I've tried to resist and resist...but one year later, I finally sew an Elsa costume for my girl. The pattern is self drafted for my 4 year old.
Here it is. All sparkly and princessy. I bought all the fabric from Arab Street. I think all in, I spent less than $30, including the crystal snowflake motif that I iron on the skirt and cape. Here are the detailed photos.
The back view with the cape attached to the back bodice. The cape is actually one piece organza which I slit open 5" gap to allow more room to slip in the dress.
Look at the snowflake crystals on the cape! so pretty.
I've document some notes below on how i sew the dress for my future reference. I use 4 types of fabric:
- white chiffon 1/2 yard
- bluish green fabric with sequins 1/4 yard
- satin in turquoise colour 2 yard
- bluish green organza 1 yard
Bodice
I used chiffon which I did french seams since it frays like crazy and the white is too transparent. It was my first time doing french seams and I pondered a lot on the sequence of sewing. I sew the chiffon bodice first and then attach the sequin bodice on top. The sequin bodice is very flimsy so I baste it on the turquoise satin first before attaching. I did the same for the back sequin bodice.
I added a belt as I realised that I cut my bodice too short!
Cape
I decided to just use the full width of my organza and cut the required length from the sequin bodice to the hem of the skirt. Since I use the full width with the selvage, there is no need to treat the side seams. But I did use lighter to burn the edge for the top and bottom so that it will not fray. See the wavy curves where the fire burnt.
I did a 6" slit in the middle of the cape to allow more room for my girl to unzip her dress. To prevent fraying, I use satin stitch to go over the edges, placing interfacing below my stitch to reinforce the stitch. Then I just cut off the excess after sewing.
Next, I gathered the top edge of the organza and pin it to the sequin bodice, making sure I overlap the front by 5" on both sides. The red clover clip is where the middle slit is. Sew the cape to the bodice/belt but don't sew over the slit.
Here's how the cape looks in front. The cape was sewn to the sequin bodice before attaching to the chiffon bodice. Then I gathered the skirts and attached to the bodice. Insert zipper and its done.
I thought the skirt needs some sparks so I iron on some snowflake crystals on the front skirt as well as the cape. It was really easy. Bought all the iron on at the shop at Arab street too. I think for the big ones it was 4 for $7 while the 10 small ones was $6 I think.
The crystal came all nicely position which you will peel off the paper backing and place the sticky side on the fabric.
Then you place an ironing cloth over it and iron on high heat for like 10 seconds. You can try peeling at 5-8 seconds to see if all are stick on. If not, iron over again. Peel off the sticky paper when done.
All is worth it when I see her smiles : )
