Ottobre 03/2011-26 as Minnie Mouse

Wow, it's been a while since I posted! It's been kind of a crazy week around here, with Myra's birthday and the big wedding, so although I have been sewing, there hasn't been much time for talking about it. I'll have some pictures from the wedding to show you soon, as soon as I download from the camera and do some editing. We took a lot of pictures...

Anyway, Myra's birthday came first, and she's been asking for a dress like Minnie Mouse.

This I can manage.

The pattern I used was the "Rosy Posy" dress from the 03/2011 issue of Ottobre, which I made for her previously here. The first version was a perfect fit, so the only changes I made were to the design.

To make it like Minnie's dress, I drafted a Peter Pan style collar and added a white button below the neckline. I also added some white piping to define the waistline. The collar is piped, too. It doesn't add much to the appearance, but it does give it a nice shape and structure.

Of course, it had to twirl! I used the full width of my 45 inch wide fabric for each piece of the skirt, so that it would be extra full. That's nearly ninety inches of hemline!

To give the dress body, I added a lining, using taffeta for the skirt lining. I also added a densely gathered organza ruffle attached to the lining underneath. It gives the skirt lots of fullness.

For the full Minnie Mouse picture, I purchased some Minnie Mouse slippers and a set of ears. The original bow that came on the ears was small and didn't really match the dress well. It didn't even have polka dots! I made a new bow out of the dress fabric. I stuffed it with quilt batting to give it shape and whipstitched it to the headband in place of the original bow.

She's jumping for joy!