Have you ever run into a spiderweb? It’s an icky feeling, that’s why nobody wants to be covered in them. Except me on this fine spooky day!

It’s All Hallow’s Eve, the creepiest holiday of them all, and although I don’t celebrate it I jumped at the occasion to finally sew something with this spiderweb fabric. I picked it up at a discount in a fabric shop in Helsinki a few years ago because it made me smile. Fun fact: When I was 16 I adopted to username “Arachne” online which is very fitting in hindsight as I’ve become quite the crafter in the meantime!

I used the same “frankenpattern” as for my Falling Leaves dress, the bodice of Burda 7034 and the skirt of Burda Style 8/2012 Nr. 133 (with box pleats at the front and the back instead of gathering), with only minor alterations. I shortened the skirt and I put a pleat at the top of the sleeves instead of gathering them. I also used bias tape at the neckline to give it a cleaner finish. It’s a good pattern to fall back on because it sews up so quickly and effortlessly!

I especially love the box pleats because they give the dress clean lines amidst all that busy fabric. With a print as prominent as the spiderwebs, you can’t use elaborate patterns because any details are going to get lost anyway. I was looking through my Burda Styles to see if I could find a good alternative, but couldn’t find anything I could imagine working as well.

I knew that if I wanted to take pictures of this dress for the blog I had to go all in or don’t do it at all. You don’t sew a ridiculous dress like that and then quickly snap a few pictures in your parents’ garden. I mean, come on. So I put on my black lipstick (which I still maintain suits me weirdly well) and went to the Alter Friedhof (Old Cemetery) in Ulm. Today it’s used as a park, but you can still find locally famous people’s gravestones dating back to the 18th and 19th century.

I giggled all the way through that photoshoot and kept apologizing to the old dead dudes who never dreamed that their gravestones would be used for such frivolous purposes, so I’m afraid I’m not scary enough to rise up to the occasion! Sorry. As an apology I offer you Emily Carroll’s horror comic His Face All Red. Such beautiful and creepy artwork! Hope everyone has a fun and perfectly spooky evening!

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Pattern: the bodice of Burda 7034 and the skirt of Burda Style 8/2012 Nr. 133, size 36

Fabric: some sort of cotton fabric from the sales bin at Eurokangas in Helsinki

Photography: Dominique