Monday 21 May 2012

Cinderella is off to the ball...


I thought it was about time I added to the Dress Up box. I was thinking a fairy outfit or maybe a princess outfit, but it was decided that a Cinderella dress was the way to go.


I interpreted Cinderella dress rather loosely and thought a skirt would be OK, so I dug out an old skirt that my daughter wore in a dance concert when she was a teenager. I know, I should have taken a photo of the old dance skirt, but I didn't. It was just three panels of sheer fabric sewn onto a waistband, with a velcro closure and one seam left open. Each panel was slightly narrower at the top than the bottom.



You may remember the outfit to the left. I used it to make a girl's dress and was left with the two stretchy tubes: perfect for Cinderella's waistband. Add the new waistband to the old dance skirt:

  • Cut off excess fabric from the dance skirt.
  • Sew up the seam.
  • Sew the skirt to the waistband using a three step zig zag stitch and stretching the waistband slightly while sewing.
Cinderella is nearly ready for the ball.

I was tempted to make the excess fabric from the skirt into a blouse, so the outfit would appear to be a dress. The teacher in me prevented this. A child's imagination is a wonderful thing and allowing the child to improvise while playing dress ups, is a great way to develop their imaginations.

A blouse can only be a blouse, but a long piece of fabric can be a shawl, a scarf, a belt or perhaps draped around the waist and tied in a bow at the back. The possibilites are only limited by the child's imagination.



Cinderella is almost ready. Maybe we could add something to her arms. Yes, they look a little odd in the photo below, but I've attempted to make some armlets that could be worn as sleeves.





Here is one on my arm. It's part of the sleeve from a long sleeved t-shirt, with a tube of material from the skirt attached at the top. I was lazy and just sewed the sheer fabric to the t-shirt, stretching the t-shirt as I sewed.

I really should have used elastic, as the t-shirt stretched. I don't think it will fall down, as only the top of the t-shirt has stretched, so the rest should hold it up. If not, I'll add some elastic.

Cinderella is now ready to go to the ball.
Whilst we want to develop children's imagination, they sometimes do unexpected things. Children should always be closely supervised when playing dress ups.

Have fun playing with your children as they role play and enter the world of make believe...


... Pam

21 comments:

  1. What a neat idea! Love the dress :) Have you decide who will be the lucky little lady that get to wear this dress to the ball? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. awesome!!! dress up clothes are the best!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wonderful idea!

    Mrs. Delightful
    www.ourdelightfulhome.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. So much fun!!! We love playing dress up around here! Even have the regular fashion show too! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Absolutely adorable! : )

    ReplyDelete
  6. My girls would love it! Very nice.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh I love this idea, both of dress-up and the lovely cinderella dress/skirt. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely Lovely ,,, now some jewelry add some colored ribbons...I am sure the Prince will come. mirjam

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the skirt and shawl combination! Very chic Cinderella... a little girl's dress does not always have to be pastel pink or blue!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What a beautiful dress-up costume and a wonderful idea! Our clothes today aren't made for children to dress up in like the ones my mother had when I was young! Thanks for sharing!
    Quilting at the River Linky Party Tuesday

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very cute! I love the idea of the armlet pieces. Thanks so much for sharing at Etcetorize~

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very fancy Cinderella dress-up. Girls would love it. Thanks for your comments on my wool doll blog.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is sooooooooooooooo beautiful
    How creative of you!!

    BTW - you'd be surprised but I have very similar skirt, and I just love it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. So fun! I love dress-ups. I think my daughter lived in princess dresses for years.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful dress up Pam! I'm sure it will get a lot of use!


    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  16. Super cute. I'd love for you to link it up to Crafty Cousins-- http://crafting-cousins.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-i-wore-sunday-week-16.html

    ~Natalie

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thanks Pam! You're the best. It's good to be back. I love this idea. I hope I'm as cool as you and as creative as you are when my little girl is old enough to play dress up!

    ReplyDelete
  18. My girls love to dress up. They would love this dress. Thanks for sharing at Terrific Tuesdays.
    Rachel
    adventuresofadiymom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. This is so cute!! My daughter LOVES dress up!! We just went through her dress up clothes and had to get rid of many pieces that she's outgrown and what not. I have a couple ideas for some dress-ups. Love this refashion! Super cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Pam that is such a lovely idea. My daughter used to love playing with costumes and was always a princess of some kind! She would have loved this.

    Thanks so much for linking up to my weekly Say G'Day Party. I truly appreciate your support. I'm going to Google Plus this post right now!

    Best wishes for a wonderful weekend,
    Natasha in Oz

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is lovely. Cant wait to see what you link up later today on Serenity Saturday

    Natasha xxx

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by! I love reading your comments and try to reply to all of them via email. If you don't receive an email reply from me, check back here.