Pretty Pretty Princess...

I forgot to blog about my sewing projects!  I wanted to sew a costume for my niece Tori, and I saw some pretty yellow fabric at Hancock's the other day so I decided on a Belle dress.  Now, you have to understand that my total count of things successfully sewed was 3 before this dress--a pair of pajama pants, a skirt, and a button up shirt that fits super awkwardly.  A costume was like, way out of my league, but I figured that if it didn't fit quite right, who really cared?  And if worst came to worst, I could hot glue it together, right?  So anyway, I got the costume pattern from JoAnn's and got to work.  I had already done pretty much everything the directions were asking me to do before except a liner for the bodice.  I've never sewn a liner because we weren't that advanced in our beginning sewing class, but I knew I needed to learn, so I figured this was a good time.  

I was nervous the dress would be hideous or wouldn't fit her at all, but it actually turned out great!  Things I learned:

-People are not exaggerating when they tell you slippery fabrics are hard to sew with.  Wow that satin was a nightmare!  I didn't realize how easily it caught and slipped around under the presser foot!
-Simple embellishments like sewing a ribbon around the bodice is going to add a lot of time to your project when you're not that great at sewing even just the basics.
-Tulle is super cheap and easy to sew because you can't really see it, so who cares if you mess up?
-You can't sew a dress for one niece, and not for the other.

Notice jealous little Riley in the top right
corner...that broke my heart.  

Overall, though, it was a blast.  It didn't take as long as I expected, and Tori was adorable as she pretended to be Belle and dance around in her dress for about 2 hours.  Here are some pictures of the process..

I was so excited after I finished the bodice!  

Here's what the dress looked like just according
to the pattern directions (minus the hem).

And here was the finished product once I'd
added some jewels and the ribbon.

And here's Tori in her dress!

Of course, after giving Tori her dress and about breaking into tears at seeing Riley's disappointment in not getting one, I raced to the store to pick a pattern for Riley.  I settled on a much more colorful dress because I have to admit, I was so done with yellow after Tori's.  I wanted something cheaper and quicker for Riley so I found a pattern using mostly Tulle.  I decided I would just pretend it was Sleeping Beauty and call it good :)

Loved the sparkly tulle and cheap costume
satin that worked wayy better than Tori's!

Her sleeves were harder, but so cute!

The belt was actually velcro so it could detach,
 but it's pinned here so it looks awkward...

Final product!  The belt looked a little space warrior princess
so I added a rose made out of the scraps I had left over.

Riley was so adorable in it!!  It was a little small for her, but I knew that was going to happen--
I made a mistake cutting it.  That was a lesson learned--Don't Do That!!!