Ottilia angel

Yesterday evening, I finished Ronja’s angel costume, which is based on the Ottilia dress from Ottobre winter, 2007.

Angel costume with wings and headband 

It’s made up of a dress, an underdress, a headband (as a halo), and a pair of wings. For most of the dress, I used white cotton and baby cord, which was pretty cheap. For the hem panel of the underdress, I added a layer of silverish net fabric over the fine cord to make it glisten a little, and for the dress itself, I ironed on rhinestones, edged the sleeves with feather boa, and added two types of silver ribbon. I left out all the frills, because I don’t find frills particularly angelic – angels are more into serenity, if y’all know what I mean… For the headband I found some silver elastic, and as for the wings – well, I went and got those from a toy shop… Sorry! Pretty much everything except the wings came from Stof og Stil – a Danish fabric store.

Ronja has a pair of slightly silverish sandals, which she will be wearing with the costume.

Ottilia angel mosaic 

The dress came together easily enough, actually. I really don’t feel the need to gather anything anytime soon, but then at the same time, I’m totally in practice! The silver ribbons were a bit stiff, which made the curve on the edge of the dress kind of tricky, but that went fine as well. I used elastic tape for gathering the sleeves in the middle, like the instructions say, and I must say, that is just brilliant – so easy! I used blanket stitches to edge the sleeves, to have something to pull the boa through. The boa can then be taken out, when the dress needs washing – which believe me, it will! Thanks to my invisible zipper foot, the zipper didn’t cause me any trouble either, so really – everything just went together quite nicely.

Feather boa edging the sleeves 

Need I say that Ronja loves this costume? And need I say, that I wonder how our 4-year old will look after a few hours in an all white dress, when she isn’t quite as angelic as she starts out?  😉

Nevertheless – I really like this one! Good thing we have two girls!

**UPDATE**

Rikki just mentioned the fact that she has no clue what this costume is for. Of course, Rikki – that didn’t even cross my mind. Most readers of my blog won’t know, so that’s a pretty good point! Thanks!

In Denmark we celebrate Fastelavn at the end of February. I believe a common translation is shrovetide. In Denmark we don’t usually dress up for Halloween the way other parts of the world are known to, so fastelavn is basically our carnival. You can read a bit more about it here.

22 comments

  1. rikki says:

    Well Astrid I will follow you wherever you go! Your blog is a bright spot in my day. I think you sew beautifully. I love this angel costume but I am not sure I understand what it is for.

  2. Jeannine says:

    Oh Astrid, it could not be more perfect. I mean all the details are gorgeous. Yes, it is white, but just like the white outfit I made for Olivia, it too will stand the test of time. I was so scared to put it on Olivia, but tonight we went to a birthday party, and I dared to let her wear it. The white cords (with the squirrel applique) did great, and no matter how many times she squatted on the floor, and went down the slide, the pants still looked great. I am glad I finally had the nerve to get her to wear them.
    So, now that you mentioned Carnival, yes I know what you are talking about. We lived in Cologne (Koeln) for 15 years, so believe me we know what carnival is. I hope that is what you are talking about.
    I cannot wait to see modelled pictures. How fun. I might have to imitate this dress for Halloween. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Helinä says:

    Hi Astrid!
    What an awesome costume you have made! That is soooo beautiful, full of fantastic details! You are so talented =) !
    By the way, I tried to change your new address to my blog but for some reason it always points to your old blog .. I’ll try to figure out how can I fix it but if I can’t I will anyway keep reading this your new one :).

  4. Hanne says:

    Skøn Engel…. kommer til at tænke på da jeg lavede Ariel-kostume til min niece og hun måtte bæres fra bilen ind i børnehaven,fordi hun jo IKKE kunne gå som havfrue!!!!

  5. Ria says:

    Hi Astrid,
    What a wonderfull and sophisticated outfit. It will look so good on Ronja, with her fair hair. Here in Holland we celebrate carnaval in the southern parts, having parades in the streets with people all dressed up (and getting drunk). And we have ‘vastenavond’, which means refreaning from food, a katholic habit.
    Since I live in the north we just have a little holiday. Also nice.

  6. Maria says:

    Absolutely fabulous!! So well combined together to the smallest detail. A true inspiration; I think I’ll go and bring my sewing machine out now 😉

  7. Mor(mor) says:

    Flot arbejde, Astrid!
    Jeg synes selv jeg gjorde meget ud af det, da I var små, men Ronjas engledragt er intet mindre end eventyrlig 🙂

  8. Astrid says:

    Teri – thank you!

    Amy – I knew that celebrating Fastelavn/Shrovetide is a pretty Danish thing – I just wasn’t thinking…Thanks – it speaks to the angel inside you, doesn’t it? 😉

    Jill – LOL – thank you so much! 🙂

    Melissa – thanks! 😉

    Karen – I do hope she will love wearing it, but I think so. And thanks! 🙂

    Ruth – thank you! 🙂

    Lara – I hope I’ll get some nice shots before the costume is more dark grey than white… 😉 Thanks!

    Jeannine – thank you so much! I do think they celebrate something much like the Danish Fastelavn in Germany as well. I’ll be back with modeled pictures – but not until after Sunday. 🙂

    Sandra T – you are so sweet – thank you! 🙂

    Helinä – thank you! 🙂 I don’t know what goes wrong with the feed, but you are not the only person to have had the problem. I hope it gets solved. Thanks for trying! 😉

    Hanne – LOL – naturligvis skal en havfrue bæres ind, det kan da ikke være anderledes. Jeg havde faktisk håbet lidt, at Ronja ville være havfrue – det ville være et sjovt kostume at lave… 😉 Og tak!

    Jakob – thanks! And Marlinde will too in a few years – if she doesn’t decide to go as a hotdog. 🙂

    Ria – Thank you! It’s funny to hear about the Dutch traditions. Is your carnival in February? During the summer in Denmark, we actually have what we call carnival in the bigger cities. It’s more of a parade, and it’s very much for grown-ups as well. The fastelavn we celebrate in February is very much for children. The confusion is complete. 🙂

    Maria – I’m so glad you will! Thanks for the compliments! 😉

    Natalie – Thank you!

    Mor – Den var sjov at lave, og det er jo dejligt! Og jeg er da nok også inspireret hjemmefra! 🙂

  9. Ulla V. says:

    Astrid, hvor er det bare et vidunderligt kostume.
    Lige så himmelsk fint og engleagtigt som man kan ønske sig…Ronja må få en fantastisk dag, når hun bærer dét kostume.

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