How to Make a Silk Spectre Costume
Silk Spectre is a female character in the graphic novel "Watchmen" and in the movie of the same name. She is famous for wearing costume variations in the colors yellow and black. Create the classic version of her outfit, which is fairly easy to make with a combination of black lingerie and accessories to complement her short, yellow chiffon-style dress.
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Things You'll Need
- Black pantyhose
- Black garter belts
- Black lingerie
- Black corset
- Small buttons
- Needle
- Thread
- Tape measure
- Black satin fabric
- Dressmaker scissors
- Sewing machine
- Yellow chiffon
- Pins
- Metal fastenings
- Elastic
- Safety pin
- Black knee-high pantyhose
- Black glove
- Black wristband
- Black knee-high boots
Instructions
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1
Buy black pantyhose and garter belts, as well as black lingerie like a black basque and underwear to be worn as part of your Silk Spectre costume.
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2
Use a black corset for the wide black waistband for Silk Spectre's costume. Shorten the corset, if necessary. Use a needle and thread to sew a small, flat button on the inside of the corset. Place the button half-way up the corset since it will be used to hitch the skirt up at the sides.
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3
Use a tape measure to find out the neck measurements for the neckband. Cut out a strip of black satin fabric of the required length and about 3 to 4 inches wide using sharp dressmaker scissors. Fold over each raw edge, and sew a narrow seam on the sewing machine. Put it aside for later.
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4
Make the yellow chiffon top of the costume. Cut out two measured rectangular strips of yellow chiffon. Each strip should be a half-body in width. Pin each strip of yellow fabric to the inside of the black corset at the front; the front of the corset is where it fastens up. Hand-sew a line of running stitches along the neck edge of each piece of chiffon to be able to gather it into the neckband. Pull the thread, and gather the material. Tie a triple knot in the thread to secure. Pin each gathered chiffon neck piece to the inside of the open neckband. Try it on to check that the pieces of chiffon are positioned in the correct place. Adjust if necessary before sewing the fabric in place.
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5
Finish the neckband. Fold the band over to conceal the ruffle seam of yellow chiffon, and sew. Sew on metal fastenings to fasten the neckband at the back of the neck.
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6
Make the short chiffon skirt. Cut out a long rectangular length of chiffon, at least three body widths. Sew the two ends of chiffon together to create a back seam. Turn the material over at the waist, and sew a 1-inch seam. Make a vertical slit in the seam sufficient to feed through a piece of elastic with a safety pin to gather up the waist of the chiffon skirt. Sew the elastic ends together, and sew up the slit in the seam of the skirt waistband. Sew on an elastic loop at either side of the waistband to be able to loop around the inside buttons of the corset.
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7
Make the long-sleeved glove by cutting the foot off a pair of knee-high black pantyhose. Sew the cut end of the pantyhose to the inside of a black glove.
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8
Wear a black elastic wristband and a pair of knee-length black leather boots to complete the Silk Spectre costume.
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Resources
- Photo Credit sewing machine image by pavel siamionov from Fotolia.com
