If you have a daughter any older than 8, good luck finding a princess dress that costs less than $50 and is not made out of fabric so cheap it will be in rags after one night of trick-or-treating. Seriously, if you’ve got other tips, please share!
I just happened to hit a great sale back in May at the Disney Store, and found some really nice princess dresses for around $20 which is almost unheard of. I bought 3 dresses to hide away till Halloween, knowing they would be hard to find come October. The dresses at the Disney Store, especially their “limited edition” or “deluxe” styles are VERY nice. But they’re expensive. The dresses you buy at Halloween time in the costume isle, hardly last the night.
My friend Kristen came to me the other day and explained how hard it is to find a nice princess dress for her daughter who is 9. Most of the dresses out there are marketed at babies or toddlers and because she isn’t old enough to fit an adult size, she was running into trouble. Well, I went to Pinterest for some ideas and we came up with a great solution that costs less than $20 and took only an hour to make.
First off…
You have to believe me when I say: YOU CAN MAKE THIS!
This is definitely the easiest dress you can make with the cutest results!
Here’s how…
Kristen picked up this great thermal top and bottom set from Walmart. I would link to it, but can’t find it online. I bought a bolt of blue tulle, 1 yd. of stretchy sequin embellishment and 1 yd. of this white, stretchy woven material (yes, that’s the technical name) at Hobby Lobby. I would have bought the blue version of the stretchy white material, but they only had white at the time! I thought I had bought enough tulle for several dresses, but turns out, this project uses A LOT OF TULLE.
Top:
- First, measure how much stretchy woven fabric you need to gently stretch around the torso of your model. We stretched it just tight enough to sty up and fit comfortably and allowed some extra for seam allowance. Cut to size.
- If you buy the stretchy sequins like I did, you’ll want to sew them onto the top of your white material first. Gently stretch as you sew so both materials remain stretchable (does that makes sense?)
- Now, turn right sides together and sew the two ends together to form a tube top.
- Congratulations, you are done with the sewing. That was seriously it.
Bottom:
- Cut strips of tulle about 6″ wide and long enough so when folded in half, they make the full length of the skirt.
- Push the “loop” end of your tulle through the first hole in the bottom of your tube top, from the front to the inside. Now, pull the loop down and thread the ends of the tulle through the loop and pull tight.
- Do this all the way around, threading tulle through every hole all the way around the bottom of the tube top.
Straps:
- Once the bottom is done, have your model try the dress on.
- Take a strip of tulle and thread it through a hole at the top and center of your tube top. Thread another end through and pull so you have equal lengths coming out the back.
- Bring a piece up over the shoulder and knot on the other side of the tube top. I knotted mine under the sequin boarder to hide the knot. Let the access tulle hang for the cape.
Frozen Characters Join Disney on Ice!!
Hi,
Thank you so much for the detailed instruction of making Elsa dress at home. My 8 yr. daughter is so much in love of this Elsa dress. I am planning to make one for her. could you please provide me the info about how many yard tulle have you used for your daughter dress. what are the width of tulle which you have used.
Thank you so much!!
Great dress idea! I have been looking around for that “white stretchy material” for a while. All I could ever find were the bands and I didn’t know if they would be big enough for my daughter. I didn’t realize I could buy if from a fabric store–duh! I don’t know why I never thought of that.
All that being said, any suggestions for someone who doesn’t sew? Do you think fabric glue would hold up?
Eileen,
I have used hot glue on fabric before and I’ve found that the “high heat” setting works best and holds up for the long hull. Another option, since this stretchy fabric has holes in it, would be to tie it together! Just use some of the same tulle from the dress and weave it through the holes?? I’d love to know what you come up with! Please share a picture when you finish it :)
I love this! But I am having the hardest time finding the stretchy top…I have looked a few places but plan to look more. Where did you find it/where do you suggest I look? Thanks!
Brittany,
I found mine at Hobby Lobby, but I am sure Jo-Ann sells it and sometimes Walmart has a decent selection of fabric. Hope you find it!!
Thank you for posting this adorable dress, I just finished making it for my 10yr old daughter. It was easy and inexpensive, thank you again.
I’m so glad it worked out!! I hope she enjoys it :)
Thank you for providing viewers with a way to make a cute, simple Elsa dress! I have had various “Frozen” fabric pieces on my sewing table for two weeks and just couldn’t figure out what to do for my little grand daughter. You have solved my problem. Your daughter looks lovely and is a true princess!
Thank you so much!! I’m glad you found this helpful and I hope your dress turns out well!
My daughter and I have been searching for an Elsa costume, (yes, we are running behind as usual.) My granddaughter is chunky and she is 91/2, so we have a hard time finding anything, much less costumes. We bought a pattern, but it looks very complicated. I sew, but even this is daunting for me. I love the look of this costume, and it looks perfect for her. We are going to Joanne’s (again) tomorrow for material. I’m thinking I’m going to return the pattern and try my hand at this. It will be MUCH cheaper and a whole lot less stressful. This is just really too cute. Thanks for posting this! Thanks Susan
Yes, LESS STRESS is the key! I hope it works out for you! This is just so simple for how cute it turns out :)
OMG YES!!! I am so making this for my twincesses for Halloween! THANK YOU!!