Princess Leia costume+belt tutorial

We (and my “we” I mean Sadie) have been all over the place when it comes to deciding on a costume! First it was a butterfly, then pirates…which I just couldn’t get excited about. Last week a friend loaned me an Ewok costume for Charlotte, and with A LOT of convincing, we got Sadie on board with being Princess Leia. I think the Princess part of that sentence did it. I still owe her a crown though. We’ll see what I can whip up in the next few days. 😉

I did make these Leia bun yarn things, but I’m not sure I like them…for one thing, what am I supposed to do with her other hair…? I guess these are more for babies with no other hair! I might try and do two sock buns…we’ll see!

Edit: here’s how her hair turned out-I love it!

Her dress is simply a peasant dress made of white knit. I used this pattern, and lengthened the sleeves, then cut the end off at an angle after she tried it on. No hemming! Boo yah. I love costumes…I tend to cut corners, lol.
 

My favorite part is her belt! Love it.  I got the silver fabric from Joann’s-it’s some kind of vinyl-esque material.

Gotta finish the costumes for Rory and me now, Obi-Wan and Han Solo, respectively. What? There are no other girls in Star Wars! (besides Queen Amidala, but I barely count those “first” movies.)

PLus, I kind of love Han Solo. He’s the ultimate bad boy.

So, interested in making one of your own? Probably not, since Halloween is in just a few days, but maybe someday this will be helpful for someone. That’s the hope, at least…
Anyways!
You’ll need:
Silver vinyl material (I got this stuff at Joann’s, I’m sure it’s readily available around Halloween especially)
Silver or grey thread
sew-on velcro
Stitch Witchery, which looks like this:
and the free pattern! (the pattern is for about a 20″ waist…you can always make the belt longer though)

So first cut out all the pieces (mine are not all shown here, but you should have 2 belt pieces, 4 side medallions, 1 middle medallion, and 5 circles.)

This is the Stitch Witchery stuff, which is amazing. It’s sticky tape that dissolves in the wash, basically. It’s great for sewing on trims and such, but I used it to keep my little “medallions” in place while I sewed them on, since pins would leave holes in this material.

So I applied some tape on each piece…

Then laid them out like so on one piece of the belt. Make sure they are evenly spaced from the top and bottom of the belt.

Then sew around each medallion…

…and then get smart and use your walking foot to do the circles. If you have a walking foot, use it! If you’re using this kind of material it will make it so much easier, and won’t make it pucker up.

Then once you’ve sewn the pieces all on, pin the two belt pieces right sides together.

Just make sure to pin within the seam allowance (3/8″), so that the pin holes don’t show.

Back stitch a few times on the end that you’ll turn it from.

Then gently start turning it inside out. This material is stiff, but work with it and it won’t take long!

This is what it’ll look like. eek. Needs some top stitching!

Use your fingers to roll the edges out, then top stitch close to the edge.

Tuck each end under and stitch that down too.

Use some Stitch Witchery to stick on the velcro pieces (cut however long you like, I wanted mine to be semi adjustable so I cut them long), then sew them on!

Sew the other velcro pieces on, then try on the nearest Princess you can find! She’ll think you’re the coolest mom in the galaxy! har, har.

Comments

  1. Awesome!!! Super cool costume! I love the buns! You resolved it wonderfully! And your girl looks really pretty as Princess Leia!… I am still working on Margui’s costume (thank God this year she is not a princess or a fairy but a witch!)…

  2. Two years ago I made my baby girl’s buns with t-shirt straps, it gives it kind of a cartoonish look, but it definitely adds up some volume and maybe you can even try to fit her hair into them… if you want I can email you some photos, just say so

    I can’t wait till my twins grow a little older and I can talk them into dressing as Luke and Leia ;). I’ll keep this tutorial in mind when the time comes!

    Great job!!!

    3pam.blog (at) gmail (dot) com

  3. She looks so stinkin’ adorable! I love that you are doing family theme costumes. Our family is doing Alice in Wonderland this year. My 12 year old daughter sewed her own Cheshire Cat costume this year!!

  4. That looks fantastic!

    I do love that dress pattern – so versatile… I think your blog might be where I first encountered it, and I’m so glad I did. I’ve used it as a jumping-off point for so many things for my girl… xo

  5. Adorable! And so unique. I absolutely LOVE it!
    xoxo
    Kerri at HollyMuffin

  6. So cute. I love that your whole family dresses up. You are a great mom and Rory is a good sport. You kids will have such good memories and some fun pictures to laugh at when they are older.

  7. Great costume! And who doesn’t love some old school Harrison Ford!?

  8. ohmygosh! Adorable!

  9. How cute!

  10. The costume is great, but I have a feeling your daughter makes any outfit extra adorable! So cute!

  11. brilliant, love it 🙂

  12. I love it! My two were Luke and Leia last year and I wish I had the courage and know-how to have made them rather than sticking them in ill-fitting flimsy costumes. Thanks for the how-to!

  13. Love it! We bought a Princess Leia costume on clearance a few years back, but I think I like yours better. The belt is definitely cuter. Can’t wait to see your little one as an Ewok!

  14. That is a cute costume!! Your daughter looks adorable!

  15. The costume is amazing and your daughter is so sweet, but at the same time she looks like a movie star!

  16. This is so fantastic, Jess. And I for one LOVE the yarn buns! I think they’re hilarious 🙂 I was thinking Rapunzel when I saw your post yesterday. I was WAY off! And I LOVE that you are going as Han Solo. Awesome.

  17. Love the costume! Can’t wait to see Charlotte as an ewok! We dont really do Halloween in New Zealand, but I am enjoying seeing all the costume ideas

  18. Wow. Adorable!

  19. She’s such a little cutie!

  20. The costume is amazing and I love that first picture of her!

  21. Cute! Turned out so awesome! : )

    Natalie
    http://www.projectdowhatyoulove.wordpress.com

  22. love this costume. I think I need to make this next year!! http://www.savvystayathomemom.blogspot.com

  23. Awesome! Love the details on the belt, the angled sleeves, and the family theme. 🙂 I totally think you should sock bun Sadie, those those Leia buns are pretty cute.

  24. So cute! Sadie makes the best faces 🙂 I’m dying to see the Ewok costume now!!

  25. She is so adorable in that costume! I love it!

  26. this is absolutely great !!!!

  27. This is adorable! I featured your post here: All Things With Purpose: DIY Princess Leia

  28. Imagine my delight when I was looking for Princess Leia costume tutorials and found a good one on one of my favorite blogs!

    I was experiencing a brain fog as far as where to begin. For some ridiculous reason it didn’t occur to me to just modify a simple peasant dress! I felt like I *needed* a Leia dress pattern.

    Also, I love the little buns. My plan was to knit a brown hat and then make buns of felt … but instead I’ll make these and attach them to the hat! Oooh, now I’m getting excited!

  29. love, love, love! we had already started our daughter’s leia costume and was looking for some ideas for the belt and hair. i found an adult, large, white turtleneck at the goodwill and it’s perfect … didn’t have to take of the length, reversed the sleeves to give it more of a flare at the wrist and trimmed it short, trimmed/stitched the sides so it fit her little 2yo body, and was able to use one of the sleeve trimmings for the belt (no sewing needed … except for the silvery funness that you have here) … not to mention, it’s knit, so i don’t have to do any seems at the hem or sleeves – woot! found a brown t-shirt from GW, too, that i’m gonna cut into long, wide strips and just keep twisting to form the bun, stitching to keep it connected and am trying to decide if i should make a knit beanie and attach it to that … or put on a headband … or make a headband out of the same t material. we’ll play around tomorrow. again … LOVE your daughter’s costume and the detail! you’re amazing!

  30. I had this idea a short time ago. Looked around the internet for a picture I could photoshop. Had no luck finding an image then. Today I decided to try again. Imagine my delight when I found this wonderful picture of “Sadie ” in the perfect pose, and costume. I thought, “Wow, I could not have asked for a better image to work with.” It is almost as if the universe read my mind and provided what I needed. The humorous image I created was made with a great deal of appreciation for the model. Thank you for allowing me to get the idea out of my head and into the final picture. Hope you find it amusing.
    You can see the end result here:

    http://marcusrufus.blogspot.com/2012/11/disney-and-star-wars.html

    Yes, that is the hologram projector in her right hand.

    In order for the joke to work, there has to be some time travel involved. Since the Star Wars Universe has always been prone to revisionist history, anything is possible.

  31. Thanks for the pattern! Now I can rest easy tonight, knowing my Luke Skywalker boy will want his mama by his side.

  32. THANK YOU so much for the pattern for the belt! It was a life saver. Up past midnight sewing my little princess her Princess Leia costume. What we do for our children! LOL!

  33. My daughter has just emailed me your link as she is looking to make her 5 year old a princess Leia (she already has the attitude). We will be making hers for her cousin’s Star wars themed birthday party. I get to sew it. Thank you so much.

  34. Thank you so much for the free belt pattern! It saved me so much time and effort, and my daughter loves her princess Leia carnival-costume. My blogpost is: http://www.madewithbluemchen.at/faschingskostuem-2015/ (German only, working on an English Translation of my site…)

  35. is there anywere to get dress patern without buying?

  36. Thanks for your belt pattern and tutorial, Jess. It took all the guess work out of making the belt for my 19 yo daughter’s Princess Leia costume. We’re both super pleased with how it all worked out!

  37. Thanks so much for this tutorial. I used it for my daughter this year and it turned out great.

  38. I just made a belt with your patterns! It turned out great! Thanks so much for the post and tutorial.

Trackbacks

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