I decided to make a Princess Dress for my baby cousin for her second birthday. I went almost straight from the licensed Simplicity Disney pattern, except eliminating a few of the more fussier elements and adding a waist tie in the back, as I made the costume a little big so Baby Rachel can grow into it. This is meant to be a fun dress-up-time costume, and I hope she has as much fun wearing it as I did making it. :)

[Skip to finished costume.]

I used light blue Casa Satin from Joanns for the main part of the dress and matching blue sparkly sheer for the sleeves and hip 'poofs'. The dress opens in back with a long zipper for easy access. I also added two sashes out of the satin to act as a waist tie, since I made the dress a little big so Rachel can grow into it. The sheer sparkly fabric was a pain to sew and iron because of the glitter (and the fact that the fabric was sheer to begin with). I spent just as much time making this dress as I would a full-size adult costume! I fully lined the costume in light blue crepe from the stash, so the dress has a lovely weight to it. All seams are finished and fully encased, so the costume is as pretty on the inside as it is outside. :)

                   

Left to Right: materials; dress front, back, back untied, lining, sleeve detail
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Baby Rachel loves to people watch and go shopping with her aunt and cousin, so my Mom and I decided to make a matching purse to go with the Princess Dress. It's made from the same blue satin fabric as the main body of the dress. The purse is stiffened with heavy interfacing and is lined in light blue crepe from the stash. I gathered two pieces of the sparkly sheer and attached them to the sides of the purse, just as I did with the dress. The clear acrylic handles were bought pre-made from Joanns and attach with light blue ribbon.

           

Left to Right: with finished dress, closed, lining, detail
[up]   [finished costume]

I don't have any in-progress pictures because this costume was finished nearly in one sitting. Also, I know it's hard to tell scale and fit without the costume on a form, but I don't own a child-size one so you'll have to use your imagination! ;)

       

Left to Right: front, back, with purse
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Here are pictures of Rachel wearing her Cinderella costume at her second birthday party. She didn't really want to stand still long enough to get a good picture but she's still cute! The colors were really hard to capture correctly - the actual color is probably closest in the first picture, which shows the both of us together. :)

               

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Rachel wore her Cinderella costume for Halloween 2007. She used the matching purse as her candy bag. My aunt (Rachel's mother) went crazy with accessories from Target - crown, wand, and sparkly silver shoes!

           

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To see the reference images used to make this costume,
check out my Cinderella Costume Research.