Butterfly Monarch

I'm working on making a tiny version of a costume that I made way back in 1995 for an art doll with my sister.....the 'Butterfly Monarch'....

I figured it would be a wonderful elegant costume for my Phairby...
​Here's what I did yesterday....

..first the pale peach cotton underskirt...

...then added orange ribbon...

...and a strip of orange lace....

..then gathered small fabric flower petals in the appropriate colours....

...and beaded them onto the bottom of the skirt. The original spacing I had in mind, seemed too far apart, so I had to fill the spaces with another, shorter row...

...then brushed on some glitter paint...

...and today I'm beading the rows of 'white spots' which correspond to the white spots on the monarch's wings. The overskirt is a thin cotton gauze, which I chose because it already has vertical crinkles, and it will hang better than any thicker fabric I might have. I didn't have any flowers small enough, so am using some cream coloured sequins, and four sizes of 'pearl' beads....

This time I'm going to use a stretch fabric for the sleeves, so they will fit over her hands better without ending up looking bulky. I still have to figure out how to add narrow lace cuffs and beading to the end of stretchy fabric. And with this costume, Phairby will need a proper wig.

Anyways, it's something fun to do while I'm on antibiotics, which have totally killed any desire to take new doll photos.  Good thing I still have one little story waiting in the wings.....