When I saw The Hunger Games I was obsessed with everything the evil Capitol wore. I decided I would attempt to make this DIY Effie Trinket costume for Halloween, although I’m not the best sewer. But I am SO proud of how this costume came out!
Effie Trinket Video Tutorial
Supplies
There are lots of supplies for the DIY Effie Trinket costume. Below I have broken it down by piece.
Dress and shirt
- Monarch butterfly fabric from Spoonflower
- Interfacing
- Black fabric lining for the skirt
- Zipper
- Hook and eye
- Black thread
Fascinator
- Feather butterflies
- Black wire
- Black felt and the same black lining you used on the skirt
- Hair clip
- Black cord
Makeup
- Paper eyelashes
- White powder for your face
- Yellow eyeshadow (I used NYX)
- Feather butterfly to glue near your eye
- Black eyeliner
- Eyelash Glue
Accessories
- Black fingerless gloves (bought)
- Feather butterflies on clear elastic to put on your arms
- Feather necklace (black lace, feather butterflies, velcro)
- Force your boyfriend to be a tribute to complement the costume
Tools
- Sewing machine
- Iron (for the interfacing)
- Glue gun
- Pliers (for the fascinator and necklace)
Instructions
Skirt
- Cut a rectangle in the monarch fabric at least double your waist (more if you’d like it fuller). Add about an inch to the length to allow for the seams.
- Do the same with the black lining except the lining must be a smaller size (in length and width) than the outside fabric.
- Turn up the bottom seams of both fabrics by about a 1/4 inch and sew the seam.
- For the waistband cut approximately 3 inches and fold in half over 1 inch of interfacing. An iron is needed to attach the fusiable interfacing.
- This will be your waistband which you attach the skirt to.
- Evenly gather the skirt to the waistband and sew the top pieces of the fabric together.
- Sew the skirt to the waistband. I found this tutorial helpful.
- Sew the sides together and attach a zipper on the side.
For the shirt I did my best to copy a current shirt I own. I ran out of fabric so needed to add a lace insert on the back of the shirt (oops!)
Necklace
Use a piece of black lace and stick the wire connected to the butterfly through the lace. Twist and cut the wire short. Do this all over the lace alternating sizes. Secure with Velcro at the neck and cute off any excess lace.
Put a few butterflies on clear elastic and wear them on your arms for an illusion effect.
Fascinator
Cut a piece of felt in a circle and fuse with the interfacing. Cut halfway down the middle and glue into a cone shape. Cover with your desired fabric. Puncture a hole in the back of the butterfly. Fill the hole with hot glue and insert the wire. Puncture other end through felt circle and secure back with glue. Embellish as you desire and add a clip.
Makeup
Keep the makeup very nude. I put my normal pale makeup on then covered it with white powder. Nude barely there lipstick and bright yellow eyeshadow surrounds the eyes. Black liner and delicate paper lashes complete the look.
May the odds ever be in your favour!
If you like this costume, check out my Queen of Hearts DIY or the Halloween section of my blog.
As for supplies, the butterflies are pricey and I found mine on Etsy. I can’t recall where I got my boyfriend’s patches – but there is one on Amazon. Full disclosure if you purchase through this link I would get a small payment. But I would never recommend something I didn’t like!
Hi, I was just wondering if you could tell me what kind of fabric you bought the monarch fabric of?
Like basic cotton, cotton satin, etc?
And also how much?
Love the outfit, working on my own now~
Author
Hi Sofia! Thanks for the question and for looking. I looked at my order history and I used a satin and bought two yards for $35.40 (in 2016). I had a little left over from this amount. This is the fabric I used: https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/2372200-heaps-orange-monarch-butterflies-by-bonnie_phantasm
Would love to see your version when you are done, happy crafting! 🙂