I've seen lots of Elsa costumes online this summer ... and my Miss Phoebe is just like all the other seven year olds! She wants to be Elsa, too!
After looking at lots of pictures ... and lots of costumes that other moms and grandmas had made ... I decided I'd make one, too! So, I started talking to Phoebe about Elsa, secretly borrowed her movie so I could watch it at home ... and told her I thought I would have a "Frozen" party ... You know we have lots of themed parties at my house. The first thing she said was that she would be Elsa, but she needed a dress. I told her I'd make a dress the weekend she and her mom and dad went on a little trip. Good thing I did ... because as soon as they got back home, she asked her mom to find out if I had made it!
Went to the fabric store ... and bought a couple yards of 4 different fabrics ... the darkest one on the left is polyester ... but looks like Shantung! The other sheers had sparkles built in ... which helps when you need to create snowflakes! Yes ... thank you Disney for putting snowflakes on Elsa's train!
Some of the costumes had been made by attaching skirts to tee shirts. I pondered that ... didn't like the idea ... and then remembered that I had this ...
I'd bought this flower girl dress at a thrift shop a couple years ago ... when Phoebe wanted to be a bride. It was too big and other Grandma found a smaller one, so we put this away. This is a Cinderella dress ... and the features included covered buttons down the back, a row of satin roses along the bodice and beautiful beads, pearls and satin embroidery work.
I removed the roses and separated the skirt from the bodice. Fortunately, the zipper was only sewn into the lining ... so leaving all that intact, meant I didn't have to rework the zipper! I made a new skirt from the Shantung and an over-layer of sheer fabric. I trimmed the neckline with teal lace and sewed some snowflake shaped buttons on the bodice!
The most important part of the dress is the train ... and the train must have snowflakes on it ... or it wouldn't be real! I layered two sheer fabrics and gathered them ... attached them to a band ... and then tacked the bow from the original dress to the top of the train. I used sew on velcro to attach the train to the dress.
The most important part of all ... the snowflakes. I pondered embroidery ... hand and machine ... and finally decided fabric paints were the answer. Because the fabric is sheer, I knew the paint would seep through ... so I placed the fabric over waxed paper ... painted the snowflakes and let them dry ... then the waxed paper peeled right off the back. Now ... I'm no artist ... but Miss Phoebe loved those snowflakes ... That is all that matters!
It was hard to get Elsa to stand still long enough ... to take pictures ... but I know she loves her dress ... She wanted to wear it to bed the night I gave it to her ... and she wanted to wear it to daycare the next day!
Of course ... I made a crown ... and glued some old pieces of jewelry to it for added sparkle ... and gave her pair of clip rhinestone earrings that I probably paid too much money for ... 30 years ago ... but who cares?! All that matters is that Miss Phoebe ... gets to be Princess Elsa ... whenever she wants!
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