Welcome to the start of the Eerie Nights blog hop. I’m glad you’re here! There are lots of Halloween goodness going on, not to mention giveaways! First I’d like to thank Marian of Seams To Be Sew for doing all the arranging and Amy of Sew Incredibly Crazy for taking over while Marian makes the huge journey of moving from Italy to the US as this event is happening.
What can you expect to find? A new project from each blogger. Myself included. 🙂 Here’s the full line-up:
Today – Thursday, October 20. 2016
Seams To Be Sew
Cloth and Paper Studio – you’re here 🙂
Thrift Shop Commando
Sew Many Yarns
Friday, October 21, 2016
Quilting Affection Blog
Life In the Scrapatch
Feather Your Nest
Monday, October 24, 2016
Words & Stitches
Just Because Quilts
Sally’s Quilts
MooseStash Quilting
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Jane’s Quilting
Just Let Me Quilt
Batts In The Attic
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Inquiring Quilter
Living My Dream
123 Quilt
Craft Traditions
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Bumbleberry Stitches
Tea Time Creations
Anypattern.com
In The Boon Docks
Seacoast Quilter
Friday, October 28, 2016
Pink Doxies
Quilted Delights
Stitches Quilting
MaryMack’s Blog
Sew Incredibly Crazy
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy making my kids Halloween costumes. I think the most epic I’ve done is the year my 2 older children wanted to be Pokemon. Money was tight but I didn’t let that stop me. A thrift-store junkie who’s fond of upcycling (even before it became the thing to do) I found an older, fuzzy yellow blanket that I knew would make the perfect Pikachu. For my oldest, who wanted to be Mewtwo I used 2 different purple sheets. They came out wonderful if I do say so myself.
This year my youngest has had a hard time trying to figure out what she wants to be. I’ve been hoping she’d agree to be a fairy. She finally decided the other night that she wants to be a “pretty pink princess” and that she needs a “pink princess dress, sparkly pink princess shoes, and a pink princess crown with jewels.” Today, I’m going to share with you how I made a quick and easy princess dress that’s better and cheaper than what you’d buy at the store and the best part is your little princess will be the only one with that particular dress. That’s a win, win, win in my opinion. Let’s get to it!
Originally I was going to use tulle for the outer layer and satin for the lining, but I didn’t have enough in my stash, didn’t want to wait to go to the store for more and she absolutely had to have pink. LOL So after digging thru my fabric and linen piles, I found this ombre white to pink sheer curtain panel. Plus I found a bit of vintage pink shirting fabric for the lining layer, the lace and a piece of elastic.
What you’re basically going to be making is an easy elastic waist skirt. Huh? But I thought we were making a dress? We are, just say with me here. I’m not going to write-up a tutorial on how-to for an elastic waist skirt because there’s a million and one of them for free online. Here’s a good one that I’ve found. Follow the directions for the full skirt with an attached waistband. For the amount of fabric – I took my little girls biggest measurement around (doesn’t matter if it’s from her chest, waist or hips) and doubled it. However, if you want a really full and poofy dress, you could easily triple it or more! Here’s where you change it a bit, instead of making the length to be a skirt, you’re going to pull it up so it covers up her top so it’s like a strapless dress, and measure how long you’d like it to be.
To have it double layered, or even triple layered (more tulle = more twirly goodness) all you have to do is measure and cut each piece the same size, layer them and sew all the seams together except the hems. You’ll want to sew up the hems individually.
To attach the ribbon to go around the neck I simply sewed a buttonhole on my sewing machine, cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go around her neck and tie it in a pretty bow in back. That way I didn’t have to bother with snaps, velcro, or buttons. But you could if you prefer.
Then I cut another piece of ribbon that was long enough to wrap around her middle and tie in a bow with long tails hanging down. As an added little extra I made a bow and sewed it to the front of the waist ribbon.
And just that easy you have an easy, pretty princess dress that will get the stamp of approval from your little princess. You could also make loads of everyday dresses like this as well using cute vintage sheets, fabric remnants, or even larger sized ladies skirts. I’ll also be making, and sharing, easy DIYs for a matching jeweled crown and cape in the next few days so keep watching for more.
Since you made it this far I’ve got a surprise for you. There’s a give-a-way!!! Yeppers! Whoop-whoop! Thanks to Marian and Amy for setting all of this up. Here’s your chance to win a fabric bundle from Timeless Treasures!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Till next time happy upcycling!
Adorable! … and the cute pink princess costume is cute, too … 😉 Your model looks like she is thrilled with her new dress. I am sure she will get a lot of wear out of this for playing dress-up time. Thanks for sharing … 🙂 Pat
How clever you are, Mel! I love the dress, and your little cutie wearing it. I can see she has personality!
Looks to me like it’s a winner and your pink princess is very happy with her new Halloween costume. Can’t wait to see the crown and cape.
How fun! I’m making a fleece cow costume for my son – he’s so excited (and it’ll be cold on Halloween here!)
What a cute pink princess! Thanks for sharing.
Super Cute! Love how quick it is to put together!
I love the costume, looks so much better than store bought ones
How sweet!
I used to make my kids Halloween when they were small. Now it’s grandkids.
Very neat!
Aww, so cute! Great job on her outfit.
My kids are older now and no grandkids yet, but I love to look! I made a good witch dress that got many years of use by my 2 daughters!
Isn’t that just adorable! My grand daughter would love this too!
Great way to up cycle with what you have on hand!
Sew Cute Mel.. Happy Halloween…
I think you fulfilled her wish for Halloween-and I’m sure she’s just delighted-kids and Halloween-don’t you just love them!
Easy peasy … and cute as a button! Thanks for sharing.
So pretty, she will have so much fun.
oops. forgot to leave email address on previous comment . . . lynnstck@yahoo.com
So adorable, both little one and the costume. My daughter is a pink girl too and love this idea. Great tutorial.
What a great way to make a quick princess dress! You made me think back to some of the costumes my sister and I created. We had lots of fabric available (my grandfather worked at a fabric mill) so it was just up to our sewing skills what we could create. Thanks for sharing!
Cute and quick…just what busy women need! Great job !
That will be one proud and happy princess on October 31.
cute costume. Hand made are the best and the kids think so too!!
very clever and obviously your little girl loves it.
I’ve constructed only 2 costumes for my girls when they were young…a clown costume and Dorothy. I’m not very good at costumes or clothes!
Nothing more fun than being a princess. I miss those days when I made costumes for Halloween for us all.
What a sweet princess! (I had to smile when I read you found a pink curtain panel. The Sound of Music came to mind!) Your post of costumes reminded me that the 2 times my husband helped sew was making Halloween costumes for our boys. 🙂 Happy Halloween!
Great idea. I love making costumes.
Cute costume and she looks very happy with it too (the ultimate test).
QuiltShopGal
http://www.quiltshopgal.com
I used to use a wrap round skirt as a sundress when I was younger and slimmer and lived somewhere with a climate not weather!
Such a good idea and it could be recycled as a skirt on another occasion .
The costume is so cute Mel, and your model is so adorable. It looked so easy to make-makes me want to see my daughter little again. Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness! What a cute and pretty pink princess dress! Great idea too!!!
such a cute princess dress. awww, your little princess is just too cute. and the perfect model. 🙂
Very cute!!!
Hello fellow Day 20 blogger and thrift store junkie (a woman after my own heart). I so love the handmade costumes – you did a great job and kudos to your faceless adorable model.
http://thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com
Thanks for the giveaway! Cute dress!
I agree that making costumes is fun. When my son was young I made many unusual costumes for him. He came up with some crazy ideas like a hammer, a tube of toothpaste, and a Swedish Fish (like the candy) — and it was my challenge to make them work! Lots of fun and creative thinking were involved.
I, too, made my share of costumes when the kids were small. love how you use what’s available to excellent advantage!
What a pretty princess! I love homemade costumes. They are so much better than store bought ones! I can’t wait to see the crown and cape!
She will be a happy pink princess.
I used to love to make my kids’ Halloween costumes too! And they loved it! Thanks!
What a Pretty Princess in Pink ….. and what great memories you are making for both of you, in making such a special gown for her!
Oh, I remember making my children’s costumes, some quick and easy others from store-bought patterns. They seemed to like them all and I enjoyed making them.
That’s a very sweet princess dress.
Oohh, sooo cute. She looks so sweet in her dress. She makes a beautiful princess!
I used to sew my daughter’s costumes. Now they are adults, but it is fun watching the grands dress up.
NOW YOU NEED TO SEW A COSTUME FOR MY CAR FOR TRUCK OR TREAT SO I HAVE A CUTE PLACE FOR THAT PRINCESS TO VISIT
What a cute little princess!
Very cute!
Your little model seems to be thoroughly enjoying being a princess.
So cute! I love making costumes
Very cute dress.
She’s so cute in her pretty pink princess dress! I hate spending big bucks on Halloween costumes, nice finds in your stash!
So cute. I wish I had this idea when my girls were young.
What an adorable princess dress. Thank you for the great tutorial, too. My little princess isn’t walking yet, but this will make a great costume in the future.
Such a great idea, Mel. Love all that pretty curly hair. I love to make my kiddos Halloween outfits as well.
What a sweet little princess dress!
So sweet.
So cute!
I am sure you have one pleased pink princess for Halloween in that cute dress.
Handmade costumes are the best!! Adorable!
Always nice to have a quick and easy costume solution, thanks!
My mom was great at making Halloween costumes when I was a kid. My favorite was when my sister and I became crayons 🙂
What a cute princess dress. Adorable. Thanks for a chance to win!
Handmade costumes are the best. I still make them for my grown kids. Love your quick and easy costume!
My kids are adults, but I still remember making fun costumes for them. Thanks for sharing.
That is such a cute dress, it is fun making our own costumes, I always did my kid’s costumes when they were young.
Debbie
Costumes & pretend… such fun!
I love to see the little ones in their costumes, especially the ones that are homemade!
cute dress
Such a clever idea..and such a sweet model! Thanks for sharing your process.
Love the modeler. She has personality.
Cute dress 🙂
How very fun! Every Princess would love one!
What a great idea to use a lady’s skirt for this. It turned out very cute!
Sweet gown! Thanks for sharing
I love the idea of reusing old sheets and skirts for a princess dress! Thanks for sharing!
I love your Pretty Pink Princess and her adorable dress. I think it’s marvelous that you ‘made’ from what you had rather than buying more – that’s creative and affordable, too.
Awww. I used to have the best time making costumes when my girl was younger. How much fun is that?
I always mad costumes for my kids with things we had around the house!! I’m a great believer of reusing and recycling!!!
The princess dress is great! There were many years money was tight so it was a matter of taking what we had and kicking it up a notch! Once year the gee for Ti Kwando was upped a notch by just adding a head wrap like the Karate Kid, the ball uniform by adding that black stuff under the eyes like the big league players, and the Easter outfit of a gray pair of pants, a Henley shirt, and a white linen jacket I had made for my son was a Halloween costume of Sonny Crockett by slicking back his hair and wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Cute idea…sweet lil Princess! Thanks for tutorial…know a lil girl round here that would love dress like it! (Pink too! lol)
Thanks for chance to win your give-a-way!! 🙂
It so much fun to make clothes for little girls. Thanks for sharing the princess dress.
I remember the days of making costumes for the kids! Glad they are over! But there were some fond memories, too! ndfromsd atgmaildotcom
Sweeet lil’ Princess! Thanks for how you made it…:)