Costumes and Artwork: Sewing for me! Captain America USO Dancing Girl.

I was nearly finished with my fireside gown when an idea struck me and I couldn't push it aside. Stan Lee himself was going to be at MCCC this year (2013), so I knew that many things would be Marvel themed. I thought it would be fun to have a Marvel costume, but I wasn't inspired by any of the female hero characters. Then, I came across the Captain America Dancing Girls Costuming Group and knew that was the perfect thing! This costume was surprisingly quick to make, and it was tons of fun!

I did get my USO Dancing Girl costume and my Fireside Padmé costume finished and taken to Motor City Comic Con. However, with Stan Lee there it was super crazy (I've NEVER seen MCCC that busy!) so I didn't put on my Fireside Padmé costume because I was afraid someone would step on the train. I hated the thought of it being ruined after so much work was put into it. The USO Dancing Girl costume proved to be perfect for the busy crowds because it was so easy to wear (with the exception of the peep-toe shoes which my feet are not used to wearing!).

Reference Image

My fabric

Bodice sewn

Skirt process.

I decided to hem my skirt panels before sewing them together. Also, from reference images, it seemed to me that the center of each panel had a bit of top stitching that was done after the hem was put in.

I thought that sewing together all the skirt panels would be tedious and take forever.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the process wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated.

The skirt sections all sewn together.

Skirt sewn to bodice.

Bodice top stitched.

Zipper in

Buckram body of the hat.

My "sit on the couch and watch TV" hand work: sewing stars to lapels, and working on the hat. (Though most of the hat hand work got done at my kids' swimming lessons!)

Cutting out the petticoat.

Petticoat with red bias tape sewn to the edge and elastic sewn in the waistline.

Preparing to add ruffles.

Ruffles added to petticoat. If I were to do this again, I would make one layer of the ruffles longer, so they didn't attach at the same point. (After this picture was taken, I ended up removing quite a bit of the waistline elastic, it was too loose.)