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Animated Cinderella Ballgown, part 2

    On to a few construction details. The skirt of my gown has a base layer of light blue satin. Next is a light tulle. Third is another tulle, with little sparkly sequins on it. Last is a shiny organza. Each layer is 5 yards long. It was quite a chore to get that hemmed and gathered together on a waistband. But the effect is so stunning that I can’t be mad at it. This skirt was somewhat inspired by the 2015 live action version of Cinderella.  The skirt of her ball gown is made of layers upon layers of lightweight fabrics. I didn’t have the budget for the 10,000 swarovski crystals that decorated the movie gown, sadly. But maybe I can add some crystals in the future.

    Her little waist poofs (I still don't know what to call them?) were circles, about a yard across. Folded in half, then stitched all the way around. Then I cut a little hole in the straight edge and turned it inside out. Lastly, I gathered it to a waistband. The only reason that these are separate from the skirt is that I forgot them until I had finished the skirt. I wasn't going to unpick and regather the skirt again! No way. So I decided to make it a separate piece. But now if I need to use this skirt for another princess (not Cinderella), the waist poofs can be left off.

    The bodice is lightly boned and layered with canvas to give it some shape. It is edged with silver piping along the seam lines and the top and bottom edges. The pattern is Simplicity 1026, slightly altered to fit me better. Funny enough, it is a 2015 Cinderella and Fairy Godmother pattern.


    The sleeves are inspired by a little girl's Cinderella gown I once made. They are made of 2 pieces, an upper and a lower piece. The lower piece is an elongated pear shape, sorta. It’s hard to describe. But the upper piece is gathered and sewed to the lower piece. I ironed some interfacing to a pretty organza for maximum floof and volume in the sleeve. I think it looks beautiful and very similar to the animated gown.

    Underneath the gown, I am wearing my new 6-hoop skirt. I looked for round, rhinestone earrings for a long time, with no success. So, I had to get crafty. These earrings started life as buttons from Wal-Mart, of all things! I just cut off the shank and hot-glued some earring posts. They are very heavy, so we shall see how long I can comfortably wear them. My shiny silver headband is from Amazon, which I completely forgot to wear. The dainty black beaded choker was from Wal-Mart several years ago, if I recall correctly. I would have loved to find clear “crystal” pumps, but I can’t find them in my size anywhere.


I hope you enjoyed this look into the creation of this gown. Have a great day!

    Yours in hard work, creativity, and a dash of Pixie Dust

    Sarah
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