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