The Waves Obey My Every Whim!

- Ursula from The Little Mermaid.

It's Hallowe'en soon. Do you see where I am going with this? No? I'll be clear then, I am going as Ursula, badass sea witch, for Hallowe'en. Because, you know, she is scary to mermaids.

Photo from a Buzzfeed article arguing that Ursula is actually a hero!

I have been umming and aahhhing about my costume this year. I contemplated going as Rebecca Bunch from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, as we have similar builds, hair, and wardrobe. But I figured that would mean I was just going as myself, effectively, just with a few more songs thrown in. While I love a good sing-song, I felt like there was something more creative I could do.

And then it hit me. Ursula. She's badass, has a great villain song, and has a costume that shouldn't be too hard to replicate. I let Charis gut my wardrobe recently, so I have lots of fabrics to play with. I thought I still had a strap-less dress which I could just attached tentacles to, but I think Charis actually took that one in the end! I did, however, find a small black skirt and and lace jacket-y thing which I could use. I checked my actual wardrobe for a top which would go with them and found a lace-y crop top with a similar neckline to Ursula's dress. Stars aligned, hallelujah!

Getting snip happy!

My initial plan was to make eight tentacles from the lace jacket, attach one on each hip and then three between on each side. While deciding how to split each section, I feared I wouldn't get enough fabric out of the back panel for four tentacles and was happy to count my own legs as the missing two. So I cut the front panels and arms off to start with, removed all the buttons to keep for something else, then cut the collar from the remaining panel. Having the arms as a guide for how thick the tentacles were going to end up, I was able to surmise that I could make four tentacles from the back panel. Wahoo! 

Looking tentacle-y

As tentacles are tube shaped (for the most part), I would need something to sew into when creating that shape so I tried to spread the seams out. The two very middle panels have no seams, but I have another project I am working on which requires on the front of a black t-shirt so the back is completely fair game. The aim was to sew a thin strip onto one side and then attach the other side of lace to the same strip. But more on that later.

I decided to start easy, get at least four tentacles which look good. Even if I did completely fail on the seamless sections, I could have four good tentacles, two ok-ish (presuming that the all the back panel tentacles were difficult), and sub in my legs again. As the arms were mostly ready to start with, all I needed to do was turn it inside out and pin one of the open ends closed, then sew!

Ready to sew together.

I decided to leave the tentacles open ended on one side to make attaching them to the skirt easier. Also, I was undecided about whether I was going to stuff them or not. I like to leave my options open. I was going to pin them to the skirt unstuffed first, to see how it looks and if stuffing was required. If it is, I will probably add sweets to the tentacles from the sleeves because why not!

Sewing the sleeve closed was a good starting place, because it was so easy so even I believed that I was decent enough at sewing to get away with making my own Hallowe'en costume! (Hopefully, it won't all fall apart like last year's.) Next on the list was the front panels.

Pinned together.

These were made from the section of the jacket which buttons up, so it had a nice thick and tidy seam for me to attach itself to. The first panel was quite difficult to pin together, the seam went all over the place. And it didn't help that a quarter of the way into sewing it, I realised that I hadn't successfully turned it inside out. I thought really hard about it too! So I had to start again on that one, but I got there in the end. The second panel, the seam stayed dead straight for no apparent reason. Maybe I am just getting better? Ha, no. Pure luck.

Honestly, I am just so happy with the way these have turned out.

So with the four easy tentacles tackled, it was time to brave the next four. The ones from the back panel which, in theory, would have two with a seam running along the edge and two completely seamless. I stress the in theory because somewhere along the line, the panel got flipped and I cut what I thought were vertical strips were actually horizontal strips. I am not entirely sure how that happened, but in the end it worked in my favour because it meant that sealing one end of the tentacle was easier. And would be neater on the skirt end too.

It was a bit fiddly adding the extra strip of material to act as a seam, but in the end I think it worked rather well. The first one, I didn't think enough about the seam and it's a bit messy. But on the other two, I had the epiphany to sew all three pieces together to create a smoother edge. Nevermind, these were always going to be the back tentacles!

Giving myself something to sew onto.

With all eight tentacles sewn together, it was time to position them onto the skirt and decide: To stuff or not to stuff? In the end, I deemed it safest to not stuff. My sewing is not perfect and there were a few holes in some of the tentacles. Plus, I'm not sure if the stitches would stand the extra pressure of the stuffing process. Better safe than sorry. Besides, there wasn't really anything to stuff into them without sacrificing a sleeping bag! The whole point of making my costume was to not spend any money on it, having to purchase stuffing would have negated that. I can stuff sweets into next year's costume.

Pinned in place and ready to go.

Once I had the positioning right, all that was left to do was sew it all together. One of the most taxing things about this part was turning it inside out after having pinned the tentacles in place without stabbing myself. I did not succeed. They all managed to stay in place though, which was a nifty bonus. The sewing itself was not too difficult. I was worried that the amount of material might be too much for my needle or the weight of tentacle would be too much for the thread. And, also, that I might accidentally sew myself into it. It is always a distinct possibility. But it all went swimmingly. I decided to do continuous stitches, rather than start afresh on each one because I wanted to minimise the chance of knots coming loose. However, I did tie a knot off as I finished each tentacle to add a little security. The last thing I want is for one to get caught and take them all with it. Fingers crossed, they'll stay!

One thing I didn't take into consideration was that I was sewing into the elastic waist of the original skirt. So it is a little difficult to get on. I did hear a couple stitches snap. I think I've fixed all of those. But once it's on, it looks pretty awesome! I am very pleased with it, indeed. And I think refraining from stuffing actually makes the costume a little more versatile. Next dress up party, it could be a spider costume. Or a goth octopus. Or... a mutant fly with a couple extra legs if I can make some wings...? Am I grasping there? Maybe. But the point stands, providing it survives being worn it has a lot more uses in it. So not only was it completely free but it has potential longevity!

Do you want a sneak peak? Of course you do. You've not trudged through this excessive use of the word "tentacle" to not see the finished thing. It's not the full costume, that comes on the 31st. But I did pose in the skirt.

Yes, that is a cheeky side pony. What of it?

Who are you going as this Hallowe'en? Are you making any part of your costume? Any advice for future Hallowe'en projects? Lemme know below!

Listening to: This Is Stars