Mary Poppins | 2025

Mary Poppins – Jolly Holiday | Mary Poppins

Made for : Sandbox Fandom Festival 2025

Background : This is one of my favorite film costumes of all time, There’s something so whimsical and timeless about it. I first attempted to make it in 2016 and that version was okay…. I tried again in 2018 and abandoned it. Cue 2025 and I thought I’d give it another go.

Things used :

Dress

Corset

• NZ Corsetry Waist Cincher
• 1m red satin – Mood Fabrics
• 1m penguin cotton – Spotlight
• 6m white satin piping – Arthur’s Emporium
• 2m red drill – Spotlight
• 1 packet white eyelets – Spotlight
• 3m white lacing – Arthur’s Emporium
• 5m spiral steel boning – NZ Corstery
• 1m flat steel boning – NZ Corstery
• 5m cotton twill tape – Arthur’s Emporium
  

Petticoat

• Simplicity 3737
• 18m red bridal tulle – Spotlight
• .5m striped cotton poplin – Spotlight
• 2m peach cotton poplin – Spotlight
• 40m white scolloped lace – Ali Express
• 1m elastic

Accessories

• boots –Ali Express
• Childs umbrella – Kmart
• 2m white plastic fabric – Arthur’s Emporium
• 1m pink plastic fabric – Arthur’s Emporium
• White Sculpey – Spotlight
• White hat
• 2m white bias tape – Arthur’s Emporium
• pink flowers – Spotlight
• 1m white tulle – Arthur’s Emporium

Hat : I brought a base hat from the second hand store. I added a white bias tape to the edge of the brim which I threaded a thin wire through to both strengthen and add pose-ability to. I then cut the crown from the brim and reattached it after shortening it by an inch or so. I then cut some rectangular strips of a soft white tulle to decorate the brim, add the big bow on the back and create the chin strap with. Lastly, I glued some fake pink flowers to the brim.

Dress : I made the undress first using cotton sateen. I made the bodice using the bodice pieces from Butterick B5748. I added a scalloped lace to the neckline and lined it with a pony drill. The skirt portion was just a circle skirt cut from the same cotton sateen to finish just above the ankle.

The outer dress was made from silk organza. I used the top part of Simplicity 5943 to construct the bodice with. I added a ruffled lace to the cuff of the sleeves as well as an eyelet lace threaded with red velvet ribbon just above it. I also added the same eyelet lace and velvet ribbon to the collar. The organza was decorated with appliqués that I had cut from an embroided tulle.

I had cut the back panel of the silk bodice to be a little longer so that I could add it to the cotton sateen layer, encompassing it in the back and so that it could do up via buttons rather than a zipper. I added self covering buttons to the back and a snap to the collar.

For the bib, I cut two long rectangular shapes with a curved bottom from the silk organza. I added a layer of white and peach lace around the edges, gathered it down the middle and sewed faux buttons to it. It attaches to the bodice via snaps.

The skirt was once again cut as a circle skirt from the silk organza and decorated with the appliqués and velvet ribbon bows. Both layers of the skirt were then sewn together and hemmed using a rolled hem on my overlocker.

Lastly, the skirt was sewn to the bodice. The skirt does up in the back with an invisible zip.

Corset : I used the waist cincher pattern from NZ Corsetry. I made a few changes so that it looked more like Mary’s such as underarm spikes, a flat back and took some fabric out of the side waist bits. It’s made from a red satin, interlined with 2 layers of red drill and lined with a cotton penguin fabric. Finally, some of the seams in the front and back have a white satin pipping in between them and the top and bottom edge do as well. I put withe eyelets in the back and it laces up with a white cord.

Petticoat : I used 20 meters of a soft red tulle and cut it up according to the Simplicity pattern 3737 view C. For the yoke, I used a striped salmon and white cotton, and for the lining, I used a salmon cotton. I finished all the bottom edges with a white scalloped lace.

Umbrella : Made from a kids umbrella I found at Kmart. I took the skin off, used it to pattern my own which was cut from a white and pink plastic fabric. I sewed all the pieces together, finished it with bias tape and a ruffled trim, then sewed it back on to the umbrella frame.

My dad extended the pole and I sculpted the bird head handle from white sculpey. I painted it with a white pearl finish paint.

Boots : I purchased a pair from Ali Express. They were practically perfect, apart from the parts that should have been red, were black. I gave the black parts a light sanding with some sandpaper and using leather paint, I first did a base coat of white and then several of red.

I replaced all the buttons by pulling off the old black ones, and then hand sewing on red ones using a curved needle.

---