My Little Princess

Hey all! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday! We had a lovely time in Texas and really enjoyed the time with family. Since I was away from my machines, I didn't do any sewing, but I did get a ton of knitting and crocheting done on the drive. That's a long stinking drive.

Here are a couple of pair of slippers I crocheted at Myra's request. One pair was for her, and one for her favorite cuddly toy, Baby Dragon. I also wanted to share some pictures of the Princess Merida ensemble, now that Myra has opened her gifts.

She is one happy little girl! The dress is my version of Burda 9648, which I blogged about here. The wig and sword are purchased. My sister gave Myra the bow, and it is seriously awesome.

It's actually a Marshmallow shooter, that Varina detailed and painted bronze.

Here is a closeup of the "scrollwork" which Rina did with hot glue. Amazing, right?! Myra adores it beyond all things.

Altogether, between the dress, the bow and the sword, Myra had a pretty great Christmas. Mine was pretty awesome, too - full of sewing and knitting goodies. Once we've unpacked from the trip and sorted through the rubble, I'll snap some pics and share. I'm having fun seeing what everyone else has been doing for their holiday!

Princess Merida's dress: Burda 9648

Whew! Just a few days before we leave for Texas, I managed to get Myra's Princess Merida dress finished.

I'll post proper modeled photos after she's opened it for Christmas, but for the moment, hanger shots will have to do. As a reminder,

This is the dress I was attempting to copy. I think this comes pretty close, while still being playtime friendly. The pattern I used was Burda 9648. The most critical design change I made was to use a knit fabric - panne velvet and metallic jersey from Hancock Fabrics. Since I used a knit, I omitted the back zipper and used a band at the neckline rather than facing or lining.

I changed the neckline to a square shape just like Merida's. Her's is trimmed in gold, but I just used the metallic knit as the band fabric. The band is mitered at the corners, and the finished width is 1/2 inch.

For Merida's belt, I was loath to make a separate piece that Myra would likely just lose, so instead I pieced a waistband and strip down center front of the skirt. These are all 1 1/2 inches wide. I initially thought it would be easiest to applique the gold knit onto the skirt, but this knit is quite thin and unruly, so piecing was a better way to go.

The bottom of Merida's dress is decorated with a wide, beaded and embroidered band. Beading and embroidery seemed a bit much to me for a dress up dress, but my metallic knit is pretty bling-tastic on it's own. I used a 4 inch wide band with a coverstitched hem. Since the skirt is gored, the band is shaped rather than just a plain rectangle.

A better view of Merida's square neckline

I'm pretty pleased with how it came out, and I hope my wee lassie likes it, too. I'll let you know.

Burda 9648 dress

I mentioned that I was planning to make a Princess Merida dress for Myra for Christmas. Myra told me that she wants the blue dress that Merida wears in the scene in which she is presented to her suitors.

Since there isn't a commercial Merida costume pattern yet available, and the likelihood is that the more popular green dress will be the one featured anyway, I was on my own there. I also want Myra to be comfortable in her gown - Merida is heavily corseted - so her dress will be made of panne velvet with accent pieces of gold mesh knit. Of course, first I needed a pattern, so I hunted through the stash for a simple, flared dress that I could alter to suit this look. I came up with Burda 9648, which has the shape I wanted.

I made it up in a polka dot jersey for Myra to try out. Since the final dress will be a gift, she doesn't know it is eventually going to be a Merida dress, so I didn't lengthen it, but I did alter the neckline and lengthen the sleeves to try those out.

For the neckline, I just squared it off in front and finished it with a mitered band. I made the band quite narrow, but I think I may widen it just a teeny bit in the final dress.

I'm very pleased with my alterations so far and with the overall fit of the dress. Myra often requires a petite alteration above the bust (like mother, like daughter), but this fit her quite well as drafted.

Despite the fact that this is a Minnie Mouse dress, my little Merida is still shooting arrows at every opportunity. Looks like her reach is comfortable.

It twirls well, too. Next I need to decide how I'm going to do the gold accents. The mesh I'm using is fairly sheer, so I'm thinking that I will applique the belt components onto the skirt, rather than piece them. A separate belt would be more authentic, but she'd just lose it. The neckline will be banded in the gold mesh, and I'll finish the hem with a deep gold band, just like Merida's. Her's is heavily decorated with braid and beading, but I don't think that will be practical for a 4 year old, so Myra's will be plain gold.