How I made my Winifred Sanderson costume for Halloween

First I want to say that I survived Blogtober! I have successfully posted a blog post every day of October. No amount of words will express to you how proud I am of myself. I surely thought halfway through I would be like “forget it I am done!” But here I am! Let’s get into the real reason why you are here… My Winifred Sanderson Costume!

I should have made this post earlier, but sadly my costume as of this morning is not finished and that is on me. What has once just a thought…is now almost a complete costume. I can’t believe I have made this. It is not 100% perfect, but I am in love and cannot wait to wear it tonight. Here is how I made my Winifred Sanderson costume.

I wrote about my displeasure of buying a Halloween costume when you are plus size. That right there is what started this amazing journey. There were times where I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I pushed through.

Winifred Sanderson costume

I told myself while laying in bed if I go to Goodwill tomorrow and they have all the colors I am looking for it is a sign that I am to make this dress. I went to 2 Goodwills and found everything I needed. Fabric wise. I wish I would have documented the process a little bit better and again that is on me. It never crosses my mind until after the fact I didn’t think to take pictures or record my process. I started too, but then I got annoyed I had to keep getting up and stopping the process. I just needed to work and get it done.

What started out as 2 bedsheets, 2 tablecloths and 1 sheer curtain has turned into my Winifred Sanderson costume.

There have been some ups and downs. I have made 2 dresses and 2 jackets. It was trial and error. I am not a professional and I didn’t use a sewing mannequin. I measured and measured and then cut. Then probably made a mistake. Had a meltdown, overthought about it all night long till I came up with a solution or jerry-rig something together.

**WARNING**

My pictures will suck. I am not a photographer, but I wanted to film the process but my lighting sucked!

Winifred Sanderson

The first dress

I took the big forest green tablecloth folded it in half and used my wedding dress to draw out the shape of the dress I wanted. DO NOT FORGET TO ACCOUNT FOR SEAM ALLOWANCE LIKE I DID! You will see why a few pictures down… (don’t worry. Mike has already seen my dress and was there when I bought it.)

After I traced out my shape. I cut along the lines and sewed along my chalk lines tried on the dress it was a little tight which I wasn’t worried about because I was going to cut up the middle to add the purple panel. I spent my nights sewing the edges.

The second dress

After sewing the whole dress together besides the purple panel. The neckline was a little low and my bra would have been hanging out. I again freaked out realized I EFF’d up the dress. The next day I went to Goodwill found more fabric to use. I spent the next few days cutting out the new dress and sewing it. When trying it on It was more of a maxi dress which isn’t bad. I actually really liked it.

I didn’t want to ruin the new dress because I would wear it just the way it was. So I went back to the drawing board of the first dress. Found some scraps made some adjustments and FINALLY came up with a salvageable dress. Surprisingly, I actually really love what I did.

I added some panels to the side and some little panels by my neckline so my bra wouldn’t hang out. Now I was putting my DIY skills to the test and sewed the purple bedsheet with the sheer curtain panel together. That was a hassle, the sheer curtain frayed like a mofo. When sewing in the panel I added little loops to make the corset front. I was so proud of myself for the way they came out.

Winifred Costume

It looks pink in the photo, but it is purple. After sewing all that and adding the gold cord “ribbon” the dress was complete. I am not worried about it being sleeveless because I will have a jacket on.

Winifred Sanderson Jacket

What is a Winifred Sanderson costume without her glorious jacket! Again I took a large tablecloth with a damask theme and wanted to make the jacket perfect!

I followed this pattern I found on Pinterest to make a simple jacket. When I did it the first time I was worried about making the armholes big enough because I am a plus-size gal and I ended up making the waist too small. FML!!!

Sorry, no pictures of this! LOL

Making another trip to Goodwill, I find another What is a Winifred Sanderson costume without her glorious jacket! Again I took a large tablecloth this one was a Christmas if you looked real close you could see holly berries, but it is what it is. LOL

Winifred Jacket

Now learning from my previous mistake I took my holly berried-themed tablecloth and did the same pattern making sure to leave SEAM ALLOWANCE and measure the largest part of my waist divide that in half and add some extra inches. (Seam allowance people!!!) I am so glad all these “fabrics” cost me about 4 dollars apiece.

HOUSTON WE HAVE A JACKET!

The sleeves are a little long but that is okay because Winifred walks around like this…

Now it’s time for the accessories!

Winifred Sanderson Costume Accessories

Shoes abd knee highs

I tried making my own witch shoes from an old pair of boots which came turned out amazing until I realized I could get my foot in it because of the duct tape… So again at our weekly trip to Goodwill, I found these shoes that just SCREAMED witch to me. For 4 bucks I bought these babies!

On Amazon, I bought these knee-high green and black socks.

Wig & Teeth

At the beginning of September, I bought the Winifred Sanderson wig and teeth from Spirit Halloween 20 for the wig and 7 for the teeth.

Handgloves & nails

I couldn’t find purple fishnets of netting to make these gloves so I am using a dark gray. I also bought this grey to white nail from spirit. Winifred has looooonnnnggg nails. I don’t know how I am going to hand out candy like that.

Jacket

Oh, you thought we were done with the jacket… oh no boo-boo! I still have to paint it and add the jacket clasp. Which at the moment of writing this I am still doing it. I am waiting for the piece of the painting to be dry.

I found this green gem bracelet at a thrift store by my house for 4 bucks. The plan is to break it apart and sew 2 gems on each side of the jacket with a clasp behind it to keep the jacket closed at the waist.

DIY Costume

It probably cost more to DIY this costume than to just buy one, but I was really scared the store-bought wouldn’t fit me. This process has been so much fun and I definitely think I will be doing it again. But I will be starting in like January.10 months to make a kick-ass costume sounds good.

In between making this costume, I made her spellbook and the black flame candle. The spellbook has actual spells from the move in it. I went all out this Halloween. I will probably be Winifred next year too. Give me a couple of years to recoup. LOL

What costume do you think I should make next year or the year after? I am open to suggestions. ALSO, DON’T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY INSTAGRAM TO SEE THE FULL GET-UP!

Until next week, Have a great day! Remember you are a badass!

****HAPPY HALLOWEEN****