Let me preface this post with a story which I think encapsulates the entire project.
Last Monday, I asked one of my students what they planned to be for Hallowen. “A nerd,” they replied happily, “what about you?” I thought for a moment… How to explain to this child that I was taking my Outlander fandom to new levels of devotion? So I responded with the simplest answer I could think of: “the same”.
Yes, dear readers, I have become a full-fledged, card-carrying nerd. As if anyone was in any doubt of my nerdiness before this moment. Whatever. As I justified my mania explained to Erick, I am not some basic girl who puts on a bodysuit and a pair of ears and calls it a mouse costume. If I am going to make a costume, I will make a Costume. There will be intricate historical detail. There will be at least six separate pieces and it will take a minimum of 30 minutes to get into. Oh, and in this case, there will be tears and not a little frustration, all resulting in immense amounts of AWESOME!
My inspiration was Claire Fraser’s overall look: laced bodice, full skirt, muted tones, with a variety of textures.
Pictures courtesy of Pinterest
I had a lot of help on this project from my mom, Linda. Once a good teacher, always a good teacher: she had me sewing with so much more confidence by the end of this project! We started working on it over the Thanksgiving weekend, when we made the skirt. This was my first time making something other than curtains or pillow covers (read: something without totally straight lines). I learned things such as 1) make sure you double check that your tartan is ACTUALLY lined up or it won’t match when you sew the panels together 2) it doesn’t matter THAT much if you mis-calculate the pattern because the skirt will be gathered anyway 3) gathered skirts are sent directly from God to beginner sewers.
My mother learned things such as 1) try to include your subject’s head in the photo. 😉 Sorry for the cheek, mom.
We also cut out the pieces for the bodice that weekend, so that when we got together again a few weekends later, we were ready to begin assembling it.
We used the view E from McCall’s pattern M4107 (which is, unfortunately, out of print) and the 3/4 sleeve from view E of McCall’s pattern M4696 (again, out of print). I know, I know! It’s super risky to try to match the bodice of one pattern with the sleeve of another. BUT, we took a good look at the patterns and realized that they would probably fit well together. There was a tense moment when the bodice was finally assembled and we went to pin on the sleeve, but it all worked out pretty happily!
One construction issue we ran into was when we set the loops for the lacing of the bodice. We had to go back after the lining was in and re-enforce them, because they kept pulling apart when we pulled the lacing tight. Major bummer. Thank God for my mother because I probably would have broken down at that point. You would have found me in a fetal position, rocking back and forth in the corner…
So we fixed it, and pinned the sleeves and… Halleluja! It all fit together! Mom had some awesome remnants of braid and lace left over from other costumes, so we used that on the sleeve and stomacher (which you will bear witness to shortly).
There were some adjustments to make, and we had to set the sleeve, but things rolled along pretty well from this point. I made a return trip to Fabricville for some voile to make a fichu. What is a fichu, you ask? A fichu was a piece of thin, usually semi-transparent cloth ladies used to cover up their more womanly bits during daylight hours. Behold:
Pictures courtesy of Pinterest
The fichu was pretty easy to make, as I decided to keep things simple and go with a rectangular shape. The one Claire wears in the first of those two photos would be triangular, but I didn’t want mine to cover up the bodice so there was no need for tapered ends. I got the information for how to make the fichu from this website.
Along the way, I fell completely in love with Claire’s little knit capelet. I was thrilled when one of my lovely choristers, Kim, offered to make one for me! We chose a beautiful cream wool/acrylic blend and it knitted up beautifully. I plan to wear it on a regular basis… Maybe every day… Or at least until my students start noticing. 🙂
Some added touches of outlandish authenticity were my grandmother’s freshwater pearls and a silver celtic knot ring. Ok, annoyed reader/viewer rant here: the string of pearls used in the show is WRONG. In the book, Jamie’s mother’s pearls are small freshwater pearls with little gold roundels in between. Also, in the wedding ceremony, Jamie uses his father’s cabochon ruby ring – not some silly re-vamped key. He later gives her a beautiful silver ring with celtic knot work. Other than that, I love what they’ve done with the show. Ok, rant over.
Which brings me to the BIG reveal!
I still need to sew a ribbon onto the capelet, but since I want to wear it in the everyday world as well (as opposed to the slightly crazed fandom world), I haven’t quite decided what colour to use. Maybe a brown velvet? Navy blue? I wear a lot of those tones… Hm.
There are a few adjustments to make to the bodice still, but I’m really, really pleased with how it turned out! I love the play of the silk stomacher with the matte finish of the bodice fabric. I wish every day was costume day.
I want to say a huge and very public thank you to my mom and to Kim for helping me to create this costume. You are both the best enablers partners in crime a girl could ask for!
So what about you? Have you ever dressed up in honour of your favourite fandom? Surely I’m not the only one out there! Leave me a comment – I love hearing from you!
P.S. You can read my other Outlander-inspired blog post here!
I used to sew, and your post really made me want to sit down and work on a project again. Your outfit came out amazing!
So glad it inspired you – maybe you’ll post pics of your next sewing project?
Very well done, especially for a first go! Keep sewing, you’ll amaze yourself. BTW, the hardest seams to sew are those long, straight ones. I like to use a treadle for those as it gives me something to do while I wait to get to the end, and that tends to make my seams straighter.
Thanks so much – and thanks for the treadle tip.
This is such a good read, and such a lovely costume. You are an artist! The capelet is very pretty. For a ribbon, I would just use the same colour, but with a different texture I think it would set it off nicely – just a thought.
Thanks for the input! I’ll give it some thought.
Beautiful work! You look great- giving Claire a run for her money! Ah, yes, the obsession of it all!
I don’t know about THAT! After all, she’s got the whole curly hair thing down pat… 🙂
Sarah I’m very impressed… you’re very talented! Thanks for sharing this post with us at FF!
Thanks for the compliment! Always a pleasure to see what people are up to at FF.
Wow! Your costume is so beautiful. I wish I could sew as beautiful as this. I also used to saw pillow cases, curtains, bedsheets and simple pajamas. 🙂 Good job!
To be fair, I had lots of guidance from my mom, who is expert-level. If sewing had belts, she’d be triple black!
Very nice job!
Gorgeous, and love that knit collar! Wonderful to “meet” you on craft schooling Sunday, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for checking out my post! So glad you liked the costume.
I love your costume, and all the photos showing how it was created! Thanks for sharing your story at Together on Tuesdays 🙂
Thank you! Happy to share!
I loved your funny and honest description of the whole process. It was a fun read and turned out amazing! Thank you for sharing!
It’s hard to come by experienced people in this particular topic, but you seem like you
know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Nice Blog, thanks for sharing this kind of information.
Amazing! I’ve watched Season 1 but I wasn’t liking season 2, maybe I should go back to it!
Wait??? Season 2 is out??? WHERE???
Ohhh… Do you mean the second half of season 1?
Drool!! I want this!
Thanks, Hilary! I’m so glad we’re going to do the ornament exchange together!
Me too!
Lovely! Well done you!
Thank you!
Hello! I’m in love with your “Claire’s dress”. I want one for me T_T But I can’t found a tartan like that in my city
Kisses from Spain 😉
Thank you so much!!
Amazing job! I’m also addicted to this knit capelet I only just saw it on the series in Australia. I am super keen to knit one but an am amateur and would need a pattern, any ideas where to get a pattern for this?
Hi Amber! I believe this one is the one my friend used to knit it: http://www.knitterly.net/outlander-pattern-claires-capelet/ Good luck!
Thank you for sharing your craziness, I mean passion, for Outlander with the world!! Your post has inspired me to go ahead and make my own version of Claire’s garb! Only a little over a month until Halloween, but I think I can make it happen! To assure you that you are not alone in dressing up based on your random, go take a look at my family’s 2001 Harry Potter Halloween! http://mamafaesknitwhits.blogspot.com/2011/11/halloween-2011.html?m=1
Fandom not random.😉
I absolutely WILL check out your family’s HP halloween! So cool! We did an HP nursery for our daughter and it’s still one of my favourite projects. Fandoms are just so fun!
What a beautiful dress! I love the books and the show so much and wish I could sew such a dress too 🙂
Greetings
Jana
Hi Jana! Thanks so much for the compliment. I had so much fun making my costume!
I really like it. Clothes from past times fascinate me. If I could have and use freely I would feel complete. If you can contact me I would like to know if you could do, sell me three types, models of clothes as these with all the accessories and parts as it was at the time. Thanks in advance.
Great job! Yes I do dress up as different characters because I’m a cosplayer, and now so are YOU! I’m actually working on a Jamie cosplay as we speak (yes, I’m a girl) but I loved his outfit the moment I saw it.