Twirling Costume

I have made leotards and bathing suits, and I have trimmed pre-made twirling costumes, but I had never made a twirling costume from start to finish before.  Last season, Dorothy was asking for a "fancy" costume, which meant one with a skirt and she wanted off the shoulder sleeves.  Her solo costume from last year still fit (and there is a tuck that can be let out when she grows), so we worked out an agreement that she could have a separate costume for strut and modeling if she practiced every week.  For each week she practiced, I would do one more thing on her costume.  She practices without much complaint, so I made this for her:

 Not the best picture ever, but it gives a pretty good view of the costume.  The lavender fabric and white lace were both ones I have had for a long time.  The white was left over from a Halloween costume of mine (Christine, from Phantom of the Opera).  The lavender was a remnant I bought a long time ago on clearance to use as a cheap experiment to try making a leotard.  The nude power mesh was a spontaneous purchase when I stopped in a fabric store that was closing and everything was 75% off.  I need more practice sewing on power mesh.  It was really tricky.

 When I asked her to stand up straight, she would do this.

 When I would tell her to relax, she would do this.

 The flowers wrap all the way around, and you can just barely see the little white panel under the skirt on the hip.  I hand made all the flowers from satin ribbon, then glued rhinestones in the center and sequins on the petals.  Up close, it looked really sparkly, but on the floor, it was a bit more flat than I would have liked.

 On the white lace, there are large, AB rhinestones, and some very, very tiny lavender rhinestones.  There are a couple hundred on here, but I'm not sure it is really enough.

 It looked pretty cute on the floor though, and a couple of her (much older than her) teammates want one like it.

Finishing up her basic strut.



I probably won't add any more rhinestones to the costume, because she is growing like a weed.  Even though I can let this costume out a little, I have a feeling she is going to need yet another on before too long, and rhinestones are expensive.


There are some things I would do differently next time, but for a first attempt, I think it turned out fine.  It fits well enough, and she got lots of comments at the competition about how cute she looked.