Elsa

Like so many sewing mama’s I am making an Elsa costume.  We went to Wizard Con (a comic con), so the kids needed a costume…of course!

She wanted to go as Elsa.  Big shocker right there. 😉  When looking at Elsa pictures, her dress went from a sky blue to an almost turquoise color.  We ended up going with the the turquoise color:

I used a stretch panne velvet, stretch chiffon with a glitter swirl pattern, and a glitter dots tulle.  Definitely not a perfect match, but I am working on a time crunch here.  If I had months to source the fabric, I am sure we could have made a closer match.

The fabric arrived in the mail from Fabric.com, and I got only a 0.5 yard cut of the velvet and the wrong lace.  I had ordered this stretch floral lace with a snow pattern for the arms and along the top.   I chatted with them the next day and they sent me one of the right things.  Almost.  It was a light blue and not turquoise velvet.  I kept it, since her dress is a few different colors of blues.

Chatted with them again the next day, and got sent the WRONG stretch lace which finally arrived on Monday.  A-friggin-gain.  Seriously, is it that hard??  Fabric.com is not really the best at getting things right or being timely lately, so I should have known better.

Off I went to Joann’s to see what they had, and I found a pretty good one-way stretch chiffon with a swirly glitter pattern.  I think it matches the costume better, so it wasn’t a total waste of my time.

The trims I got from Michael’s.  I got a few different glitter ribbons and rhinestone tapes.  I actually bought a whole bunch of sequin tape, glitter ribbon, etc., etc., as I wasn’t sure how I was going to put everything together.  It is good to have options, and I have extra now to go along with my excessive craft supplies.   I also got a necklace thing from the jewelry area that looked like it would be pretty fun to put in the middle of the front of the dress.

Oh, and that glitter dots tulle leaves a trail of glitter behind it, so it had to be a removable cape.  I am sure if I washed it, all of the glitter would come off.  My sewing floor, machine and self were covered in glitter while I was working on it.

I also washed the glittery arm fabric and now Kai’s baseball pants have glitter on them.

🙂

So…pattern.

I used the top of a leotard, cut with a sweetheart neckline and moved the neckline to almost off the shoulder.  The skirt has 3 pieces in the front and 4 pieces in the back.  If you notice I did not do the slit in the front.  I forgot about it, and sewed that up.  I figured if she complained I could unpick it and add the slit, but so far…no complaints.  I added glitter ribbon in between the seams to give it some added sparkle.

The bodice was fun, though a bit involved!  I put tricot interfacing on the backside of the stretch velvet to give it some body.  I then placed the rhinestone trim on it in the center, and sewed it onto the bodice in between the rhinestones on the mesh with a straight stitch.  I added each line to the sides, as I made my way out of the center.  The bodice will still stretch, as it has room between the rhinestone rows.

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The biggest issue with the rhinestone rows was attaching it to the rest of the fabric.  I cut away the rhinestones as close to the edge as I could.  The edges aren’t super pretty, but can get by without close inspection.  I broke three needles while sewing the front to the rest of the fabric, and that was trying to be careful!

I also had to be careful with the stretch chiffon, as if you stretched it too much, the fabric ran like pantyhose.  I sewed clear elastic in the shoulder seam, and the neckline is bound with white fold over elastic.  I don’t think it would be a good idea to hang this up by the chiffon top, since it is so heavy.  I think the material will either over stretch and/or tear from the weight.  When hanging, I fold it over the hanger at the waist.

I made the cape fairly long and removable with snaps, due to the glitter shedding factor.  There are snaps at the edges and one in the middle.  I was worried about the length, especially with going to the comic con and being amongst a lot of people.  I added a removable wrist strap to the point at the end, so she could hold it up.  It is super light so the weight isn’t an issue.  I made it out of  white FOE so it would blend into her sleeve color.

As this dress is fairly fitted, though made of stretchy material, I wasn’t sure if she could wiggle into it.  It probably would be better to have a side invisible zipper, but I was all out  of turquoise invisible zippers.  Like I ever kept one on hand!  I should have picked one up when I went to Joann’s for the arm fabric, but I wasn’t thinking about that yet.  It is a bit cumbersome for her to get into, but it works without a closure.

She obviously like it!

I got lots of cool Mommy points on this one!