Rapunzel: Dresses & Tresses

We interrupt the sewing of Halloween costumes
to show you er... more costumes.

Jenna's birthday party on Saturday will be a sort of
dress-up party. Or - to be more precise - it will be
the result of fleece and crushed panne
being on sale at Joann's.

Rapunzel dresses

that are incredibly easy to make.
And very soft and comfortable.

I made my first one last year, using
Rowena's magistrate's dress tutorial.

You need about 2 yards of crushed panne
(or some other drapey fabric),folded in half
so the fold becomes the shoulder seam line.

Then you cut this shape out:
Then you add a keyhole-shaped facing in fleece

and face-hem the sleeves.




I tried doing a ribbing sort of neckline at first, and it
was so hideous and Tshirtish that I yanked it off
and did the fleece neckline facings, sewn on the
wrong side of the dress and turned out to the
right side, zig-zag-stitching the edge down.


Then you sew a sash that looks like my camera strap,
and cinch the waist, cross behind and tie in front.
Instant embellishment without trim.


Then you make more dresses, because the panne was
$2.50 a yard and you could get two size 4T
dresses side-by-side out of each 2-yard-cut
(that's $2.50 a dress!)



and size them up and down to fit different kids
and sew more coordinating sashes
and you don't even need to finish the hems
(although I must remember to trim them to
the right length before the party).


Then there is the Hair:

4 yards of fleece for 8 wigs - working out to $2 a wig.
Cut six panels - two short and four long,
sew them into a cap
braid them down the back
(I left ours loose so they would fit most of the heads)
snip bangs in front (if I had more time, I would have
added another fringy cap on top of this one so it
looks more tousled-hair-like and less turban-like)
and let them go tell their own stories.



So $4.50 an outfit, plus scraps.

Not a bad deal for a party takeaway, and maybe
someone will wear theirs on Halloween, too!