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!

Anya 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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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I got lots of cool Mommy points on this one!

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