delia creates

baby, girls, Halloween, holiday, kids, sewing ·

Delias Natalius

It’s week five of Project Run & Play! Just one more week until the finale. I feel so lucky to have made it this far.

This week the theme is fall holiday. Now, that could mean ANY holiday. National circle day for instance. I considered that one, but ended up choosing the major players: Halloween and Thanksgiving. Yep…both.

I’ll show you what I mean.

Let’s start with Halloween, since I named my look after the Halloween version of my ensemble this week:

I’ve always liked butterflies, and thought it would be a cute baby costume for Natalie this year, especially since she is sitting and crawling all the time.

When I brought that up to my biologist husband he reminded me that there is a butterfly genus called Delias. That clinched it. She was meant to be my little butterfly.

I created a look for Natalie inspired by other Delias butterflies, and made her a new species: Delias natalius. So dorky, so perfect. 🙂

Let me start with the dress first. It’s also butterfly inspired which you can see in the skirt.

I created cut outs that are highlighted by the white cotton under skirt I made from the bottom of an old blouse.

In between those cut outs, I incorporated vein like pin tucked pleats.

The bodice of the dress has a peter pan collar, long gathered peasant style sleeves, and five buttons up the back to close it all up. The orange part of the dress is made from a Picante orange linen blend fabric I got from Joann.

Now onto the wings.

This part is more craft project than sewing project. I thought about sewing it, but didn’t want to bust any needles on the wiring I put inside.

I created two felt framework pieces from scratch and sandwiched in a piece of white chiffon which I painted to look like butterfly wings. I also added some thin wire around the whole set of wings and some plastic tubing in the middle to help the wings keep their shape. It was all glued together with hot glue, except for the elastic straps which were sewn on.

I swear they are on evenly but the way the elastic folds and bends, one strap lays one way and the other lays another way when not being worn.

I almost made the wings apart of the dress, but after she choked on a leaf and threw up on the front of her dress, I knew making it a separate accessory was the right choice.

This messy moment led our photo shoot back home in front of our all too familiar back fence. But as Tim Gunn says, “Make it work!” So we did. 🙂 (It doesn’t look like much, but in the folds of the dress…it surely was.)

Now for the hat. Instead of antennae, I made Natalie a very simple crocheted mesh hat from my own pattern. The mesh aspect of the hat gives it an insect feel without being too literal and still adds some warmth to the costume.

To balance the hat, I added some store bought black tights which help the teal in the diaper cover and shoes pop really nicely.

Now for my favorite part..the shoes! Using this show pattern I used in week 2, I spiced it up and made a different version. This time I shaped the sole and shoe upper to fit Natalie’s foot more closely, and added an ankle strap.

I used some teal leather I cut out of an old thrifted purse. When I cut the purse open, there was some weird foam batting adhered to all the leather. It kept puffing out particles of dust? or lint? every time I picked it up, so I knew I needed to line it. Gray felt happened to work just perfect. I lined all the teal leather and then used brown leather scraps leftover from a thrifted jacket to make the soles.

This is without a doubt my favorite piece all season…or maybe of ever.

When making the change from Halloween butterfly costume to Thanksgiving dinner attire, I simply removed the butterfly accessories and added some sweet little striped tights I made using Made by Rae’s baby tights tutorial. If you think leggings are fun to sew…tights are just as much if not more fun. I look forward to making more soon!

I also made a knit diaper cover from an old tank top.

I had to get creative with how I used the limited amount of fabric, but just had to incorporate it since its the perfect color.

Here’s Natalie all dressed up for fall…

It’s comfortable, yet nice enough for an important family dinner.

I still can’t decide if I like this look better…

Or the Halloween version:

Either way, Natalie wears both looks adorably.

Here she is in her ‘cocoon.’ It was a cool concept for a photo but didn’t show off her clothes very well and the lighting wasn’t ideal. Still, I was able to snag one worth sharing.

So there you have it. My beautiful Delias natalius butterfly.

And my Thanksgiving baby beauty.

Remember to go VOTE for your favorite look HERE.

The voting poll is on the left side and will remain open until 10 PM, Sunday night.

Have a beautiful fall weekend!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. love it all — the wings, the dress, the shoes, the tights! so cute. My little one wants to be a butterfly for halloween and you've definately given me some ideas!

    Reply

  7. Incredible work, Delia! Every time you post your entry I'm floored and I think well, maybe the shoes were store bought or the beanie and as I scroll down I see you really did it all. And it's all so beautiful with perfect execution. Fabulous work.

    Cheri

    Reply

  10. You should be extremely proud of yourself Delia, the outfits are absolutely amazing! I was thinking the same as Cheri, in the first few photos I noticed the shoes and then couldn't believe that they were made as well! Natalie is so adorable and how lucky she is to have a talented mamma!

    Reply

  11. so so beautiful. well done. You are an inspiration! Now I just long to -not- be sitting at my desk in my office…. I want to be home sewing… !

    Reply

  16. Delia, you so amaze me! I love that this outfit can be worn for both holidays and that you were able to save money thrifting (again). I never find anything in the thrift store, I must not know what to look for. Your attention to detail shines through again. You are so talented!!

    Reply

  17. The whole outfit is lovely, Delia…truly lovely! My favourites are the cutouts on the dress and the shoes! You MADE the shoes?! You're so talented!

    Reply

  18. That is seriously the most adorable outfit EVER! And I can't believe she is up and walking–it seems like yesterday that you introduced her to us.

    Reply

  22. I am with Curtsay, I need the hat pattern. I attempted to create my own pattern like this once and failed miserably. I would love to see how you made yours

    Reply

  24. I love everything about these looks. The cut outs on the dress are so cute. They are definitely reminiscent of a butterfly, but they are also like exclamations points, punctuating Natalie's cuteness(!!!!!).

    And the shoes … I die. You are a sewing goddess.

    Reply

  25. Hmmm… I commented earlier and it didn't go through :/ Here goes another try!

    Ok, I'm going to admit it- When Thursday evening comes around I get antsy and excited to see what you've made for PRAP, and I come in first thing Friday morning to check it out. And every time I am floored by the adorable/amazing new outfit you've made! This is about the cutest little

    Reply

  26. AMAZING! I cannot believe you made all of that stuff! Did you sleep at all this week?? The shoes….JUST fantastic! I wanna make some for my baby girl, but have been scared of the leather. I'm casting my vote for you!
    PS. I also would love a pattern for the hat…..when all of this PR&P craziness of over 🙂

    Reply

  27. This is absolutely wonderful!! Love the dress, the cutouts are amazing, the tights are perfect, and the shoes!! Oh the shoes!!

    On top of that, I continue to be amazed that you can crank all of this out each week, in addition to the photo shoots, editing, blogging, etc, with 3 babes, while hubby is away. Mine was at a conference for 5 days last week, I only have 2 kids and I didn&#39

    Reply

  29. Really love the whole outfit – you are so talented! Natalie's personality really shines through 🙂 she's so gorgeous! Sheree

    Reply

  30. The whole time I was reading your post, I was hoping you would share where you found the teal shoes…handmade from a thrifted purse, wow! I never would have guessed. Thanks for the fun inspiration.

    Reply

  32. I really love this outfit! The wings and hat make the perfect butterfly, and the dress is so sweet! I really like how you did the cutouts, and they do add to the sweet butterfly effect. Great job!

    Reply

  37. Delia, you are awesome! I finally have a chance to sit down and look through everyone else's pictures, and I have to say, I LOVE everything about your look this week and adore the shoes. Great job, once again!

    Reply

  38. OH i love this, Delia! The color palette is wonderful, it's very creative (like no butterfly costume i've seen!) and it's just dang SMART! i love thoughtful and inspiring design and yours is both. very nicely done. 🙂

    Reply

  41. You're incredible. All those details – it's seriously amazing. Hand painting and crocheting and making shoes, this is just above and beyond. And your delias natalius is the sweetest lil butterfly I've ever seen!!

    Reply

  44. This is amazingly amazing! Wow Delia. So cool! I'm not sure which piece is my favorite but I really can't believe you made those shoes. Crazy cute. And Natalie, well she sells it all of course.
    Well done lady. Well done!

    Reply

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