Ahh, it's been awhile since I've posted! I figured it was about time I posted the next step in making Belle's dress. As you can see from the picture above I am actually already finished with my take on Belle's blue dress. I can't wait to show you all some more pictures! The one above is just a teaser. I have to finish catching you up on the progress first.
I am combining both the blouse and the bloomers into this post. For the blouse I basically just used a pattern. I don't trust my own pattern-making skills with blouses, hehe. They are a bit harder than skirts. Pictured below is the pattern I used. I didn't buy it specifically for this project. I'm sure there is a pattern that would be better for Belle, but I didn't want to buy a new pattern. I've had this pattern for years and it worked out perfectly, I just needed to make a few adjustments.
The only adjustments I made was taking a few inches out so it was not as baggy around the waist and on the sleeves. I also created a drawstring for the neckline instead of using elastic for the neckline. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of the blouse. But you can kinda see how the blouse turned out in the picture above.
After making the blouse I used the same fabric to make the bloomers. I was a little unsure of how to make the bloomers. My plan was to paint the flourish pattern on the bloomers just like I did with the pockets. Painting a flourish design is a lot harder than painting stripes. I decided I needed some sort of stamp so I could make each flourish uniform.
Using styrofoam I cut out the little leaf shaped pieces and glued them to a piece of poster board. In other words, I simply created my own stamp. Then I was able to paint my homemade stamp and stamp it onto the fabric. It worked perfectly.
For making the bloomers I also used a pattern. I used simplicity pattern 3677 (it's a pattern for a pirate costume). I made just one simple adjustment; instead of elastic at the end of the bloomers I made cuffs like belle has in the movie.
Now all that's left is the vest. The vest was the trickiest part which is why the next post will be devoted to more detailed information about how I made mine.
I'm so excited, and kinda sad, to see this project finally come to an end.
