Little Brown Bat!

Browsing EvaDress today, I found this gem:

Yes, that’s a bat costume from 1887. Yes, I bought it. No, I’ve never sewn a corset.

It takes about 20 yards of fabric (and you have to make a corset, AND a hoopskirt) so there’s no way this will be done by this Halloween (I’ll have to save up for a year for the fabric, not to mention learning the necessary skills), but I’ll definitely be wearing it next Halloween, and to any fancy dress balls I may attend in the future!

I could make this in black to be really traditional, but my favorite bat is the little brown bat, so I’m going to make it in brown, maybe with some fun variations in texture/shade.

I haven’t really done any historical sewing, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have picked the 1880s as the place to start, but this is just too good to pass up! Look at the bats on her shoes!