I finished the Belle dresses just a couple of days after starting them. They were so much fun to make!
For Gracie's dress, I used the same pattern that I used for her Little Mermaid fabric printed dress and for her orange preschool graduation dress. I really like the way those dresses fit her and she enjoys wearing them. For the Belle dress, I just added another layer to the skirt and improvised a shoulder thing. I have no idea what that shoulder thing is called. Is it the "yoke"?
For Libby's dress, I used a cute little peasant dress pattern. I love it because it doesn't require any buttons or zippers. It's super easy for her to dress herself! I also had to improvise a bit to make it princessy. And I totally messed up with the off-the-shoulder piece; I forgot! I added a waistband before I realized I had it in the wrong place. Oh well. So far, Libby hasn't noticed. Shhh!
Both dresses are from the same fabric. The under layer is a yellow glitter infused satin and the top layer is a bright yellow glitter infused taffeta (I think, or maybe its a tightly woven tulle, I don't know). I added little store bought red ribbon roses. By the way, glitter infused fabric leaves a trail of glitter everywhere you go. After one wearing, the dresses are no longer glittery. However, the interior of my mini-van may forever sparkle!
Luckily, both dresses fit like a charm! Gracie said her dress was itchy, so she had to wear a cotton camisole underneath it; she didn't complain once about any itching after that.
Mostly I used my serger to sew them up. It sure is nice for satin and taffeta! Quick and easy, looks nice too. I think my husband is happy to see me getting more use out of it; he paid a fortune for it and its been hard to find the time to devote to learning it well. I'm beginning to get the hang of it.
My oldest princess really is a princess! She was hired to act as Belle from Beauty and the Beast at a birthday party for a 4 yr old girl named Mia. Mia was speachless when she saw that Belle came all the way from Disneyland to be at her birthday party. And she was 100% convinced that Katie was the real Belle! Here are some pictures from the party, Gracie was invited and had a good time too!
The princess costume was an adventure. The party mom asked her to come dressed as any Disney princess. Katie tried on costumes at the costume shop for Snow White and Cinderella and Belle. I've never seen my daughter look so awful in a dress! The costumes just hung on her and she just looked like a girl wearing a cheesy cheap costume. And the wigs weren't very good either; Poor Katie doesn't have the right hair for Snow White or Cinderella. She can't let this little girl down! Mia has an annual pass to Disneyland and she knows what the princesses look like!
So we ran to Walmart to buy fabric since everything else was closed at that hour. By the way, this is the night before the party around 9pm. Luckily, they had a bolt of beautiful golden satin. Whew! Belle will be at the party! We came home and put Baby Princess to bed, Katie ran off with her friends and I was left with a job to do. I laid out the satin on the dining room table, pulled out some patterns for guidance since we didn't have a pattern to work from - I had to piece some old ones together and size it with our best guesses. I worked on it till 1am when Princess Gracie woke up for the first of her night-wakings. (she wakes up 2 or 3 times a night and needs to be fed, snuggled and lulled back to sleep). I went to bed after that. Gracie woke up again at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep till 6am, her next normal waking time. We slept till 7am and then it was back to the piecing together the dress. Between Gracie's demands, and Katie's fussiness about looking perfect, I got the dress done at 12 noon. We grabbed her tiara that she wore to prom last spring, and we were ready! Party in two hours and we had an hour drive to get there! 
The neatest thing that happened at the party was Katie's connection with a down's syndrome girl. Jandi does not socialize and prefers to be left alone in her own space, and nobody is allowed to touch her paper and her markers! Nobody until Katie came along dressed as Belle. Not knowing Jandi's personal space issues, Katie was able to interact with Jandi which drew attention from her family. I heard whispers of "Look, she's talking to Belle!" Cameras started coming out. Then a collective gasp from the crowd as Katie took one of her markers and began to color with her. Katie and Jandi drew pictures together and talked together. Tears were being choked back by the grown-ups in the room. Jandi gave Belle a hug and a drawing, Belle gave Jandi a hug back, a drawing and a piece of candy. Katie has a gift with children and her interaction with Jandi was the gift of the day for everyone! Katie was thrilled to pieces after she learned that her interaction with Jandi was a major accomplishment. I'm so proud of her! She has once again been refueled with desire to become a special education teacher. Thank you, Jandi!
