- Do I look pretty?
- Yes. - Slender Man who? (pen scratches)
(vintage music) Good afternoon. So, as you're watching this, it is a couple days away from Halloween. So, that means if you're anything like me, a maker or a costumer or a cosplayer, you have a full closet full of costumes, but nothing to wear for Halloween. (upbeat jazz music) If I look a little disheveled
that's because I feel like what I imagine Santa's helpers feel like the week before Christmas. But, instead of a Christmas
elf, I am a Halloween hobgoblin who needs a nap.
(Binks meows) My long awaited nap will have to wait because this week we
have a big old project. It's kind of become an accidental, ac, accidental, accidental yearly tradition that I make a costume based
on one of the characters from "A Nightmare Before Christmas." 2019 was Sally. 2020, Oogie Boogie. Yeah, Oogie Boogie. And so, this year, my
friends, Jack Skellington. Going to make it a
historical inspired dress, 1890s to be exact, which I think might be my favorite era of historical fashion. Oh, there is just something
about balloon sleeves. (bell rings)
(Binks coos) You can't make up your mind, can you? This project is inspired by the artwork of an amazing artist. I saw this a year or two
ago and I reached out to the artists and asked if it was okay. I am going to be recreating this piece. Why are you looking at me like that? You could see how sad he's
looking at me right now. Oh, my goodness! Just add some Sarah McLaughlin and this is an ASPCA commercial. ♪ In the arms of the a- ♪ Needless to say, I am super friggin' excited for this project. It has been quite a while since I've done any
historical inspired garment. That is because, even though
my sewing journey continues, I don't think I'll ever not be intimidated by historical gowns. There's just something
about it that my brain is immediately like, because, I'm afraid I'm gonna mess it up. Here's to conquering your doubts and we're gonna give it a shot. A big part of huge projects is breaking it down piece by piece. Don't look at me, neighbor. Don't. Only a month more of that.
(Rachel claps lightly) First things first, I am
going to tackle the skull. Now, I am not a special effects artist and I am definitely kind
of the dollar store version of anyone on "Face Off." Normally I would assume a professional would make this mask out of latex. I (nervous laughter), I'm
just going to use foam clay because that's what I have and that's what I know how to use. So, am I positive that it's
going to work? Absolutely not. I never am and I really hope
it works. (sighs) I'm stressed. So, without further ado, I
suppose it's time to get started. You can do it. Cash me inside hyping
myself up every time I need to do a historical project. (lis smack) Let's get started. (upbeat jazz music) Hello and welcome back to, I
have no idea what I'm doing. (dreamy music) (Rachel sighs) And I'm stressed. (Rachel groans)
Okay. I am choosing to sit on
the floor to do this. Weirdly enough, sitting on the floor helps me be more productive. You could say it grounds me. (canned laughter)
(audience claps) 10 out of 10, recommend. Also, Nick had to go into the city today. Basically that means. ♪ More you open the- ♪ Is it truly freedom if you're not belting out to Celine Dion? Alright, enough stalling, I suppose. You may have noticed this
nightmare fuel perched next to me. If I were an actual
special effects artists, I would have a plaster mold of my face. But, I don't have that. So, I took my already
terrifying mannequin head. I just put foam clay on
top of it to bulk it out. Basically, I just kind of
measured around my dome piece to the dimensions of everything and the distance of everything. I don't think it needs to
be molded to my exact face. That would help, absolutely. But, 'cause it's just going
to go on top of my features and not like an actual latex mask. All right, so if we
look a popular design is to make top portion of
the skull all one piece. Then, you make the jaw separately and that way, when you open your chin, (bones crack faintly) it opens as well and hopefully
it doesn't crack like mine. Am I old? So, I'm gonna wrap this in tin foil and then we can start sculpting. (upbeat jazz music) What have I done? It's fine. It's a disco skull. Not that it looks like Leonardo DiCaprio in "Man in the Iron Mask," let's start slapping on some foam clay. I can do it. I can do it. (upbeat jazz continues) It's like the cheese from
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." (upbeat jazz continues)
(clay splats) Okay.
(Rachel claps) Time lapse time.
(upbeat jazz continues) Eventually, I did go and fix these teeth because they looked a
little gorilla-esque. I also recently learned that
you could rub some water on top of foam clay and it helps
it smooth it out a little. It's still not perfect. But, it does help. (upbeat jazz continues) So, eventually, when this all dried, I was able to tear out all the tinfoil and it held its shape. (Binks meows) (upbeat jazz continues) Nope. "Risky Business," ready? (Rachel giggles) Okay, now it is time to start sewing. Laying my eyeballs uponst this pattern, I am especially intimidated. There are so many gosh darn pieces. (upbeat jazz continues) (Rachel whimpers) (upbeat jazz continues) So, place your bets now how
fast I take the sweater off. The millisecond I assume
my floor troll position sweat just starts beading off of me. I will probably be changing into a t-shirt at some point in time. But, for now, I did get a
headstart on this last week and I cut out all of the pattern pieces and, let me tell you, it was an event. I suppose the logical thing
to do is lay out the fabric, start pinning and cutting out. I think a lot of these
pieces come from the bodice and the skirt itself is not all that bad. For fabric, I was lucky enough that someone sent frickin'
amazing material in my PO box. (upbeat jazz continues)
(Rachel sighs) Pinstriped, but it's
definitely a suiting material that has cat hair all over
it because the short amount of time I had this on the
kitchen table, of course, Binks claimed it as her throne. This is, I think, 11 yards. So, thank you to the
person who sent this in because it is super helpful. This is a lot of yardage. As for today, I am going to
get hopefully everything pinned and cut out and then tomorrow
we can start assembling... Squirrel goin' ham in my front yard. What are you looking for, sir? He is really going for it. ♪ He works hard for his money ♪ Okay. Wish me luck. (upbeat jazz continues) (Rachel sighs) I am the embodiment of
that James McAvoy GIF. If you had your bets placed on the moment I put down one pattern piece
onto fabric, congratulations. Please hold.
(Rachel sighs) Please know that I am not exaggerating when I say I am pretty
sure I saw steam rising from my body when I released
it from that wool prison. All right, let's get back to work. ♪ In my duet of pain ♪ ♪ In the sweet fire light ♪ ♪ We will dine and we'll dance ♪ ♪ And fly over to France
in the sweet fire light ♪ ♪ Now, we won't have to fear ♪ ♪ There'll be no one to hear ♪ ♪ When I whisper sweet love
every night in your ear ♪ ♪ I'll have you all alone ♪ ♪ And you'll never walk home
in a sweet fire's light ♪ (upbeat jazz continues) (Rachel exhales) Today, basically, we
are going to get to work because I have a lot to do. Start putting those together, I think I also need to cut
out some of the lining. I have a feeling most of my day is going to be just assembling things and hopefully we can get to sewing. I am dressed in comfy clothes. Crawling in various
positions upon the floor and (bell rings) I need to be comfortable. As intimidated as I am, I did look over the
instructions briefly yesterday and it is quite a lot of steps
and quite a lot of pieces, which I will show you in a second. I think a lot of it is just
attaching them to each other and it's not all that bad. Let's get to work! (groans) Okay! (upbeat jazz continues) (air whooshes) Are you ready for a pattern
tour? Buckle up, kids! Starting off with the sleeve, this giant thing is the upper sleeve, the meat of the drum stick, if you will. This is the lower sleeve. That's the upper sleeve's stay, which I'm assuming gives it its volume. Moving onto the bodice. Then, moving on to the skirt, skirt front, side back, side front, and
then over here is the back. So, and that is just the striped fabric. I have a very cozy day of podcasts and assembling to do, methinks. No time like the present. What is that? Why? (upbeat jazz music) ♪ So long 'til I'll feel again ♪ Okay, so that took a little
longer than expected. Here, are all
♪ Feeling so blue ♪ the lining pieces. So, next steps: I can
start pinning this lining to the outer bodice pieces,
base those around the edges, and then attach all the
bodice pieces together. ♪ Hope and pray and wait for the day ♪ ♪ When I'll feel again, old pal ♪ (upbeat jazz continues) Okay, so, all of the
sections are pinned together. Hard to tell what it's going to fit like 'cause I don't want to pull too hard, obviously, on the pins. I am going to be adding
my own sort of peplum to match the illustration a
little bit better, like this. (bell rings)
(faint jazz music) So, basically, once I have
this all sewn together, I think I'm just going to go
in and drape a new tail onto it and just sew it on top. It's pretty cool. No, I'm not selling you
black market watches in a dark alleyway. Moving right along! Let's go! (upbeat jazz continues) (thunder rumbles) Hello and welcome to the actual 1800s. So, basically, a gigantic
storm hit last night, knocked out our power, and the power of almost every single town around us. (Rachel sighs deeply) So, we had to drive 20 minutes
to get a coffee this morning. It's wild out there, y'all. I have next to no idea what I look like. That old insult: "What'd
you get ready in the dark?" Yes. Yes, I did. My new shirt from my friend Eppie sums things up pretty well. So, the initial plan for
today, friends, was sleeves, collar, then the skirt, and
then paint the skull mask, which has now dried, which
I'm very excited about. Cool looking, although very fragile. I am going to do my best to
get as much work done as I can. Think I should still be able
to do some of the sewing because we do have a camping battery that's charging right now
off of my car and we tried to plug my sewing machine
into it and it seemed to work. So, I don't know how
long that's going to last and then I think I'm going to
save the skirt for tomorrow. I sounded little Canadian there. Tomorrow, (sighs) sometimes
life, it really do be like that. We're going to make the best of it. I am going to go grab the skull mask. It dried a little wonky. But, I still think it's pretty dang cool. I'll be right back. Those with weak constitutions
may want to look away. Ow! Oh no, this is gonna- (skull cracks)
Oops. Well, I just ripped the
entire side of this. Why is this cursed? ♪ Who can say where the road goes ♪ (Rachel sighs) So, like so, and hopefully,
when I move my mouth. Now, I need to fix this. (Rachel sighs)
Splendid. Maybe we save painting for tomorrow. (Rachel groans) It's cursed. Cursed! Ain't that just the way. All right, I'm gonna go
do some repairing on this and I'll check back in. And then, I went and I cried. Hi, I'm editing Rachel. This day in particular, I
just, I had a rough day. Havin' a rough day. After a little stress cry,
did not feel like talking to the camera for the rest of the day. (cat meows) I'm just going to talk
about what I did here. So, this day I mostly focused
on what was attainable. What are you doing? Which just happened to be the sleeves because I did not need
a lot of sewing power and I wasn't sure how much
juice that battery had. It ended up being plenty. But, you know? Now, the pattern called
for that sleeve stay underneath the big poof. They wanted me to make a ruffle for it, I'm assuming just to give it volume. But, I said, "Phooey" and I basically just
cut out the general size of some interfacing to
go inside the big poof. I figured that would be sturdy enough. (upbeat jazz continues) But, I got it done and I think that they looked pretty dang cool and, also, like goth pool floaties. (upbeat jazz continues) Towards the end of the
day I was losing light, so I couldn't do as much. I wanted to redo the
color because I wanted it to match the illustration
a little bit better, draped some fabric onto my dress form, and traced out the collar. (upbeat jazz continues) Now that you're all caught up, let's move on to the next day. (upbeat jazz continues) Do you have pocketses, precious? No. God, Dinkelberg! It is now day four of the project, day two without electricity. I'm doing great!
(bell rings) Huck, dost thou here the gentle humming of generators and chainsaws? It is what it is. This is so far beyond
my control that I just, there is a blanket of acceptance with this 'cause there's nothing I can do about it. So, I might as well
make the best out of it. I actually got some decent
progress done yesterday. Laundry list for today: I am
going to paint that dang skull. If not, we do that tomorrow. Finish up the collar and
the facing for the bodice, skirt, and waistband. Initially, I was going to make
the kind of insert bodice. But, I actually just ordered one for this Land Tree look I did that I think it would work
perfectly underneath this jacket and then I actually have a little bow tie that I got years and years
ago for a Halloween haul. ♪ Ne, ne, ne, ne, ne, ne, ne, ne ♪ Any of you remember that then
you are very early fledglings to this channel and I appreciate you. Yeah, I, no idea when
power is going to come on. Their estimation was
initially Saturday night. It's now Thursday. Either way, we are going to be heading to my mother-in-law's
tonight to take showers. It do be like it do be sometimes. (Rachel sighs) This is an adventure. I'm
glad you're here with me. I feel like this video is a hot mess. So, thanks for bearing with me. This too shall pass, which for
the longest time growing up, I always thought that was a Gandalf quote, which is sort of ironic 'cause that's the complete
opposite of his vibe. This too shall not pass! Let's
get to sewin' this collar. (upbeat jazz continues)
(indistinct singing) (Rachel grunts)
That's really short, okay. This is the progress I made yesterday. Pretty tempted to add
this dramatic of a sleeve to everything I own. There are a few things in this life I am
extremely passionate about: carbs, videos of baby
chimpanzees, and 1890s sleeves. Two pieces out of a
white bed sheet probably. Try to find maybe a thick
white fabric that I can put in the middle just to
give it some rigidity, leaving this edge open,
turn it inside out, and then put the facing on top and then, once we have that all sewn,
I'll be able to flip facing over and it will hide all
those really ugly edges. Tally-ho!
(upbeat jazz continues) I'm starting to get cabin fever. Is this what they were singing about in the "Muppet's Treasure Island?" If I had internet access, I would have Google play
that song, but I don't. I'll just imagine it. ♪ We've got cabin fever ♪ ♪ We're all going to- ♪ (upbeat jazz continues) (Rachel groans) (upbeat jazz continues) All right, so, I've sewn along the edges. Did I do this wrong? I
think I did this wrong. That's all right. I may
have fudged up a slight bit. For the inner interfacing kind of layer, I definitely should have not sandwich that in between the two, but
instead put it on the top of one of them so that, when
you do turn it inside out, one of the pieces of fabric
comes around and sandwiches it. Now, I need to go and cut
it out. It's kind of cool. It's almost like it's a
little bit of spiderwebs. If anyone asks it was
completely on purpose. Woopsie! - Eventually.
- Okay, I just reinserted the interfacing. Looks like a bit of a mess. Hoping that, number one,
I can plug in my iron to the battery backup and
that I can press this. - 20 Minutes later. - That is a negative. My iron is too high
powered for this battery. So, around the edges, gonna
add a little sketchy kind of black lines around the edge anyways to make it look a little Burton-esque and a little more creepy. We're makin' things work. (Rachel whimpers) ♪ I'm like too many that never get any- ♪ Oh, no. Y'all, this collar is a hot mess. I'm really hoping that,
once I do the facing, tuck it in, like so, a little neater. Right now, it kind of looks
like something evil step-mom would wear in "Parent Trap,"
business woman special. As the great Macaulay
Culkin once said, "Woof." Am I making a lot of
references in this video? I feel like I'm making
a lot of references. I'm just gonna go ahead and do the facing and then hope that that works. I don't think I can complete
it because I can't press it. Wish me luck. Here we go. (upbeat jazz continues) Okay, well, this will have to do for now until I can press these edges
and then tack the facing. I think it looks a little better. I think it'll look a lot better once we can flatten all those round bits and make the color look nice and crisp. Until then, I'm gonna
get to work pinning all of the skirt sections together and then starting to sew that. (upbeat jazz continues) Where's the top? What? Let's see.
(jazz music continues faintly) That's the front, I think? I don't know. Wow!
(floor creaks) It's kind of hard to tell
what it's gonna look like because it needs so many pleats. Some good swoosh-age going on. (Rachel groans) Here we go! (upbeat jazz continues) For the paint job, I mixed
some white chalk paint with the tiniest bit of
tan colored and I like to call this shade Bone Daddy. (upbeat jazz continues) It was pretty easy paint job I just kind of did a base
color of that Bone Daddy shade and then I went in and added a little bit of darker colors around all
of the very detailed parts. (upbeat jazz continues) (Rachel breathes)
(dog pants) - Oh, now I'm in the background. - The point is that it's cold in here. For my makeshift bum pad, I took a pillow that I don't use anymore and just kind of wrapped it around and it worked. So, with that same energy,
let us go to the reveal. (upbeat spooky music)
(projector reel whirs) (upbeat spooky music continues) (projector reel whirs) Wrap-up time! Electricity, oh, yes! I am a mess. I thought about gussying
myself up just to do the reveal and then I thought, "That's silly." Call this look what I
looked like the first time I discovered eyeliner in seventh grade. Tis done. Feels very good to be done. One of my most favorite
projects I've ever done in my entire life. It was not without its difficulties. This week was essentially cursed. Finishing the project took me
much longer than expected due to the forces beyond my control. I'm glad I finished it. I'm glad that I could make it
work during the power outage. Actual outfit, I love it so much. This is something that I would wear again with a traditional 1890s
look instead of the mask. I think that it's really spooky and cute. I think my method worked fine. They probably would be
a little bit more poofy if I followed the pattern exactly. But, I think, it's fine. There are a few messy bits back here where I didn't hem the peplum before I stuck the little cape over it. My makeshift butt pad again is fine and it did what it needed to do. But, I might finesse that
a bit more if I'm going to keep using it. I am so happy this worked
and did not crack or break 'cause I was fully expecting to have to Photoshop out a giant
crack in the skull. Pretty comfy aside from
smushing my eyeballs. Oh, I hate it so much. Oh my God. The lower jaw I attached with
my favorite office supply, these things!
(bell rings) Hot glued the base to the
jaw and then stuck that in and then just fold it over,
was able to hinge and move. Does it move with my mouth? (exaggerated chewing)
- Does. - I had a ton of fun. I don't know. I just love being a
creature or unrecognizable and, aside from being heckled
by a bunch of teenagers. - [Teenager] What do you look
like underneath the mask? - And then, I hit them
with: None of ya business! (Rachel sighs)
Got 'em. That is it. Thank you so much for being
here if you're still here. The process of this was quite a mess. So, hopefully it all comes together and that you enjoy the
process and the costume. I apparently I'm getting
this out on Halloween, which was not my plan, but
appropriate, I suppose. I love you whether you're
new or old to the channel. If you're new here and you
feel it sticking around it, feel free to subscribe. I upload most Fridays and we have fun here and I hope you enjoyed all of
the spooky Halloween content 'cause I had so much fun
these past two months. I will see you in my next video. Bye. Probably not. Okay, my
neighbor's rooster is dramatic. (rooster crows) As intimidated, me mo, me mo, mino min. (cat meows) I find she really responds to language similar to Butyl Bob. Me now, me now min, meow.
(cat meows) (Rachel groans)
Okay. ("This is Halloween") ♪ Boys and girls of every age ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Hey, Mr. Trashman ♪ Now my neighbor's looking
at me through his doorway and it's creepy. Okay, he's gone. Did I mention that I cannot wait to move, an area that is scantily
populated with neighbors? Because I cannot wait. Gotta love neighbors
driving by to be like, "Do they have power? Do they have power?" No! I don't think I'm ready! (Rachel grunts) Pice of cake. - [Man] Pull it up and do a kick. - Ka-chow!
- That wasn't very- - Ka-cha!
- Too violent. - That better?
- Yeah. - Put-
- Guy, she look like under the mask? - Youths!
(bell rings) (upbeat jazz music)
