero pattern.

To make sure everyone knows she is the Mad Hatter, we need to complete
her costume with a top hat. I followed this tutorial
and came up with this baby, attached to a headband of course.

What do you think, did we pull off a girly version of the Mad Hatter?

If you couldn’t tell, she was definitely mad at me for wanting to take
her picture.

Kinda fitting, isn’t it?

I’m pretty happy with her little ensemble, and I think it’s going to
be perfect for Halloween! Plus, aside from the top hat, those are all
things that she can wear normally!

Mad Hatter: Done!

For my little Alice, I went with the Fiona
dress from Violette Field Threads.

I’m in love with everything about this dress: the bustle, the
bloomers, the big sash. It’s so adorable!

I made her big bow headband using this
tutorial from See Kate Sew.

It’s the perfect finishing touch to her costume!

And last but not least, we come to our little Cheshire Cat. I used my
ruffle
dress pattern and some Riley Blake chevrons, and
we were set!

I whipped up some felt headband ears, and we’ll make some whiskers
when it’s really Halloween.

I think she makes a pretty cute kitty, don’t you?

So there you have it! Three adorable girls in three adorable costumes
– and all things we can wear normally as well! Score! That really
helps me justify my fabric shopping to my husband!

Thanks so much for having me here today! Be sure to come over to Sumo’s Sweet Stuff for more
sewing tutorials and crafts!