Years ago, before I had a niece I remember seeing one of the major pattern companies had a pattern for dress-up clothes for little kids. Well now I have a niece who is 2 going on 22 and I would like to make her some dress up clothes, but I can't find a pattern. I really don't want to buy several costume patterns just for pieces. Does anyone have a suggestion as to what a little girl needs for dress-up and what patterns would work?
I have been sewing for awhile, I would put my skill level in the middle, not an expert but not a beginner either.
Hi Jennifer, I made "Dress-Up Boxes" several years ago for my daughter and my two neices. I got big clear bins and put a personalized label on the side. Then, into it went
A fluffy feather boa!! (A MUST HAVE)
A sparkly full net skirt gathered on 2" elastic with stretch sequin band tacked on top. I can't remember if I put a giant snap or ribbons to tie it on. That way it can fit for a longer period of time.
Make a pretty bodice or leotard that can be worn with it. (Any pattern you like....maybe with pretty puffy sleeves. Add some sequin trim, laces or sparkly stones on it.
Now, a fancy hat of some sort is always fun....or perhaps a bridal veil.
If you like to add an extra skirt....a longer flowy one...similarly gathered on an elastic. (The kind cut from a huge circle - like a poodle skirt...but to the floor. The second skirt makes dressing up with a friend fun and gives more wardrobe mix-n-match possibilities.
Shoes, jewelry (string of fake pearls) , tiara, and a set of little girl make-up is always great!!
It doesn't take much to start filling up a dress-up box. My Grandmother used a basic long dress pattern bt made the top out of velvet and the skirt part out of silver shiny material. She also gave me a beautiful fun wig!! I still have them both. Have FUN! Joy in Michigan
What Joy said, plus peasant-style garments such as Simplicity 4461. That style is a great place to start for all sorts of costumes. They're very simple to sew and fit a range of sizes. Short ones are blouses and long ones are dresses. Make one into a dress in jewel-coloured satin and add a colourful cummerbund or a deep, shaped belt and you've got a princess outfit. Make it extra-full so it can float around when she twirls.
A long vest/waistcoat on top, preferably floor-length - even better, with a train - adds to the regality. Check out the furnishing fabrics for brocade. You don't need much for a child so discount roll-ends are fine. Wash them before you cut them out, in case they shrink. Furnishing trim is good for round the edges. You really can't overdo the gold braid.
Trawl car boot sales/garage sales/charity shops for cheap costume jewellery and hats. Cheap, brightly-coloured silk scarves - the sort you can buy from Indian shops - are great for waving around and tying round waists and hair. DD's very discerning now, but when she was little the rule was "the brighter, the better".
Children's feet grow fast so it's not worth spending much time on shoes. If she'll be indoors while she's dressed up, ballet slippers are good. Shoe clips dress up regular shoes.
It's great fun making dressing-up clothes. I sort of miss that stage...
An old cycling helmet, any kind of cast-off MX gear, a hard hat, maybe some camo stuff, both for her to use if she wants to play imperial storm trooper or jungle hunter, and to have something on hand so that male playmates have an alternative to Barbie drag.
For my niece's first birthday, idjit brother sent "Baby's First Purse," which contained solid plastic replicas of lipstick, compact, and such. Sis (a medical doctor) and I shook our heads over this. Finally I suggested losing the box and presenting the contents in a doctor's bag, letting them represent diagnostic devices.
Don't forget Pincess Leia cinnamon rolls. You could go far with hair clips, extensions (available in non-natural colors), and the like...although these encourage sitting and doing her hair vs. jumping and twirling as the other items do.
There's a sheer, slightly stretchy sparkly duotone fabric, with subtle designs on it, available in the prom/Halloween sections. I've seen it in Red Hat, Mardi Gras, and girly pink&purple combos. Would go far in the cape-skirt-gown realm.
I can recall one snowy Saturday morning when I dressed up as the Snow Princess. Put on a slip (remember full slips??) and white socks, ran to get white mittens and furry headband, which were stored in a basket in the mudroom, by the back door. Idjit father (it's hereditary!) saw me, and in his worst you-poor-naive-little-child voice, told me, "you can't go outside dressed like that." D'oh! Anyway, furry or animal print accessories would be a big hit.
How about a utility belt to hold the bat phone and the bat light saber and the bat lipstick? Scrubs and a doctor bag? Brain Doctor Barbie!
Oops, I forgot to mention gloves. Trace your own hand for a pattern, and it'll have a built-in seam allowance for kid hands. Make out of stretchy Lycra (color choices). Throw in some real surgical gloves to provide career options.
(I always hated the limited girly options available in the 60's. I didn't want to be a princess or a bride or a nurse or a teacher or a librarian. Ms. magaxine came along just in time for me.
One year my niece wanted a bride costume, and I pointed out the limited utility of this; steered her towards "fairy" because those babes can fly and work magic and do cool things, rather than just sit around looking lovely and smooching a B-O-Y when the guests tap spoons on their water glasses. Princesses are similarly challenged, plus they die in car wrecks.)
You can find many good supplies in the remnant baskets of TSWLTH, fun prints, loud colors, and little pieces just the right size for this.
HTH
--Karen D. who dresses up as a pinkie with the Red Hatters
When we were kids the dressing up box at Granny's house contained:
a Gypsy skirt my aunt once wore for a school play an old evening skirt - flared and trumpet shaped (very 1930's): Granny slit the seam opposite the zip and we wore it as a dress when we were very little! various hats and shawls about 4 different handbags a 1940's lacy nightgown a wartime dressing gown made from a curtain! a cape my mother once wore as a bridesmaid and a pile of other stuff long forgotten. Nothing was made specially - everything was rescued from the ragbag or put aside to play with. We never had such stuff at home (moved too often), so it was a real treat to get this lot out and play on the hall on a rainy day! My grandmother's front hall was the old music room of a house that had been split into two apartments and had more nooks, crannies, and odd corners than a D&D maze!
I'm glad that you said that. I remember playing dress-up as a small child, and everything came from the older women in my life. It was either war-time or just after WWII, which may have had something to do with it, but I think that in those days, children "found" or made toys more than today. We did have purchased toys and toys received as gifts, but nothing like today. I wish I still had some of those old clothes - they're real collector's items now. Wait!! I do have some summer things from around 1920 tucked away. No children will be playing dress-up in it though.
I made my daughter a cape - rectangle of velour, ribbon around the bottom, iron on motifs, elastic around the neck and velcro fastening (to prevent choking and strangling) and with a tiara she is transformed into a queen. It's very versatile as it gets used to line a throne, doll's blanket etc.
#1. Dress-up is for fantasy play. It is for dreaming and acting like whatever you want. It can reflect the personality of the giver or keeper of the box (ie. Grandma, Auntie etc.) .....but mainly have items the user will most enjoy pretending with.
#2. A child has their whole lives to live in the "Real World"..... so let them be Princesses and Super Heroes if they want. You won't have much success getting a "Tom Boy" to want to dress-up in frilly stuff........so back to #1 - let the child's personality dictate what is in the box. We spent endless hours playing war or cowboys and indians; we played Dr., we played school......we played everything our immaginations and desires wanted. But, we also enjoyed purely "girlie" things too and I am happy my mom gave us a choice to dream about being a bride/wife and allowed me the choice to "Mother" my dollies without making me feel like I was doing a "lesser good" thing than playing "Corporate/Professional woman." If it was my mothers dream for me to be a Dr......then I have certainly let her down. But that wouldn't have been MY dream. Kids grow up fast -----Let them PLAY!
These are just my theories....yours may differ.....and that's o.k. Because, in the long run all kids are different.
One more idea......I made my daughter a "Hoop Skirt" out of an elastic waistband with ribbons holding up a hoola-hoop. The ribbons had snap loops at the bottom so she could remove the hoola-hoop and still use it as one too.
We stopped over at our son's house yesterday and DGD wanted to go outside and play. She had on her very fancy "Belle from Beauty and the Beast" costume on. She ran around the yard chasing her poppa, Played soccer with him, shinnyed up a pole a million times, telling us she was a firelady. All the time holding up her long, frilly dress. I don't think it makes much difference what's in the box. The kids still let their imagination run to what ever direction it wants to take. Juno
If she's a typical size for a 2 yr old, then the Simplicity "toddler" costumes would fit. Child sized ones would be way too large (in all directions by about 3 to 6 inches). I've done the Disney Princess toddler-sized ones and child-sized ones and for a 2 year old (even a tall one) the toddler ones are the right size. Also, don't bother with putting in zippers. I copied a cheap RTW costume idea of having squares of velcro up the back (make the back opening long, ie, the full length of the bodice and about 4 inches into the skirt for easy in and out). 2 year olds might want to dress up for about
5 minutes, change, then do it again an hour later for 5 more minutes. So, to save her mom/dad from going nuts, keep whatever you make very very simple. A two year old knows how things go on, but needs help with zippers, buttons, snaps, getting things over their heads, etc. And they are not very 'nice' with their stuff, so make sure things are tacked on well and there are no seams or threads they can catch on. I had tacked up a hem quickly on a dress-up dress when my DD was 2 and it was completely undone in 5 minutes of wearing it (it just got caught on her foot as she was running around and instead of sitting and freeing her foot, she hobbled over to me with it stuck). She could also pretend to be an animal as well. A quick fleece poncho and she could be a bird or bat. A hat with ears and she's a cat or dog or bear. A pair of wings and she's a bumblebee or dragonfly. The only thing I'd stay away from is stuff that could be scary to her (though this varies greatly from child to child, a dinosaur could be scary to one and the most loved thing to another). Good luck and have fun!
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