Remaking Ariel

Nearly a year ago today i made my first ball gown cosplay. It was of my all time favorite Disney princess, Ariel.
I fell in love with this design here.

However with my lack of sewing knowledge at the time i ended up making the whole thing out of cheap satin and painted on all of those wonderful embroidered pieces.  

The beast that i have since retired was defiantly something that pushed my skills.

However, now that its a year on i decided to do classic Ariel. No, not the clam shell bra. I wouldn't want to blind anyone with my 'haven't been outside in a week' skin and  the 'I haven't exercised since i ran for the ice cream truck last week' body. By classic Ariel i mean Pink dress Ariel. I've always been in love with the costume, just never thought that I could make something to do Ariel justice. If you don't know what I'm talking about then I'm meaning the pink dress which made Eric go "daaauuuum".

When starting this i chose a pattern that i already had experience with and altered the top of the bodice. I used Simplicity 1728 and made my own sleeves to put into it. Now originally i did use the sleeve pattern from 1728 but i decided to ditch that.

Skirt

For the skirt i created one layer (that's right i said layer) of plain white poplin. Over top of that i then added 2 more layers of crystal organza and then the 2 D shaped things over top. It made the skirt have about 16 meters of fabric on it, making it reasonably heavy but very princess-y. I also brought a hoop skirt which sits underneath.


Bodice  

Now once again I decided to use paint to embroider instead of actually learning how to embroider. But after a while the overall effect of what i made annoyed me and so i remade the whole bodice adding in new sleeves (which i originally hand beaded the frik out of) and finally learnt how to embroider. I also used new fabric for this as the homespun cotton that i originally used didn't look right once made.

  This time around i used a light pink stretch poplin and just ordinary white plain poplin for the little inserts.
I also changed the top of the bodice into more of a sweat heart line.

So far I'm reasonably happy with what I've made and  i feel the jump in my skill level from last year has increased.

Stay tuned for more progress updates as they come!