The Pagan solar wheel, also known as the Wheel of the Year, is a cyclic representation of the changing seasons and agricultural cycles followed by many Pagan and Wiccan traditions. This wheel is divided into eight Sabbats or holidays, each marking a specific point in the natural cycle of the earth. The Wheel of the Year begins with the holiday of Samhain, which falls on October 31st or November 1st, in which Pagans honor and remember their ancestors and celebrate the thinning of the veil between the physical and spiritual realms. This is followed by Yule, the winter solstice, which celebrates the rebirth of the sun and the return of longer days. Imbolc, also known as Candlemas, marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It symbolizes the awakening of the earth and the return of fertility.
Now, gather up the bottom portion of the sleeve (keep the extra tulle out of the way), and attach it to the straight portion of the sleeve (that you cut up above) and pin them together. You would attach this bottom portion of the sleeve, just like you attached the band piece in the other tutorials above.
In fact, after you sew your initial seam, you may want to trim your edges first and then zig-zag them and kinda sew off the edge of the fabric, which will encapsulate the raw edges inside of the zig-zag stitch. Now, because I wanted all of the dress to be covered in the same sparkly tulle, I cut around 1 of my front pieces and 2 of the back pieces because the other bodice pieces are for the lining in the tulle.
It symbolizes the awakening of the earth and the return of fertility. Ostara, the spring equinox, celebrates the balance between light and dark, as well as new beginnings and growth. Beltane, on May 1st, signifies the peak of spring and the celebration of fertility and the union between the goddess and the god.
Glinda the Good Witch (from “Wizard of Oz”)
UPDATE: All of the Wizard of Oz DIY Costumes are done and can be viewed by clicking the link!! Enjoy!
And if you’re looking for other ideas, you can find all sorts of DIY Halloween Costume Ideas HERE.
I have been so excited to share the next costume in the Wizard of Oz costume theme that my kiddos picked for this year! And holy smokes, was this one FUN! Well, I always worry if it will look right, hang right, fit right…..but after that passes, I get such a kick out of seeing it complete! I kept wondering if my vision was going to translate well, and let me tell you, when Elli finally put the dress over her head and let the frills fall all around her….WOW. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh because she looked like a cake top or cry some hallelujah-I’m-finally-done tears, now that it was complete. (Or maybe heave a big sigh of relief that I can finally get rid of all the glitter that has fallen all over my floors during the cutting/fitting/sewing stage. Darn glitter.)
But yes, Glinda is done. And she’s fluffy, and pink, and over-the-top sparkly. Just how this costume should be! :)
Elli has been so giggly and bouncy the past few days…….THRILLED that her costume is finally done. When she puts the dress on, she holds those little shoulders up so high and floats across the floor in all those layers of sparkle, like she is a legit little slice of royalty. (Shhh…..don’t tell her otherwise!)
And of course, the reenactment of the Wizard of Oz comes right out of her! And she waves her wand and talks to the little munchkins, telling them to come out from behind the bushes and houses.
And as the spokesperson for the little munchkins, she asks that strange Dorothy girl, “are you a good witch, or a bad witch. ”
Sweet Elli, she knows that it’s very important to have Dorothy find that Yellow Brick Road, and to be on her way. Oh, and something about never taking those ruby slippers off too.
She also knows that Glinda is not Glinda, without a really sparkly wand. So, I made her a nice and tall one (just like the real Glinda) and decked that thing out with some pretty huge BLING!
And that crown. It’s actually a piece of thick foam, spray painted in metallic paint. And of course, covered in more of those gaudy jewels. But Elli? She loved every last one!
The bottom of the dress is full of satin gathers……but then another 5 yards of gathered sparkly tulle on top.
And in case you didn’t notice last week, there is a structured Hoop Skirt underneath all of that fabric, holding up the skirts of the dress and giving it some serious fullness!
Oh, and per Elli’s request, I kept adding on more and more of those little jewels. She has no clue they aren’t real and thinks there are the most fancy thing on the whole dress. (But they are in fact, the cheapest item on it. Ha!)
The back of the dress? A zipper. An easy on and off that the kiddos can help each other maneuver while playing dress-up. And those sleeves? Not quite as large as the real Glinda……but they are certainly HUGE!
In case you’re worried about the fullness of the dress slowing Elli down, don’t you worry for a second. She grabs those hoops, lifts them up……..and runs!
Oh this girl, she has been super-charged-happy for days. And has heard me tell her at least 20 times that I would have LOVED to have this exact dress when I was her age. (I’m still trying to think of reasons to make myself a hoop skirt. Anyone have an excuse for me??)
Such a fun character, that Glinda. And Elli sure plays her well, especially now that she has the dress and accessories to properly act the part. :)
Want to make Glinda too? (Or even slightly adjust it to be any type of little princess?)
Okay, let’s gather up a few things first…
Supplies:
- pink fabric (I bought and used 3 yards of a satin-like fabric)
- pink sparkly tulle (I bought and used 5 yards of this)
- pink zipper (12 inch or longer)
- rhinestones (a variety of sizes)
- wooden dowel (for the wand)
- 8 x 11 inch glitter foam sheet (for the star on the wand)
- 12 x 18 inch white foam sheet (for the crown…I used a nice thick one, 5mm)
- epoxy glue
- Hoop Skirt tutorial and supplies
***Keep in mind, the above amounts are what I used to make this costume for my almost 8 year old. Your amounts may vary.
Let’s begin by taking a peek at this Cinderella Dress tutorial and this Baby Blessing Dress tutorial. Both tutorials show how to use an existing dress to create a new dress.
This Glinda dress will be made almost exactly the same as the Cinderella dress…..but with some long sleeves added to the poofy sleeve portion, similar to the Rapunzel dress tutorial. But we’ll get to the sleeves in a minute.
First, cut out your bodice pieces, 2 front pieces, and 4 back pieces.
Now, because I wanted all of the dress to be covered in the same sparkly tulle, I cut around 1 of my front pieces and 2 of the back pieces (because the other bodice pieces are for the lining) in the tulle. (If you find the fabric you need that is plenty sparkly, skip this step. I just wanted the sparkles to cover the whole dress.)
Then I stitched the tulle pieces to the right side of the bodice pieces, using a basting stitch (or a really long stitch length) all the way around each piece, 3/8 inch from the edge.
****Before you start sewing, keep in mind that if you attached tulle to your fabric pieces like I did, you need to finish off all of your inner seams with a zig-zag stitch and really trim off your excess edges, so they don’t itch your subject while wearing the dress. (In fact, after you sew your initial seam, you may want to trim your edges first and then zig-zag them and kinda sew off the edge of the fabric, which will encapsulate the raw edges inside of the zig-zag stitch.)
Next, put your outer bodice pieces together at the shoulders and your lining bodice pieces together at the shoulders…..just like the Baby Blessing Dress tutorial I mentioned above. Then, sew the two bodice pieces together with right sides together, just like above, but only sew along the neckline. Snip along the neck line (to make turning easier and flatter), turn right side out, and then iron flat.
Now, it’s time to cut you sleeves, just like instructed in the linked tutorials above. However, you won’t need the strip of fabric at the bottom of each sleeve to keep the puffy gathers in place. You’ll be attaching it straight to the straight bottom half of the sleeve. So cut two puffy upper section pieces of the sleeve and two lower straight section pieces. (Refer to Rapunzel for these pieces.) Now, cut out pieces of tulle to cover and attach to each of these pieces, just like you did above.
I forgot to add the tulle to the two upper sleeve pieces (in the picture above), so here they are…..covered.
Next, we are going to be making the extra poofy portion to each sleeve. Now, there are probably several other great ways to do this…….but this is just what I did. So if you find this needs some tweaking, go for it.
What I did was cut 2 pieces of tulle (so it would be double layered), in a rectangle shape. I made it about 2 inches narrower (so an inch free on both ends) than the width of one of the rounded sleeve pieces. The double layer rectangles are 24 inches long…..but your length may vary, depending on the size you’re making. Cut the top portion of the rectangles, so that they match the curve of your sleeve piece.
Now, you’re gong to sew a basting stitch (for gathering) along the top edge of the sleeve, but also include the 2 layers of the rectangle pieces.
Flip that up and sew (with a basting stitch for gathering) the bottom of the 2 rectangles to the bottom of the sleeve piece.
Now, you should have a sleeve piece that has this long piece of tulle attached at both the top and bottom.
Now, attach the sleeve to the bodice. (In the Cinderella tutorial linked above, the bodice was already sewn together and then the sleeves were attached. But I actually now prefer attaching sleeves to an open bodice and then sewing the entire thing together…..more like this Play Dress tutorial.) Sew in place, then zig-zag to finish the edges, and then trim the extra fabric from the edges.
Then, turn the dress right side up on your sewing machine and try and get the tulle out of the way as much as possible for this next step. What you want to do is open up the tulle along the upper portion of the sleeve and sew it upwards onto the bodice just a bit, to help the tulle stand up more on the shoulder. You’re wanting to pull it away from the gathers of the actual sleeve material and sew a stitch right next to where it’s attached to the dress, but slightly up onto the bodice.
Here’s a better up close view (even though it’s rotated from how I sewed it up above). The layers of tulle are sewn upwards over to the right….and the sleeve portion is still over to the left.
And here it is zoomed out a bit, so you can see the puff of the tulle.
Now, gather up the bottom portion of the sleeve (keep the extra tulle out of the way), and attach it to the straight portion of the sleeve (that you cut up above) and pin them together. You would attach this bottom portion of the sleeve, just like you attached the band piece in the other tutorials above.
Sew, then zig-zag the raw edges, and then trim off the excess. Turn your fabric right side up and it should like similar to this. Now, sew your sleeve closed (just like the Play Dress tutorial) and finish off the raw edges. Repeat with the other sleeve.
You should now have a bodice similar to this, with two funky shoulder pieces. Don’t worry, we’ll fix those later!
Also, be sure to add your zipper, just like the linked tutorials above.
Next, put your outer bodice pieces together at the shoulders and your lining bodice pieces together at the shoulders…..just like the Baby Blessing Dress tutorial I mentioned above. Then, sew the two bodice pieces together with right sides together, just like above, but only sew along the neckline. Snip along the neck line (to make turning easier and flatter), turn right side out, and then iron flat.
Litha, the summer solstice, marks the longest day of the year and is a time of abundance and joy. Lughnasadh, also known as Lammas, is celebrated on August 1st and acknowledges the first harvest of the year. It is a time of gratitude and giving thanks for the bounty of the earth. Mabon, the autumn equinox, symbolizes the second harvest, the balance between light and dark, and the preparation for the darker half of the year. Finally, the Wheel of the Year comes full circle with Samhain, completing the cycle and beginning anew. The Pagan solar wheel serves as a guide for those who follow Pagan and Wiccan paths to connect with the natural rhythms of the earth and to honor the cycles of life and death. It is a reminder to stay in harmony with the changing seasons and to find meaning and spirituality in the world around us..
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