Belle and Jasmine are among some of my favorite Disney princesses- as a little girl I remember dressing up as Belle for Halloween, and even going so far as to say yellow was my favorite color, even though it really wasn't, just because I loved her yellow dress so much! (Purple, blue, and pink are my favorites, for the record.) I've never felt more magical than when I wear this dress. I definitely am glad to have finally done it.
I started with the skirt ruching which was really all just math, as well as the skirts underneath. The skirts are actually a layer of five- let's start from the inside out. First and foremost I bought a cheap hoop skirt off of Amazon. I intend to make my own in the future though. The next two layers are two tulle "petticoats" to help hide the hoop lines, and also make the dress fluffy! The first layer is long and goes to the bottom of the hoop, and the second is actually a shorter layer constructed from the leftovers of the longer skirt.
The next two layers are the basic skirts. The yellow satin lining is simply a four panel a-line skirt. It is shorter than the top skirt lining, which is done in a matching crepe. The top skirt ruching (the puffy part) is 8 yards of glitter organza. The scallops are a dark gold shade of Casa Collection chiffon, sewn into "tubes" and then hand stitched on at eight points. The pink roses on the dress are made by friend Anya Braddock (Crumpets Cosplay), and hand stitched on by me
The bodice is an interesting piece- it is actually altered from a "not so great" Disney costume pattern for adult women. It's not the most impressive looking sample on the pattern packet, but the style lines seemed promising for easy conversion to a strapless bodice, so I went with it! It ended up working splendidly. I used David Tutera taffeta in Pineapple as the face and lining. Both sides are interfaced, and the lining is boned with plastic. Meant to use metal, but can NOT for the life of me find any cutters to cut through flat or spiral steel boning.
As for the other details on the bodice, the center back buttons up with small shank buttons, and fabric loop closures that are slip stitched in. I really wanted a formal gown look, so I opted for the button up, instead of the lace up, as the pattern I used suggests. The sleeves I took a bit of inspiration from the Belle gown in Disneyland's Soundsational Parade. Mine are merely tapered scraps of my skirt fabric, which I narrow roll-hemmed, and pleated and stitched to a pretty light yellow elastic that also had pleated organza edges. I hand stitched that to the front of the bodice, and the rest simply hugs my arms. ^.^
The gloves are an interesting ordeal... I made my own in a fabric matching my bodice, but I did not favor the color, because of the shade resembling latex cleaning gloves. It did NOT look princess worthy. ;( I ordered some bridal gloves off Amazon in "Candle", but they came out more white... which makes me wonder, since they did have white, off white, and ivory... what most those gloves look like? Haha, anyways, I hemmed them to be a bit shorter, and subtly blinged them up by hand glueing 90 Swarovski crystals to them.
I was also able to make myself some pretty white bloomers to go under my skirt, since of course princesses must wear the proper undergarments! The lace even has roses on it!
I know that seems like a lot already, but I have more plans to add to the gown! Perhaps add more bling and embellishments, and a white slip? This is going to be one of those projects where I will continue to change and add things until I feel I have made it to the best of my ability! =D
