Dragon*Con 2018: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Getting Started

Dragon*Con is right around the corner, and while I plan to wear several of the same costumes as last year with a few alterations, I did finally (belatedly) decide to make at least one costume to wear. So...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie
in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."

I decided to to try to make an Elizabeth Bennet costume from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a zany remake of the classic in which Elizabeth and Darcy's budding romance has to take a few pause breaks to slaughter zombies. It's delightful, actually.

McCalls 7493

I had been meaning to make a Jane Austen dress for a while and even purchased a pattern and some fabric for it a few years back, however I never really had the motivation to do the costume. The thing I like about Dragon*Con is that it gives me a place to show off my final products and hence it gives me an actual deadline by which I have to complete a project. (Hence why most of my sewing for the entire year takes place in the month or two before Labor Day weekend!).

The thing that pushed me to try to make the costume was my discovery of this pattern by McCall's that seems to be a copy-cat version of the movie costumes.

I also discovered that the blue fabric I had bought intending to use for an Outlander costume was actually way too flimsy and shiny for an 18th century rustic bodice, but would actually pass as a costume Regency pelisse nicely. So off I set to secure the rest of my supplies!

Fabric

Fabric choices

The dress fabric I had originally bought was a cream faux-linen with blue floral print. While the original dress from the movie actually has a white background,  I decided the fabric I already had would work fine because a.) I'd already bought it and b.) Surprisingly, I could not find anything better at either Jo-Ann's or Fabric.com. The added bonus of it being faux-linen is also that it's thicker and not see-through. I plan to wear an underskirt anyway, but it's nice to know to I don't have to.

I decided to make the pelisse coat with a navy blue textured material I already had on hand (cut creatively to make it stretch an extra half a yard!). I then had to order a navy floral brocade for the collar lining and a simple navy blue lining fabric for the overall lining.

I already had white lining fabric, interfacing, buttons, and an underskirt leftover from last year's Dolores costume, so all told I think I spent an additional $25 on the lining fabric and the pattern. Not too shabby!

Accessories

Of course, what zombie slayer costume would be complete without some instruments of murder? I picked out this prop sword from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean line because it was cheap enough and looked the right time period. I have some leftover faux leather from my Rey costume (that somehow never made it on the blog!) that I hope will be enough to make a strap to hold it.

My friend Jenn has also decided to join in on the P&P&Z costume idea and she's nearly convinced me to buy a severed zombie head to go with my costume. Eh... maybe...

We also need to find some convincing fake blood that we can splash on ourselves that won't completely ruin our costumes in case we ever decide to wear them as actual Regency costumes one day. Does anyone have any suggestions on the most non-staining fake blood brands?

Getting Started

Time is going to be tight getting this costume finished as I only had 4 weekends until Dragon*Con when I started planning. I have a whole white board list of things to do! I also have to leave a few days to tweak my other costumes to get them ready (in particularly, I need to devote at least an hour to brushing out Dolores' wig... ugh...).

Laying out the pattern pieces

In the first weekend, I managed to cut out all the fabric pieces for the dress and get the bodice mostly finished. It's fully lined, and I'm pretty proud of how it's turning out so far! 

Bodice progress

While I love McCall's patterns and in general this one has been a breeze to make, I did have one issue with the darts on the front of the bodice, which for some reason were only about 2 inches away from the very center of the pattern. That is... not how human women are shaped. So I did have to do some ripping out and redrafting myself, and I think it looks passably good now!

I had to redraw my own darts because of the weird pattern

I hope to finish the cap sleeves, skirt, and buttons this weekend. If I'm feeling adventurous, I may even use my new serger to finish the sleeves properly. Stay tuned!