By the seaside, by the beautiful sea!

I easily count Sweeney Todd as one of my favorite movies.  When it came out, I saw it twice in the theater in the span of a week.  Mrs. Lovett (Helene Bonham Carter) quickly became my favorite character and after that I scoured the internet for pictures of her.  I could identify with her tragic character.  Here was a woman so in love with a man that she would do ANYTHING for him.  (I won't spoil for those who haven't seen it.)  Alas, Mr. Todd (Johnny Depp) was so consumed with revenge he could never reciprocate those feelings.

In my scourings I decided I would make Mrs. Lovett's "By the Sea" dress.  Sweeney Todd is clearly Victorian (if you didn't know).  Within a few months I found the perfect red and white striped fabric and bought some nine yards of it.  (Thank the PTB for Joann's coupons!)  I also found a perfect pattern.  Then the fabric and pattern sat in a bag at the bottom of my sewing closet for damn near two years!  No joke.  I was so overwhelmed at the thought of making a dress of that magnitude (something I had never done before) that I put it aside.  Come August 2009 I decided this was it.  I was going to make this costume for Halloween come hell or high water!

The rest they say is history.  Sure it wasn't easy and sure it isn't perfect but I received a helluva lot of compliments on it and despite how modest I may seem I am quite proud of it.  Enjoy!

Here is Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Tood on the boardwalk followed by Toby:

Here's my dress:

So you can see how full the skirt is:

Close up of hair and make-up:

This is the pattern I used McCall's 5414: