Stitched Up: DIY Halloween Costume – Fran Fine from The Nanny

Goodwill Alterations with Chanté Gibbs

Chanté is a local thrift blogger and sustainable designer. She is our inspiration and guide to exploring what can be done with some creative alterations and updates of thrifted finds. Each month she starts with a concept, shops our stores, and reworks her thrift finds into high-fashion pieces. She takes us on a thrift journey from start to finish, and it’s a great ride every month!

DIY Halloween Costume – Fran Fine

Before heading to Goodwill, I knew I needed to find a plaid skirt, brown or tan turtleneck, and a blazer that I could add feathers to for my Halloween costume this year. As I searched through the women’s jacket rack (a busy section during the fall and winter), I started to get nervous because I couldn’t find a blue or teal blazer like the one Fran Fine wore on the show. Luckily, I came across a bright green blazer with accents of black & white plaids. The design elements on it reminded me of something the character would wear, so I decided to hold on to it and see if I could find a plaid skirt to pair with it. Eventually I found a cute tan one with black, lime green, light blue, and brown in it. Then I searched through the long sleeve shirt rack to find a tan turtleneck to complete the look.

How do I make it?

For the Plaid Skirt

I knew the turtleneck and the blazer were already a good fit, so I decided to focus on the skirt first.

1. I turned the skirt inside out and used tailors chalk to mark off the excess fabric on the middle of the back of the skirt. (Pro tip: Keep the zipper on the side of the skirt to make this part of your upcycling project a little easier.)
2. On my cutting board, I straightened out the lines with my ruler, then laid the skirt flat with the front facing me and made a horizontal line where I wanted the bottom of skirt to be.
3. Once my lines were all perfect, I used a rotary cutter to cut along my markings.
4. With the skirt still inside out, I vertical pinned the back of it to create a new center back seam and turned the new bottom to hem it.
5. I sewed along my pins with a straight stitch, then tried the skirt back on and was satisfied with how it fit on me.

For the Feathery Blazer

Before I started working on the blazer, I stopped by Joann Fabrics for black feathers for the jacket cuffs. Instead of using hot glue here, I chose a heavy-duty fabric glue. I held the feather trim in place with fabric clips along the edge of the blazer cuff as I glued. Also, I made sure I didn’t cover the buttons and holes on the cuffs with feathers!