This “Did It Myself” project was such a blast! It started out with me wanting to have a Disney Princess costume for Halloween, but also only wanting to put on a T-shirt and jeans for my costume 😉 I’m lazy like that!

Then we decided to take our kids to Disneyland for Fall Break, 2016. I know a lot of little girls wear full princess regalia when visiting Disneyland, but I was worried my girls (8 and 6 years old) would be hot, itchy and generally uncomfortable in costumes all day long (read: turn into whiny, complaining brats!)

So I decided, why not make T-shirt costumes for all of us?? The girls can feel like princesses, yet run around a theme park for 3 days in cool comfort. So I dove in! I made 3 shirts for myself, and 2 for each of the girls. I figured they can wear an actual princess costume one of the days, or wear one of their shirts twice!

I made Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Rapunzel, Snow White, Elsa, and Cinderella. And there’s a tutorial for each one!

Supplies

I used solid colored T-shirts we already owned.

I used scissors, hot glue, craft glue, craft paint and paintbrush, needle and thread, and a sewing machine I already owned.

I used pink bias tape, sequins, and decorative buttons I already owned.

I purchased  31-yard rolls of tulle in green, purple, white, yellow, and light blue. I also purchased a roll of each: thin pink ribbon, thin red ribbon, thick turquoise ribbon, yellow ric-rac, medium thickness silver ribbon, and white beaded bridal trim. I got all this at Wal-Mart for about $25.

Seven costumes for $25?? That’s my kind of project!

ARIEL TUTORIAL

This is the first shirt I made, and my learning curve was still steep! If I could go back, I’d do a few things differently, and I’ll let you know what those things are!

I started with a lime green t-shirt and some purple tulle. I wish I’d used several thicknesses of tulle, instead of just one layer, for more fullness of texture and depth of color. The idea is to create a mock bikini top on the shirt, then have some green ruffles at the bottom of the shirt to imitate Ariel’s fins.

1. I laid the tulle across the chest of the shirt, allowing about 2 extra inches in length for gathering, and leaving about 18 inches of length on either side of the shirt to tie in the back.
2. I sewed the tulle to the shirt along each of the underarm seams.
3. I gathered the tulle together at the exact center and whip-stitched it to to the T-shirt.
4. I covered the white thread with purple sequins, hot-gluing them in place.

1. I measured the circumference of the entire bottom hem of the shirt. Then I measured out twice as much green tulle. (Again, I wish I’d used 2 or 3 layers of tulle here for more fullness, and I may go back and add a little more if I have time before our trip!) But in these pics I only used one layer of tulle.
2. I did a stitch on the tulle with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, then gathered the tulle loosely until it was the same length as the entire hem of the shirt.
3. I pinned the tulle to the hem of the shirt, matching my stitching on the tulle to the hem line of the shirt. Right side of the tulle to wrong side of the shirt.
4. I sewed the tulle to the shirt, with the tulle extending below the bottom of the shirt.

I glued some more purple sequins to the bikini “shells” and tied the tulle in the back. One down!!

AURORA TUTORIAL

I love how this one turned out! Again, I wish I’d used a little more tulle for fullness with the skirt. Still learning! But the neckline is adorable!!

1. I started with a plain pink t-shirt. I measured the neck line, added 3 inches for fullness, and cut that much white tulle.
2. I folded the tulle in thirds length-wise (hot dog!) Then I sewed it to the right side of the shirt, along the top shoulder seam between the neck line and the sleeve. I repeated that step with the other end of the tulle on the other shoulder seam.
3. I found the center of the front of the shirt 2 inches below the neckline, and gathered the tulle to that point. Then I hot glued beaded bridal trim from the shoulder seam down to the center point. I made sure the edge of the tulle was glued in there, as well! Then glued from the center point up to the other shoulder seam, securing the tulle between the shirt and the trim.

1. I glued silver ribbon from the center point of the neckline down to the center of the shirt, 3 inches above the hem. Then glued thin pink ribbon over the silver ribbon, and from the outer shoulder seams to the center point.
2. I sewed 2 layers of tulle to the entire circumference of the  right side of the shirt, 3 inches above the hem, so it meets the point where the ribbon ends. I started and finished at a side seam, and sewed along the side seam as well, to secure the tulle to the shirt completely. I wish I’d used 3 layers of tulle and done some gathering here. Oh, well!
3. I cut an alternating zig-zag pattern in the bottom of the tulle, to mimic the darts in Princess Aurora’s dress.

Cute, cute!!

BELLE

For Belle, I finally learned my lesson and was very liberal with the tulle! I think it worked.

1. I measured the circumference of the hem of my daughter’s cream t-shirt. Then I tripled that length. I used 3 layers of yellow tulle and 1 layer of white tulle, all cut to that triple length, then stacked together.
2. I sewed all the tulle, leaving 1 inch overhang, to a side seam on the right side of the shirt, 5 inches above the hemline.
3. I measured the width of the shirt, and divided it into thirds, marking each point on both the front and back of the shirt, staying 5 inches above the hemline. I also marked the opposite side seam at 5 inches above the hemline.
4. I draped the tulle in a scallop shape from one point to the next, whip-stitching all the tulle to the shirt at each point.

1. I left several inches of extra tulle between each stitch point for plenty of fullness, just like Belle’s skirt.
2. I went around the hem of the shirt with the tulle a second time. This time I just stitched at the halfway points, so the scallops would be alternating between the two layers.
3. I hid the two ends of the tulle in the all the ruffles and secured them with hot glue.
4. I measured from the center-front of the shirt, around the outside of the shoulder seams, across the back, and back to the center-front. I added 6 inches to that, and cut three layers of tulle to that length. Then I folded them each in half and stacked them on top of each other.

1. I found the center of the length of tulle and sewed it to the right side of the shirt, on the center-back of the shirt, the top of the tulle at 2 inches below the neckline. I draped the tulle to the outside of the shoulder seam where it meets the sleeve and whip-stitched it in place. I did this on both sides.
2. I found the exact center of the front of the shirt, 2 inches below the neckline. There I cut a small, vertical slit, about 1/2 inch in length. I pushed both ends of the tulle through the hole and pulled it through, so there was about 2 inches of excess tulle on the inside of the shirt.
3. I sewed both ends of the tulle to the wrong side of the shirt, careful not to catch any of the tulle on the outside of the shirt in my stitches!
4. I covered the tulle on the inside of the shirt with a piece of soft flannel, so it won’t be itchy! I just hot glued it in place.

Bellissimo!

RAPUNZEL

Finally a shirt for me! I figure with my short, dark, textured hair, I can pass for Rapunzel at the end of the movie Tangled, right??

1. I started with a plain, light purple shirt. I found the center of the neckline and the center of the hem, and marked them with pins. Then I centered a layer of white, sparkly tulle over the top of the right side of the front of the shirt (the one time using a single layer of tulle was a good idea!)
2. I measured and marked 3 inches out in both directions from the center of the neckline.
3. I measured and marked 1.5 inches in both directions form the center of the hem (look closely, the black dots are there!)

1. Using a straight edge, I made a line from the right point on the hem to the right point on the neckline. Then I marked every 3 inches up that line. I did the same thing with the left points. This gave me my outer points for the laces up the front.
2. I found the exact center of my length of pink bias tape and hot glued it to the shirt between the two points I made from the center. The tulle is being secured between the shirt and the bias tape.
3. I criss-crossed the bias tape to the next point up on the opposite side and secured it in place with hot glue. You can see I had a little mishap with the hot glue and the tulle, but I patched it up and with all the trim on now, you barely notice it!
4. I continued the criss-crossing and hot-gluing all the way to the top points on the neckline, again with the tulle secured between the shirt and the bias tape.

1. I hot-glued silver ribbon from the top right point to the bottom right point, and from the top left point to the bottom left point. I made sure to cover the outside corner of all my criss-crosses.
2. I trimmed the excess bias tape and silver ribbon.
3. I hot-glued beaded bridal trim along the front of the neckline, covering the top of the silver ribbon, pink bias tape, and tulle. Then I trimmed the excess tulle.
4. I hot-glued thin pink ribbon to the sleeves. Starting at the top shoulder seam, I spaced each stripe 1.5 inches apart. That made 7 stripes on each sleeve. Once the glue was cooled, I trimmed the excess ribbon.

I think this one looks the most like the original!

SNOW WHITE

This one was the easiest. And I could have left the yellow ruffle off the bottom and it would have been even easier! This shirt is also for me. I like the princesses with short, dark hair 🙂

1. The sleeves on my royal blue t-shirt are a little ruffly, so I just fanned them out as flat as I could and did my best!
2. Starting from the top shoulder seam, I hot-glued lengths of turquoise ribbon to the sleeves. I spaced them every 1.5 inches, for 5 stripes per sleeve.
3. Then I hot glued thin red ribbon down the center of each turquoise ribbon, and trimmed all the excess.

Add yellow ric-rac down the center of the front (and an optional yellow tulle ruffle on the bottom) and you’re Snow White!

CINDERELLA

The last shirt for me. Sadly, this princess does not have short, dark hair. But I had a plain, light blue t-shirt already, so I couldn’t be too picky!

1. I found the exact center of the front of the shirt and marked 2 inches above the hem. Then on each side seam, I marked 3 inches above the hem. I made a light dotted line from the center point out to each of the side seam points.
2. I made a dotted line across the back of the shirt, following the line 3 inches above the hem.
3. I measured the circumference of the bottom hem of the the shirt and doubled it. I cut 3 layers of light blue tulle to that length, stitched it, and gathered it to the same length as the shirt’s circumference measurement. Then I pinned the tulle to the shirt along the dotted lines, right sides together, with the tulle going up toward the top of the shirt.
4. I sewed the tulle to the shirt, starting and ending at the center front point. When I flipped the tulle down, it covered its own seam and had more fullness.

1. At the center point on the front of the shirt, I trimmed the tulle in a cut-away scallop shape, like the white bustle on Cinderella’s gown.
2. I hot-glued silver ribbon over the seam.
3. I shaped the silver ribbon into a point at the center front.
4. I trimmed away a little more tulle to get the shape perfectly even.

1. I cut two 6-inch lengths of 2 layers of light blue tulle. I gathered them along the 6-inch edge.
2. I pinned the gathered edge to the seam where the sleeve meets the shoulder, right sides together, with the tulle facing the neckline of the shirt.
3. I sewed the tulle to the shirt on each side. When I flipped the tulle over, it made a nice, puffy sleeve.
4. I covered the seam with the beaded bridal ribbon, trimmed the excess ribbon, and cut the tulle sleeve into a nice rounded shape.

Magical!

ELSA

Last but not least, what little girl doesn’t want to dress up like Frozen?? I made this shirt for my six-year-old, and of course the eight-year-old was instantly jealous! But the red-headed eight-year-old has an Anna dress, so that will have to do.

1. I started with a white t-shirt. I found the center of the front of the shirt, 2 inches below the point of the V-neck. From that point, I lightly drew a sweetheart neckline out to the side seams. Then I slid a piece of cardboard up inside the shirt.
2. I mixed some white and blue acrylic paint together to make light blue. I used a regular old paint brush to paint the front of the shirt, up to the sweetheart neckline I drew.
3. While the paint was still wet, I placed light blue, sparkly tule over the top of it. It wasn’t wide enough to do the whole shirt at once. So I did it like wallpaper, and just got the seams as smooth as possible. I really pressed the tulle down into the wet paint so it would adhere.
4. I hot-glued beaded bridal trim along the sweetheart neckline, covering the edge of the paint and securing the tulle to the shirt.

1. I also hot-glued the beaded trim to the bottom hem of the shirt and side seams, covering all the painting edges and continuing to secure the tulle in place.
2. I cut 14 2-foot lengths of light blue tulle to make seven double layers of tulle. I gathered the 7 lengths together along the short edge, using one continuous seam for all seven pieces.
3. It looked like a huge, tulle bunting before I gathered it! The gathered edge is 6 inches in length.
4. I sewed the gathered edge to a 12-inch length of turquoise ribbon.

1. I sewed each end of ribbon to the shirt along the back edge of the shoulder seam where it meets the sleeve, on the right side of the shirt.
2. Let It Go, and it’s a lovely, flowing Queen Elsa cape!

Front

Back

So there you have it! Fun ideas for making costumes for all the little princesses in your life. But be warned! Now my son is asking me to make him Flynn Rider and Woody costume t-shirts! With Disney, the “fun” never ends! I’ll be sure to post some pics on the blog of our Disneyland trip, wearing our shirts. Wish me luck!