Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Disney Princess Belle Dress for American Girl Doll

As much as I fretted over the last princess doll dress I made (see post)...I decided to make at least two more, because I promised my Granddaughters J and B that I would!

So...here is the second one...which I made for J's Birthday!


She had specifically asked for a Princess Belle dress and I was worried because me and delicate fabrics do NOT get along well!

I wanted to make it as authentic as possible though and make sure it had that magical look of a princess!

So I did my best to work with the satin, organza and tulle and tried not to cuss too much!

It would all be worth it in the end...to see the smile on J's face!


For this dress I used the Simplicity 5705 pattern.


I made a couple of changes in the embellishments on the dress, mainly because I could not find some of the notions called for on the pattern.

 I was not able to locate the 1/4" covered buttons, that were supposed to go on each side of the 1/2" center button on the shoulder drape, so instead just used the one 1/2" button.


The pattern called for 1/2" buttons on the skirt also, but I chose to use
 small satin roses in the draping on the skirt, rather than the covered buttons. 
I just felt that the roses fit the "Belle" story and looked very "Princess" like!


Another minor change I made, was the trim on the bottom of the dress.

The pattern showed a Disney print themed ribbon for trim and years ago when this pattern first came out, a lot of fabric stores carried a whole line of this ribbon, but alas...when I went to look for it this time, it was no longer in stock anywhere, so I just purchased some coordinating solid satin ribbon.


The draped piece around the skirt was especially tedious to sew...because it is such small scale and 
is sewn using such delicate materials!


I think the draping should have laid a bit flatter and closer to the skirt, but this was as close as I could 
come to make it to look like the photo on the front of the pattern.


I used baroque satin on the dress and bodice and organza on the shoulder and skirt draping.
That may explain why the draping did not lay so flat...the organza was very stiff and had very little "give".


I took some photos of the dress on my "model" American Girl Doll before we left to visit our Grandaughter in Oklahoma.

On the way there, we stopped in Dallas to visit my Mom and Sister and we went to the American Girl Store there... 


and picked out a special Birthday present for our sweet Princess "J"!


I think she was very pleased!


She wasted no time in changing the doll's clothes into her new Princess Belle dress from Gramma!




Then she posed proudly with her Mommy and Daddy and her new doll!


There is nothing better for a Grandma than to see that kind of happiness in their Granchild's face!

Here is a collage of some of the steps involved in sewing this pattern....


Here is a photo of the tools and supplies used to complete the project:


Tools/Supplies List:

Singer Superb 2010 Sewing Machine
Pattern, Simplicity 5705
Baroque Sating Fabric (Yellow)
Mirror Organza (Yellow)
Tulle (Lt. Yellow) (for petticoat underneath skirt)
Broadcloth (Yellow)(for bodice lining)
Thread, Polyester,Yellow, Gutermann (807)
Thread, Polyester, Yellow, Coats & Clark Dual Duty (7330)
Elastic, 1/8"
Ribbon, Satin/Polyester, Yellow, 5/8", Berwick Offray
Cover Button Kit, 1/2", Dritz
Velcro, 5/8" (Cut down to size required on pattern)
Bobbin Winder, Wrights Side Winder
Straight Pins
Measuring Tape
Safety Pins
Scissors, Large, Fiskars
Scissors, Small, Fiskars
Point Turner/Seam Creaser, Dritz
Mini Satin/Polyester Roses, Yellow, Offray (8 ea.)
Marker, Air Eraseable, Violet
Dress Marking Pencil, Blue
Wooden Chopstick, Smooth, Pointed (to help turn and smooth points)
Seam Ripper
Seam Allowance Ruler
Iron, Sunbeam (Not shown in photo)
Press Cloth

So happy you stopped by for a visit!
Let me know what you think of my project by leaving me a comment below!

Thanks!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you so so much for this. I want to make my doll Wednesday a belle dress to match me for when I go to the bibbidi bobbidi botique at wet disney world.

Morgan said...

Thank you so so much for this. I want to make my doll Wednesday a belle dress to match me for when I go to the bibbidi bobbidi botique at wet disney world.