Cinderella

Allison's latest princess obsession is Cinderella. We watch the videos of the mice and birds making the dress and the fairy godmother turning the pumpkin into a coach a few times a day. her magic words when she "casts spells" is no longer abracadabra, but bippity, boppity, BOO!

Allison has also been mentioning that she wants to be Cinderella for Halloween. I tried to tell her that Halloween was a long way off but when I started to think about it, between travel plans and holidays, I don't have as much time as I thought. I decided to make Allison a dress now. I wrote out all my measurements, calculated the fabric I'd need and was ready to head to JoAnn's Fabric Store. The day before I went to the store, I was in one of my favorite thrift stores and they had a promotion on for upcycling clothes. They wanted to create an online community that re-purposes old clothes and objects. I quickly decided to scrap my fabric (except for 2 yards of white organza that I did buy at JoAnn's) and try to build a Cinderella dress out of old clothes.

I found this bridesmaid dress in the perfect shade of blue. It was my size so I put it on for Allison. She thought I looked like a princess, but I think she'd be the only one! The dress had a knit lining and a organza type fabric to help it poof out. I noticed that when I put the organza on top of the outer shell the color changed so I needed something to cover the bodice part too. Then I remembered that the last time I was in Canada, my MIL, Marlene, gave me a beaded/sequin top that she didn't want anymore.  I used it to cover the bodice and add some easy sparkle.

I used the leftover pieces of the shirt to cover a simple headband (more sparkle) and used the lining to make gloves for Allison.

The colors weren't an exact match but I still really like it. Allison asked me every day when she could put it on. When she did a final fitting, I didn't think the dress hit the right way (more poof was needed) so I made a simple petticoat out of 10 yards of tulle (and I think it still could have been bigger!). When she finally was able to zip it up, she quickly went to her room, shut the door and danced in front of her mirror for an hour. I spent $5 on the dress, $1 on the headband, and $12 on the white organza, $12 on the tulle, for a grand total of $30!

 

 

 

Maybe she'll change her mind before Halloween and I'll get to make another gown!