Ghostly Equestrienne Costume

Martha's grand cape swells behind her as she rides through a twilight gloaming; her pale eyes stare from beneath red-rimmed lids. Although the cape looks elaborate, it's constructed with just a few folds and seams in a long piece of taffeta. A top hat veiled with black netting is trimmed with gray ribbon and an ostrich feather.

Martha Stewart Editors

Updated on September 12, 2019

Makeup: To re-create Martha's haunting look, you will need makeup brushes, a makeup sponge, pale concealer (optional), liquid foundation (use the lightest shade available), tinted moisturizer (optional; use the lightest shade available), buildable white face powder (one that will become more opaque the more you apply), blush (optional), red eye shadow, gray eye shadow, black liquid eyeliner, black mascara, gray eye pencil, and sheer lip gloss.

What You'll Need

Materials

Basic sewing supplies
9 yards of black taffeta
1 1/2 yards of 1 1/2-inch-wide black ribbon
A top hat in black, available at Hats Plus Ltd. hats-plus.com
1 yard of black military netting
1 yard of black tulle
1 2/3 yards of 1 1/2-inch-wide gray ribbon, 630-Smoke by Morex Corp.
1 black ostrich feather
Fabric glue
2/3 yard of white cotton shirting (optional)

Instructions

Cut a length of gray ribbon to fit around the hatband; attach with fabric glue. Fashion remaining ribbon into a decorative bow. (Our bow has three loops on one side and two tails on the other, and is held together with fabric glue.)
Glue bow to side of hat, covering exposed ends of ribbon hatband. Loosely wrap millinery netting around hat; glue to back. Wrap tulle around hat, pulling it down to cover face. Gather the tulle in back of hat , and tie it in place with a 3-inch-wide strip of tulle. Poke feather through tulle, and glue inside ribbon to hold in place.
Cut two 155 1/2-inch-long pieces of black taffeta. Using a 1/2-inch seam allowance, sew long sides together to make a double-wide piece (this will give the cape extra fullness.) Lay fabric wrong-side up. To hem the bottom of the cape, fold bottom edge up 1/2 inch, and stitch in place. Fold top edge 1/2 inch toward you; press (with iron at a low setting).
To create multilayer cape, you will make a series of folds. First, measure 54 inches from top edge for shawl; fold fabric toward you from this point.
To make the collar, measure 28 inches down from top and fold fabric back up at that point. Bring fabric back down and align pressed edge with bottom of fold (at 28-inch mark). Pin in place. Edge-stitch through all layers of fabric along the original 1/2-inch pressed fold, 1/8 inch from edge.
For cape: to make channel, top-stitch 1 1/2 inches from the folded edge. Cut a 50-inch length of black ribbon (cut ends on the diagonal to prevent fraying). Attach a safety pin to one end, and use the pin to guide the ribbon through the channel. Gather fabric as you go, leaving 15 inches of ribbon on each side for ties. Sew channel closed on both ends.
Choose a white shirt with a decorative collar, or to make an ascot, tie white shirting around neck and safety-pin in place. Pair with black pants or leggings and tall riding-style boots.

Originally appeared: MARTHA STEWART