Dorothy needed a new solo costume for twirling competitions because despite letting out the one she had, her bottom would not stay covered. Since she is in the youngest age bracket, I figure that it is fine to play up the cuteness factor as much as possible. I had some teal stretch velvet fabric left over from a previous project and knew that it would be a fantastic color on her. Two of her favorite things are unicorns and rainbows, so why not? I already had a unicorn design for my embroidery machine, so I just used that.
I cut out the base leotard, sewed up just one side, then embroidered on the unicorn before closing the other side seam. That made it much easier to get the unicorn on the costume without stretching the material out of whack. I hand sewed some beaded detailing and did that before I lined and finished the costume. That way, the lining is smooth and the stitches are hidden behind the lining.
Despite cutting out the pattern with the length of a size six and the width of a size five, the leotard was still a bit too big around on her and I had to take it in a bit under the arms
I think the back turned out very cute. You can barely see it, but I did some light blue rhinestone on the straps across the back. There are also a few rhinestones across the binding on the front. The are subtle, but added just the right amount of sparkle up closer to her face.
Doing a "fade" for the end of the rainbow was more difficult than I anticipated. I think it looks better from a distance.
Close up of the unicorn. The details of the legs, mane, and around the horn are all seed beads that I sewed on. I'm thinking about adding a black rhinestone for the eye. Outlining the unicorn in rhinestones seemed like a lot up close, but they just barely show up from a distance on the gym floor.
Here are a few actions shots:
During her solo where she placed first for Nov 0-6 State solo champion.
At attention, waiting to start her basic strut.
During basic strut, which we need to put a little more time into.
The lighting was better in the practice gym, and I got a few cute pictures of her practicing and playing around a little.
I had just enough of a scrap of fabric from the leotard to make two little bows for her hair. I thought they looked sweet on her and really finished off the look.
Sometimes, she stands up tall, and looks really confident and sharp.
This move always kills me. She just looks too adorable when she does it, and really throws herself into the lung each time.
Dorothy had lots of positive comments from other twirlers and moms at the State competition. I'm glad I finished it just in time. She will Wear it at Nationals, and hopefully it will still fit for all of next season. It's pretty stretchy, and there is a little room where I can let it out, so that should help.
It took forever to glue all those rhinestones on, but I'm so happy with how this costume turned out.
