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 Kristin and Will | Home > Costumes and Creations > Completed Costumes > Movie/TV/Art Costumes > 
Kaylee's Fluffy Layer Cake Shindig Dress

UPDATE: 6/26/11 - I've started making the petticoat and ruffled skirt WIDER.  I got a new, properly sized, hoop skirt and the old skirts need to be expanded to fit over the new hoops.

Kaylee's Layer Cake Dress from the Firefly Episode "Shindig"

Awards
1st Place Champion's Cup - Farpoint 2010
1St Place Workmanship - Farpoint 2010
Best Recreation Costume - Farpoint 2010

Materials:
*Silk Organza for the ruffles
     White, Peach/Pink, Pink
*White Cotton Poplin for the skirt base and Petticoat as well as bodice lining
*White Silk Charmeuse for the Bodice and Peplum Underlayer
*Embroidered Poly Organza for the Bodice

**All Trims from M&J Trimming - www.mjtrim.com**
- 02115 - Pink 15mm Organdy - for under the buttons
- 02125 - Pink 25mm Organdy - For the edge of the peplum and sleeves
- 02138 - Pink 38mm Organdy - for the 'belt' on the bodice
- 41524 - Pink Ruffle Organdy - for the ruffles on the bodice
- 13037 - 13mm White Bridal Buttons
- 33175 - Pink Orange Dotted Tassel Fringe
- Closeout - Green Tassel Fringe
- Discontinued - LONG white chainette fringe that was hand knotted and then dyed to match the color needed

Notes:
- I had to dye the sleeve fabric with a special polyester dye called Jacquard iDye Poly.  I used a mix of Red with a touch of the Violet.  I found the fabric takes the violet really well while the red washed out.  It took a little trial and error, but after a few tests, I got a result I was happy with.
- The silk that goes under the sleeve was too stark as it was in white, so I dyed this in a very diluted solution of fuchsia RIT dye.  With it a slightly pink color, it makes the sleeves look a lot better.
- The bodice and upper sleeves are lined in cotton poplin so the costume breathes.  The inside of the lining was hand sewn to the outer fabric.
- The front panel of the bodice that is ruched, measures twice the length of the flatlined piece underneath, this gives a great ruched effect that was then ironed down to form the 'pleats'.
- The ribbon was not strong enough in color on it's own, so I had to double it over and sew it to make one ribbon.  This was then used to trim the peplum and middle of the bodice.  The same was done for the belt.
- The belt is a doubled over piece of ribbon that closes with a hook and eye.  The original dress looked like it had a belt to me, in some shots it seems to move around.  If it were sewn to the dress, this wouldn't happen.
- The entire petticoat consists of about 50 yards of ruffles that were pulled by hand.  I didn't have a ruffle foot at the time, so I had to create two gather stitches and pull each to the proper size needed.  Each ruffle on the PC has a rolled hem on either side of the ruffle to prevent fraying.
- The overskirt has about 50-60 yards of ruffles as well.  I recieved a ruffle foot for Christmas just as I was starting the white layer (my last layer), so those were made with the ruffler foot - what a life saver!  All the edges of the OS ruffles are done with a rolled overcasting stitch to prevent fraying.  This also helped give the ruffles body.  There are only 8 layersof ruffles on the skirt, the final ruffle is the peplum on the bodice.

Date(s): April 15, 2009. Album by Kristin and Will. Photos by Kris. 1 - 53 of 53 Total. 9970 Visits.
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I was wondering if you used any patterns for this dress, or if it was completely your own design. :) Either way, it's amazing! I would like to make one for an upcoming convention, but have no idea where to begin!
 - 
Alexa, Fri, 9 Dec 2011 12:12AM
Love, love, love your dress diary/page. I've been going by your site when making my fluffy dress. A friend of mine went to D*C and took pics of all of the layer cake dresses and I was like...heeeey, I know that dress! Yours is by far one of my favorite recreations I've seen.

So thanks for sharing your experience and providing inspiration!

Stay shiny!
 - 
Courtney W | www.captaincutler.com, Sat, 11 Sep 2010 9:32AM
Start SlideshowSelect images and click to download to your computer 
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Original Dress worn by Jewel Stait
*Photo from Maggie at www.costumersguide.com


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Finally!  A much better photo that more accurately shows the true colors of my dress!

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Central Park - Outside of Belvedere Castle
June 12, 2010
Photo by Will


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Central Park - Bethesda Terrace
June 12, 2010
Photo by Will


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Central Park - Shakespeare Garden - June 12, 2010
Photo by Will


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Central Park - Outside of Belvedere Castle
June 12, 2010
Photo by Will


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Central Park - Outside of Belvedere Castle
June 12, 2010
Photo by Will


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Central Park - Bethesda Terrace
June 12, 2010
Photo by Will
*Proof I have to hoop where ever I am lol


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Kaylee takes the cake.

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Back of my Kaylee Dress

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Original Dress worn by Jewel Stait
*Photo from Maggie at www.costumersguide.com


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What the original fabric looks like.  Used from an antique silk Sari.  This should be interesting to try and find.

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All my fabric lined up.
Cotton Poplin for the petticoat and skirt base.  Silk Charmuese for the bodice underlayer.  Embroidered sheer for the bodice overlayer.  Silk Organza in White, Peach, and Pink for the skirt ruffles.


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Trims!
Knotted Chainette fringe dyed pink.  Tassels for the sleeve trim (cut off of tassel fringe), satin buttons, pleated sheer ribbon, and regular organdy ribbon.


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Yummy White, Peach, and Pink silk organza for the skirt ruffles.

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Embroidered sheer for the bodice.  It was the closest match to the original silk that I could find.  I need to get some dispersion dye for polyester to dye this pink.  I'm also going to hand embroider some gold threading in it I think.

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I dyed the sleeve sheer using "Jacquard iDye Poly" in red with a touch of violet.  It came out a hint peachier than I wanted, but it still looks great.
The dye was very easy to use, it just takes some experimenting to get the color you want.


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Petticoat base.  It looks narrow here, but when I tried it on, it looked proportionate to what I need.

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Two layers of ruffles.  It all has to be hand ruffled due to my lack of ruffle foot :-(

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See!  It is a BIG skirt... I hid from Will under there for a good 15 minutes before he realized :-)
"so funny! You look exactly like a ca..."
View Comments...

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Completed Petticoat.

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Laying out the overskirt and measuring where the ruffles will be.

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Two layers of the pink ruffles on.

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All the pink ruffles are sewn down, the peach ones are only pinned on here.

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Peach ruffles completely sewn down.

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All the ruffle layers are sewn on and the petticoat was hemmed to a proper length.  Thank goodness this part is done.  Now it's on to the bodice!

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The bodice mock up.  It worked so well, that the top part was made into the lining.

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Mock up with the skirt.

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The bodice front is flat lined with silk charmeuse and topped with a ruffled layer of embroidered organza.  The 'pleats' were pressed one at a time with an iron until I got the desired look.  This was a challenge to me, but a fun one!

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I then added the ruffles and the pink strip in the middle where the buttons will go.

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Before adding the peplum and back.  Where the peplum attaches at the bottom is where my natural waist is.

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After many hours of sewing, the bodice is about 80% done!  Just need sleeves, neck trim, zipper, buttons, and the sleeve trim.

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Nearly completed bodice with skirt.  This photo makes it look really dark :-(

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Sleeves, flat lined and awaiting addition to the bodice.
The white layer is a cotton poplin to add body to the 'pouf' of the sleeve.


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Bodice detail.  I turned under the outer layer and top stitched it in place for a neater look.  The inside of the bodice is also lined.

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Pink trim on the peplum.  Doubled over organza ribbon that was sewn together, and then sewn to the edge of the peplum.

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Kaylee's Hair Bow
Made from two sizes of silk satin ribbon sewn to a french barrette for easier wearing.


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The fringe!  I had to hand knot this to the right look.  My original was too dark and when I used color remover... it just looked bad.  So I had to hand knot new fringe and redye to a proper shade of pink.

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The bodice is almost done!  I ran out of ribbon for the sleeves, *just* enough for one sleeve.  The lining was hand sewn by the sleeve openings for a smoother look.

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Would you like a strawberry?  It's actually a Hershey kiss, but it works for now lol.

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Yummy!

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DONE DONE DONE!!!

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View of the back.  You can see where the back zippers.  Looks like the pink band on the waist may just be a simple ribbon belt.

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The princess seams on the bodice lead up to the shoulder seam.

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Great detailed shot of the top of the bodice.

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Good shot of the side of the bodice.

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Photo by David Ng
Central Park, NYC
www.ng-master.com


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The skirt is getting LARGER!

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The actual costume.

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My old hoop skirt vs the newer, more accurate hoop skirt.  I had to add an expansion panel to the petticoat and to the over skirt to fit over the new hoops.  It's still not *quite* as wide as it should be, but it's a LOT closer than the old one was.

 
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