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How to make a Rapunzel dress from scratch

July 13, 2011 Ticia 17 Comments

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You’ve probably seen Princess in her  Rapunzel dress before on my blog.  We have to trick her into taking it off and letting us wash it.  Jeff and I had been discussing how I should make her another one soon.
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And then Jeff took Princess out for breakfast and went with her to Target where Princess begged and begged and begged to get this dress.

Now, I look at it, and I see a repeat of the Sleeping Beauty dress, that within 30 minutes of being worn started unraveling and wasn’t worn more than that first day.  I also see a dress that won’t stand up to being worn nonstop for 2 weeks straight.

 

So, I went to Joann’s and got some more fabric, and then took A LOT of pictures to show how to make a Rapunzel dress.

1.  Buy this pattern.  Then purchase 3 different fabrics: a lighter purple for the bodice, a darker purple for the overskirt, and a print for the underskirt.  Also purchase two different types of ribbon (broader one for sleeves, thinner one for the lacing).  For my 4 year old daughter I bought 1/2 yard of the light purple, 1.5 yards of the dark purple, and 1 yard of the print.  I had enough to start making a second.

Unless otherwise specified seams are ironed open.

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1.  Fold the short sleeve pattern in half.  Pull it out from the fold about an inch and cut it out.  This ensures the sleeve will have some gather to it.

 

 

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2.  Put the front bodice pattern piece on the selvage edges.  Cut it out with about 1 inch of the pattern piece hanging off the edges.  Alternatively cut it out not using the selvages, but instead fold the pattern piece under and cut it that way.

 

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3.  Cut out the insert piece on the fold.  Make sure it overlaps the other bodice piece by about 1/2” to give yourself a bit of wiggle room.

 

 

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4.  Unfold your sleeves.  Spray them with 505 spray to make them sticky and start laying the ribbon on top of them.
To ensure the sleeves are even I put the sleeves in mirror image and put the ribbon across both of them.  This ensures the ribbons are put the same on both sets of sleeves.

If you don’t have 505 spray you can just  pin it like mad, but this lets me not pin.  I’m lazy that way.

5.  Now sew the ribbon down.  Depending on the width of your ribbon you could just zig zag it, my ribbon was just wide enough I had to sew down one side and up the other.

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6.  Spray the bodice insert with 505 spray.  Than lay out the ribbon on it in a criss cross pattern.
I used the grid pattern on my cutting board to make sure the X’s were always the same size.  Mine are 2 inch X’s, but I think a 1.5” X might look better.

 

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7.  Tack the ribbon down in the middle with a couple of stitches, backstitching several times to make sure it is very secure.

 

 

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8.  Iron under the seam of the bodice front about 1/4 inch.  This doesn’t have to be exact.

 

 

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9.  Lay the bodice insert on top of the front bodice pattern piece and line up the neckline (I’m showing the second half because it is more obvious in the picture what you’re doing).  Than carefully place the bodice front you’ve ironed on top so it matches the pattern piece and pin it.

10.  Now, topstitch the front bodice pieces together.

11.  Sew the shoulder seams together just like it says in the instructions.

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12.  Run a gather stitch  along the shoulder seam of the sleeve.  For my machine I set the stitch length to 5, and just ran it through very fast.

13.  Gather the sleeve to match the armhole.  I find it easier to put the sleeve in flat for projects like this.

 

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14.  Sew the sleeve in (don’t forget to reset your stitch length or switch it to your knit fabric setting).

15.  Iron the seam towards the sleeve.  This helps give it a bit more support, and I think feels better when wearing it.

16.  Sew together the panels for the front of the underskirt.  Run a gather stitch on the top of the skirt.
17.  Hem the sides of the two front overskirt panels using a double needle.  Run a gather stitch on the top.

04518.  Lay the overskirt on the bodice right sides together.  Pin the edges and then gather it until you like how it looks.  Pin in place

19.  Find the middle of the bodice front and place a pin there.  Then find the middle of the underskirt  pin that to the middle of the bodice front.  Now start gathering it up so you like how it looks and pin the heck out of that skirt.

20.  Run it through your sewing machine.  Iron the seams down towards the skirt.

21.  Sew back overskirt panels together.  Run a gather stitch, and gather it to the back bodice.

22.  Sew your side seam.  I did not catch the underskirt fabric in the seam to cut down on bulk, but that’s personal taste.

04423.  Iron down your hems.  I tended to use a 3/8” hem, but that’s an eyeball measurement.

24.  Sew down using a double needle, this makes a nice straight hem, but still gives it some stretch and give.

Hopefully that’s as clear as mud.

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If I base success on her refusing to take it off for 4 days straight, than I’d say it’s a very successful dress.  I personally think the bodice shades clash a hair, but she picked it out and won’t take it off, so that’s a success.

I’d love to find some stretch lace so I can add the lace.  I think that would make it absolutely adorable.

Katie's Nesting Spot

arts and crafts mommy crafts, Princess, sewing

Comments

  1. Christy says

    July 13, 2011 at 11:21 am

    A lot of R's princess dresses have ripped or worn out, and they are SO expensive! She still loves them though. I wish I had your talent!

    Reply
  2. Olivia says

    July 13, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    What a great idea! Make a real dress that looks like the princess. I want one for myself too. : )
    suchakingdom.blogspot.com

    Reply
  3. An Almost Unschooling Mom says

    July 13, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    We have that Cinderella dress – it looks more fit for the start of the story than the ending! However, I'm still not sure about bringing out my nemesis…that evil machine, that sits in a box in the basement, to actually try to sew one. It's tempting…but if I just wait a bit, the girls will outgrow the princess phase, before I give in.

    Reply
  4. April says

    July 13, 2011 at 1:17 pm

    We bought that same Rapunzel dress from Wal Mart, it has gotten a lot of wear but thankfully hasn't unraveled yet. I washed it the other day and it got wrinkled up and my daughter was sooo upset, she said that her brother tangled it and messed it up.

    I like yours better, its so much less plastic-y looking. I am planning on making a princess dress for her for Halloween though, not as good with the sewing machine as you are!

    Reply
  5. Raising a Happy Child says

    July 13, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    What an amazing feat! I am grateful that Anna is not interested in dress-up – I don't have your talent, and I am not willing to spend money on Chinese dress-up clothes. Ironically, her best friend (a boy) has a bunch of princess dresses – he loves dress-up.

    Reply
  6. MaryAnne says

    July 14, 2011 at 1:23 am

    Very clever! She looks so happy in her dress!

    Reply
  7. Susan @ learning ALL the time!! says

    July 14, 2011 at 2:41 am

    Fantastic 🙂 She seems to love it!

    Reply
  8. Jen (emeraldsunshine.org) says

    July 14, 2011 at 3:19 am

    This really makes me wish I knew how to sew. Even with your step-by-step photos, I'm baffled.

    Reply
  9. Ticia says

    July 14, 2011 at 3:33 am

    While it is step by step for the most part, I didn't show every single step because it would take some sewing knowledge……

    Reply
  10. Smita Srivastava says

    July 14, 2011 at 3:57 am

    Absolutely gorgeous …What a cute blog .with tons of great ideas ..

    – Smita
    littlefoodjunction.blogspot.com
    (fun food ideas for lil ones)

    Reply
  11. Kim says

    July 14, 2011 at 4:22 am

    The dress looks fantastic! You can tell she loves it. I count it as a huge success. Great job.

    Reply
  12. Mama Jenn says

    July 14, 2011 at 5:34 am

    Looks awesome!!!!!

    Reply
  13. Andrea says

    July 14, 2011 at 9:23 pm

    You are so talented!

    Reply
  14. raising4princesses says

    July 15, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    you're amazing! Every little princess needs one of these. Good job, mom! https://caribbeanmissionarywife.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  15. Myrnie says

    July 15, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    Wonderful!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to make a Rapunzel wig | Adventures in Mommydom says:
    September 10, 2012 at 6:55 am

    […] already made her a Rapunzel dress, which she has pretty much worn nonstop for the past year or so.  But I wanted the complete […]

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  2. Summer Bucket List for learning and play | Adventures in MommydomAdventures in Mommydom says:
    May 23, 2013 at 6:08 am

    […] out, and one is 3/4 done.  I also need to sew more dresses for Princess, along the lines of her Rapunzel dress (she has lived in some variation of this dress for the past 3 years), and 10 million shorts for […]

    Reply

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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