Dirndl und Lederhosen

Willkommen in Deustchland!

Last year's (and consequently this year's) costumes were really difficult for me. Why? because there are no mainstream patterns for Lederhosen and dirndl. I couldn't find any patterns for Lederhosen, even when I searched in German. I found a couple for dirndl, but they were really expensive. For each costume, I basically had to make my own pattern:

Lucy and Abby's were the easiest. I started with this:

and ended up with this:



all I really had to do is create the design on the front of the dress. I added the embroideries on the aprons this year, as I now have an embroidery machine!

Mine was harder, but not as hard as the Lederhosen. I started with this



I used this pattern (the white one in the back) because the bodice was fitted the right way and it had the neckline that I needed, although I had to modify it, to be lower. To create the waist I just cut 5/8 inch below the waist line on the pattern. The skirt was just three rectangles that I cut and then sewed onto the bodice, gathering at the top.



The shirt pattern had to be modified to, as it was, it showed a little bit too much skin. I might use a different shirt pattern this year, if I have time to do it.

The result was this (I'm thinking about adding embroideries to mine, but I haven't found the right one yet. I don't think the pattern I did on the girls' will work on mine. I'll post new pictures if I do it.)



The Lederhosen are not made from leather, although it would have been fun to learn to do the leather work, time and especially money greatly hindered that idea. Luckily I found some cloth that worked perfectly on sale!

Here is what I started with:


I literally took measurements off the picture, which I got off the internet and printed out. I then used some of my awesome math skills to figure out how big I should make the different elements of the Lederhosen. I used a friend's embroidery machine to make the designs on the pants. I used thread close to the same color as the cloth to make it look like the designs had been pressed into the leather (from a distance, it works). Most of the lederhosen I saw in my research either had green embroideries or designs formed in the leather. The only thing that I regret about these lederhosen is that the front pieces are only decorative. I never got the chance to look at a pair of lederhosen up close, so I couldn't figure out how to make the front peice properly, so I opted for the easy way out. The basic pants pattern came from pajama pant patterns.

I ended up with this:

Here's Bailey in his costume (from last year):

I'm really excited to create six new costumes for next year. We are already trying to hash out plans for them, but you won't find out until next Halloween what they are!