Disney outfits 10/16

We go to Disneyland a lot, as we are annual passholders. Aaaaand because I sew, I have this sickness where, even though we go a million times a year, 90% of the time we need to wear themed outfits. Now, I am okay if DS or DH are not themed, and sorta okay if I am Mickey/Tink free, but no matter how short the trip, for DD I just can't seem to let her go without sewing something up at least semi-special. If I don't have time for that, I at least have to stick a princess t-shirt on her. We don't have to match or anything, just wear something that says, "hey, I love Disney & Disneyland so much that I wore my x outfit!"

Friday we made a family trip, and even though we planned the trip last-minute on Thursday, I still managed to haul out my Disney stash & throw a couple of things together for DD and me. I also had plans for DS, but alas, not enough time. Next trip!

DD got another twirly dress, this time a Tink t-shirt w/the same 3-tiered skirt. It didn't come out as twirly as her princess one because a) I had to shorten the skirt in order to accommodate the entire Tinkerbell on the front of the shirt, and b) for some reason I just didn't have my serger settings up high enough, because it didn't come out as gathered. Oh well. I added sparkly tulle ruffles on each layer and then tied a bunch of tulle around a RTW headband. I am at least pleased with how that turned out. I got the Tink tee, the fabrics, and the headband from Walmart. They really have the cutest screen-print tees in their girls section. I am inspired to make 10 different twirly dresses every time I look at it!




For myself I vowed that I wouldn't make anything I had to trace out first. So that left out any new patterns. Then I thought, "heck, I don't even have time to get out crinkly pattern pieces that I've already traced, weight them down, cut them out, etc., & cause all this trouble for myself!" I decided to think outside the box.

I had 2 yards of this, well, incredibly fabulous pirate Mickey/Minnie print from Sewzannes that I had been saving for a dress. Except that I was stymied by the fact that it's a soft tissue jersey, which is far too thin for a dress. I was also afraid that it would stick to leggings if I made it a true tunic. So, hmm. It begged for a loose treatment. I pulled out an airy-ish fitting, kind of dressy tank from Old Navy that I really liked the shape of. I laid it out, and lo and behold, the front and back pieces were exactly the same as each other. That made it easy to copy. It's basically a trapeze. I carefully placed the tank on my fabric and rotary cut around it with a 1/4" seam allowance, adding a fish-tail hem because I still wanted it more tunic-y. I am thrilled that it actually worked perfectly!! This does not always happen to me. I am not a strict rule-follower in my sewing, but I am very, very careful. I find that when I am not I screw up royally, so I was really pleased that my rebellion worked out in this case.

So, here is the tank. I used a single-layer binding in purple cotton/lycra jersey, and I just topstitched it with a single needle on my sewing machine. I was not about to pull out my twin needles and deal with all that mess or switch out to purple in my coverstitch. I did coverstitch the fishtail hem--check out my inside corners!--and I am so proud of myself because this is only, like, my 2nd week using my coverstitch. :)






We had a wonderful time at Disneyland, even though it was kind of hot and crowded. It wasn't bad, though. Not like a Sunday in July or anything. :) We got lots of compliments on our outfits, so that was cool. For the record, I like when people appreciate my sewing. I just never want it to seem like I expect people to pay me a compliment on what I'm wearing just because I sewed it or it is new. So if you comment on my sewing, and my reaction seems kind of lukewarm, it's because I don't want to seem stuck on myself. To sum up, I don't *need* compliments, but I do appreciate them. :)