Coolest Homemade Um from Umbridge Costume

After watching the new Alice in Wonderland my daughter decided she HAD to be the character Alice played “Um from Umbridge”. I watched the movie and scoured the internet for photos and ended up putting a camera on a tri-pod and pausing the movie to see the different views and then making this Homemade Um from Umbridge Costume.

My first challenge was finding the appropriate fabric, and a challenge it was. I ended up with the white cotton gauze fabric and added the black organza ribbon as I went and in the end glued on the white daisies that I just happened to have numerous yards of in my stash (I cut them apart and applied them with e6000 glue)FABRICS

Fabric Used:
7 yards of White gauze like cotton
20 yards of tulle
3/4 yard red satin
1 1/2 yards red cotton
50 yards of black organza ribbon
NUMEROUS daisies
black padded hearts
3 yards red rope cord
2 tassels

I started with a wide and long rectangle of the white for the bodice and did the pleat detail first, then fitted it to my daughter making a side seam. Once that was done, I cut off the excess and rotated it for the side bodice. The inspirational dress has no rhyme or reason to the stripes which I think gives it character.

I continued doing this for the back also. I then used this striped bodice to cut the red satin underlining, leaving it open on one side for the zipper.

Onto the ruffle, I tore a long strip of fabric and added the black ribbon and attached it by hand and used a piece of ribbon under the ruffle across the shoulder area for stability. When this was done I ended up adding a packet of elastic across the top as it wanted to gap.

My next step was the petticoat, I purchased 10 yards each of red and black tulle. I started with a basic circle skirt of red cotton for a base. I cut the 10 yard strips into 4 9″x10 yards, gathered it and put the black on first. Then did the same with the red. Petticoat and Skirt (8 x 10=80) yes 80 yards!

Now the over skirt of the white was next. I first cut a half circle for the back and 1/4 circles for the front. I sewed the side seams with the intention of going back and opening up one side for the zipper. I again sewed on the black ribbon, tore more strips of white the same width as the shoulder ruffle and started gathering. I added this to the bottom of the skirt. I was ready to add the ruffle down the center front and started playing with it and decided (with my daughters input) to bring the bottom of the circle up to the waist which gave it the curved effect you see. She did not like the long draping strips hanging from the dress, in doing this it made a fold on the side which we decided to turn into pockets.

I finally attached the skirt and bodice together and put in the zipper.

First placement of bodice ruffle, I was not happy with the bodice ruffle and my daughter did not like the width of it so I started over, taking it off and cutting in smaller, and placing it more appropriately.

From the photos of the inspiration dress I could not decide if it was a bustle or a bow but my daughter opted for the bow so again I tore strips of fabric and applied black ribbon. I started filling in with daisies and black padded hearts to the places that I had not done yet.

Conclusion:
This Homemade Um from Umbridge Costume is not an exact reproduction but certainly shows resemblance of the original. Definitely a one of a kind look, very fun and playful. If I were her age I would wear it to the Prom I love the “edgy” feel it has with the 50’s sort of glam to it.