I used to love costume parties when I was a child. It was like spending a few hours in a fairy tale land, there were contests…I especially liked dressing up to be a princess! Not only can my mom sew really well, she always had great ideas for our costumes. Today I enjoy especially watching my children have a good time. I also have a pocket full of costume ideas which I try to transform into reality. This time I didn’t have to think long before coming up with Minnie’s costume. The Trolls movie is everywhere and so is the Trolls merchandise. The Princess Poppy costume was a sure thing and the wig moreover a real challenge. I will dedicate another post to the wig. The Princess Poppy costume hast three parts – the dress, the wig and the wristband – each of which deserves its own post. I will share with you the pattern for the dress and the templates for the leaves and flowers as well.
Table of Contents
Materials
You will need for a dress for the age of 1 – 1,5 years:
- approximately 1,5 m of petrol blue or teal fabric – I used 100% cotton, width 140 cm
- fleece sheet in mint color approx. 26 x 12 cm (these dimensions don’t need to be exactly the same as mine as you will be cutting out small pieces)
- 118 cm of satin foldover band in mint color
- threads in matching color for the dress fabric and the fleece
- 50 cm of white embroidery thread
- pattern for the bodice part – download here
- pattern for the shoulder piece – download here
- template for the leaves – download here
The bodice pattern is for the age of 1 – 1,5 years (Czech size 74-80).
Don’t forget to pre-shrink the fabric if you’re using cotton or any other material that shrinks after washing.
Instructions
Bodice
Start with the bodice, you will cut it on fold. Fold only the necessary piece of fabric so you don’t cut in the center of a huge piece of fabric. Iron the fold. Pin it properly to prevent sliding when you use the template. Cut 4 bodice pieces in total.
When you unfold the bodice it should look like this:
Iron the pieces.
Shoulder Stripes
Now you will need 2 stripes for the shoulders, you will cut them again on fold. So cut on fold two pieces 12 x 4,5 cm (1 cm seam allowance included).
When you unfold them they should look like this:
Fold each of the stripes right side together, iron and sew the long side leaving the short sides open. Turn it right side up through the open sides and leave the seam in the center of the long side. This will be the down side of the shoulder so that the seam stays hidden. Iron well.
Bodice Assembly
It’s time to assemble the bodice. Take one of the bodice parts, put it right side up and align the shoulders as shown in the picture. Both shoulders should be seam up or down.
Take another bodice piece and put it on the shoulders, this time right side down. Pin where necessary.
Sew where marked red in the picture leaving a 0,5 cm seam.
Turn the piece right side up:
Put the other side of the shoulders between the other two bodice parts which are facing each other’s right side (same as in the previous step).
Sew together the same parts as in the previous step and turn right side up.
5. Now sew together the sides which are marked with the same color.
Now the Skirt
To make the skirt cut a piece of 35 x 118 cm (1 cm seam allowance is included). Sew the short sides together and leave the piece wrong side out. Take the bodice part and put it inside the skirt. Align the edges of the bodice with the edges of the skirt. Now you have to play with the skirt so the alignment is regular. As you can see, I pleated the skirt:
Sew the edges leaving 1 cm seam. Turn everything right side up.
Decoration Leaves
Now let’s do the leaves for the princess costume. Cut from the mint fleece 6 larger and 12 smaller leaves and sew 3 sets of leaves on each side of the skirt (front and back). Each set consists of 1 larger and 2 smaller leaves.
Measure the distance between the leaves.
Fold-over band
Sew on the fold-over band.
Shoulder piece
The last thing to do is the shoulder piece. Cut it again on fold. When you unfold it, it should look like this:
Leave it wrong side up and sew it together leaving a small opening through which you will turn it right side up. Be careful with the round part, it has to be very regular. Turn the shoulder right side up, close the opening with the hidden stitch and iron it well.
Putting it all together
Now you’ll sew the shoulder on the dress. Pin it where the original left shoulder starts. Align the new shoulder exactly with the one underneath and pin it in the front as well. You don’t need to sew on the whole new shoulder piece, it’s enough to sew the back and the straight part. The front part will be attached to the bodice with a few stitches with the white embroidery thread.
Your dress is ready to wear!
Final Note
Now that your costume is ready, complete it with pink tights and t-shirt.
Now you have the princess costume, it’s time to make the Princess Poppy’s wristband and the Princess Poppy’s wig!
