These are the first of three projects that will help me decorate my main level powder room. I painted it almost four years ago when we first moved in, and I just started getting sick of it. Plus it never really had a consistent theme, and I feel like bathrooms should always have a theme (I know thats probably just me, and probably passed down from having themed bathrooms my entire childhood)

I can’t wait to share the reveal later this summer!

There’s loads more information and photos on their blog.

I tried out several patterns before I was happy with the outcome. The first few were commercial patterns I bought at Joanns. They never quite fit CT right, and the sizes were all wonky. Very disappointing, and such a waste of my time. In the end I found one on Etsy by Ruby Jeans Closet. The pattern is called the Peony Flower Girl Dress, and is absolutely perfect for simple princess dresses. The instructions were super easy to understand, you don’t need any hard to find supplies and the sizes are perfect! I also like the pattern because it’s easy to change up a bit, so I can make each dress a little different to fit whatever theme I want. One pattern can yield so many different dresses. I was only able to finish four dresses before our trip, but I have plans for so many more once things die down.

The first dress I was able to finish was a Minnie Mouse inspired dress. My original plan was to make it red and white polka dotted, but I remembered last minute that Minnie wears PINK on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and CT knows her from that show. Luckily Joann’s has the same exact fabric in pink! I may go back and get the red and make a second dress, because it’s just too cute on her.

The only thing I changed on the pattern to make this dress was the waistband. In the instructions you’re supposed to put the band on the inside of the dress to hold the elastic, I put it on the outside to add a little detail. The next one I make I’m also going to put a little lace around the arm hole, just beacuse.

Oh and funny thing, CT is doing a robot dance in the first photo, It’s really funny and cute in person.

The second dress is Marvel Comics themed. This dress kinda happened by accident. While I was picking out the fabric for the rest of the dresses, my husband was wandering the store with CT. He found this fabric and asked me what we could make with it. I was still in “lets make dresses” mode, so I said I’d make CT a dress out of it. Since Disney is now associated with Marvel, I thought why not make it for the trip! I didn’t know what to call it, but by the end of the trip I said CT was dressed up as a comic book store. Ha, that totally confused people.

I did change the pattern a bit more for this dress. I cut the pattern on the line meant as a waistband guide, so that I could use two different fabrics (I thought an entire dress made out of this would be a bit much) I also added some of the patterned fabric to the sleeves as casing for the elastic. I think it added a nice little touch to the dress.

The third dress is actually my favorite one, and was a lot of fun to make. It’s a Snow White inspired dress, and was the dress CT wore as her actual costume for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney World. It’s super lightweight and very flowy, great for spinning apparently. A bunch of people called CT Snow White throughout the day, and after awhile she started to love that (I think she was a bit confused at first).

So the changes to this dress are very similar to the changes on the Marvel dress. I used the waistband guideline as the cutline again. I also used a different colored fabric for the sleeves, which I appliqued the red stripes on myself since I couldn’t find the right material in stores. I also added white binding around the sleeves as the elastic casing. Oh and I added the little red bow. I felt very good after making this specific dress and hope I can make all the princesses for her eventually.

The last dress! This dress is Alice in Wonderland inspired, though we were also told that it looked like Belle before she got that pretty yellow ballgown. Two costumes in one! CT really enjoyed wearing this one and everyone either called her Alice or asked if she’d met Alice yet (which she had, while wearing the Minnie dress).

This dress seriously took me the longest to make. It had a bit more details, had to be more precise and I had to free hand the apron pieces. I basically just winged it all! Ha! The way I changed the pattern on this one was kinda like the Minnie Mouse dress. I placed the elastic casing on the outside of the dress again, but this time I placed the apron pieces underneath the casing to make it look like all one piece. Because of the gathering around the neck, the apron pieces were only attached at the waist, their loose everywhere else. That way it laid flat. I didn’t attach the straps until I tried the entire thing on CT, that way I knew exactly how long to make them. It was a bit more work, but I’m beyond happy with the outcome. If I ever do it again, I’ll add some white casing to the armholes and some ruffles on the apron.

These dresses took me an entire week to make, but I’m happy I made them all. I think having themed dresses just added that little touch to our trip that we’ll remember for years to come!

Edit: I forgot the best part!!!… each dress cost me on average about $6 to make, and If I had a 50% off coupon for Joanns instead of the 30% off one I used, they would cost even less. 

I LOVE to cross stitch. It’s very calming to me. I wait until after CT goes to bed and I just cuddle up with a blanket and watch some TV while stitching away.

Lately I’ve been buying all my patterns from Wee Little Stitches. We love nerdy stuff in our house, and they make awesome nerdy patterns. I highly recommend checking out their etsy shop.

the Tardis, pictured above, is from one of their Doctor Who patterns.

If you would like to see how I made this piece into an ornament, please keep reading…First off, I started this pattern on PLASTIC mesh, not fabric. I felt it would make it easier to cut around and I wouldn’t have to worry about fraying. I live in Maryland and currently can only find this stuff at Hobby Lobby (the closest is 45 minutes away) and sometimes I can find a stray piece here and there at AC Moore. Usually hidden with the regular plastic canvas.

It’s different than the normal plastic canvas in one way, and one way only. It’s perforated, so its small holes evenly spaced, instead of a square grid. I think this stuff is great! You don’t need a hoop and every project I use it in looks so crisp and clean.

See all the little holes?

Next choose any pattern you want and start stitching! The Tardis above took me about a weeks worth of nights to finish. Depending on your pattern, it may take you more, or less, time.

Above is my finished piece.

Next you’ll want to cut around your design, but make sure to cut at least one row away! If you want a larger border around the edge, cut a little more. Just be careful not to cut into any of the slots holding thread.

Here I have the Tardis almost completely cut out. I went boxy on the edges, to keep with the pixelated design, but you don’t need to.

Next I cut a piece of yarn double the length of the loop I wanted on the top. Fold it in half and glue it on the back of your piece where you feel it would hang best. I used Tacky Glue because I was afraid my glue gun might melt the plastic canvas. It worked out well. I left it to dry for about 30 minutes before moving onto the next step.

You’ll need a piece of felt for the back of your ornament, I chose white wool felt, only because it was the best color I had on hand that matched. You could very easily use any kind of felt in this project, I don’t believe it would matter. I piled a bunch of tacky glue on the back of the finished piece, flipped it over and lined up the top, where the loop was, with the edge of the felt. I thought this would help with cutting it out later. It did.

I wanted the piece to dry flat and evenly, so I placed a piece of wax paper on top and then about four large books to weigh it down. I let it be for 3 hours before disturbing it.

Once you feel it is dry enough, carefully cut around the edge of the felt, all the way to the edge of the plastic. As you can see from my photo, I had a loose thread that got caught in the edge. oops. Though it does illustrated the sandwich effect nicely.

Now your ornament is ready to hang!

I’ve never written a “how to” before, so my apologies for anything that may be missing. Thanks!