It has been a fun ride getting here. First I saw a pattern that some people altered, but our Jo-Anns were out. Then I saw someone online that needed pattern testers. And my mom found the pattern and sent it to me about the time the blogger said she would love to have me as a pattern tester. From no patterns to two in one day. And then one and then a second friend wanted to sew along with me and make dresses for their daughters. And then the blogger got delayed getting the pattern to me, so after all that I ended up just drafting my own pattern after all.
Whew.
I learned a few things making this dress. Well, I always do. This time, I learned about sequin fabric. I had two options I took up to the cut counter that day- one was a stretchy, sort of sparkly thing, and the other was this gorgeous sequin fabric. I was going to go with the more practical one, but the guy there talked me into the sequins. They were just to awesome to pass up! And when you are making things for little girls, you can never have too much sparkle.
What I learned is that in order to sew sequin fabric, you have to cut all of the sequins off of the seam allowance, one by one. Arg. It was worth it in the end, but only for very special occasions.
My favorite part of the dress is the cape. I made a template out of wrapping paper with snowflakes taped on, laid the sheer fabric on top, and Kaitlyn and I traced it out with fabric paint.
Kaitlyn loved having the ownership that she helped make her costume, which is absolutely worth any imperfections in her painting skills.
As a total bonus, my mom sent me a pack of 50 or so snowflake buttons about three years ago. Jackpot! I love how they pop against the blue fabric to hold up the cape.
The hilarious part is that I bought my fabric when it was just going to be two dresses- but I didn't have a pattern yet. So I guessed how much I would need. Once I cut out mine and part of hers, I saw that we had plenty for the second friend to join us two. And now that we have about 2.75 of the 3 dresses done, it turns out we have enough to make one more dress. So I did something I didn't think I would do- I sold it on Etsy! I'm going to start working on that dress tomorrow, and then ship it out. I normally would never try to sell things I sew, because I just can't compete with labor prices in China. But the Elsa costume is sold out across the country at this point. Disney stores here say it will be 3-6 weeks. So there is a demand for costumes on Etsy at the moment.
I don't think I will make many more (you would think 4 would be enough), because honestly the reason I sew is right there. I love seeing their happy little faces light up as they dance around in them. Kaitlyn has been thrilled to wear hers as often as she can, and that makes it all worth it.
In fact, one day Jasmine desperately wanted the expensive Anna doll at Target, so I went home and made an Anna dress for a doll kicking around the house. It was just the scraps from Jasmine's costume, which means it was free and matches her perfectly. Making costumes for the entire family AND the dolly is probably a sign I need to back away from the sewing machine, but that just isn't going to happen any time soon. I'm an addict at this point.
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