Simplicity #1210 - Anna's Winter dress and Elsa's Coronation dress - motifs

Where  to begin?

I was working so hard on these costumes in July that I only took photos haphazardly, but I think I have enough to be able to show you all the interesting parts of making these dresses.

First, let me explain why the four dresses are grouped the way they are. These two dresses have a very similar shape. They both have close fitting band collars, long sleeves, slightly dropped waists with points in front and a flared skirt with no gathering at the waist. Also, they both have capes. So, even though these two costumes are worn by different people and are never seen together in the movie, it made sense to put them together pattern-wise.

I thought you might like to see the dresses without the capes.  It’s hard to see the details on the bodices on the envelope photo.

See the neck decoration on Elsa’s gown and the very exaggerated curved shape of Anna’s faux bodice/vest neckline.

My preferred method for all the decorative motifs is fusible webbing (Heat’n’Bond “RED” or Stitch Witchery) and solid color fabrics. I think it is fastest, but other’s may want to paint or embroider.

It is best if all the motifs are done while all the fabric is flat BEFORE any sewing, no matter what method is being used. Because the bodice motif is so large, it has to go over the bust darts.  So, I fused on the center part first, THEN sewed the darts and finished pressing on the rest of the appliqué. See the basting stitches? These show me exactly where the dart stitching line is.

I hope you like the peasant styled stitching I put on Anna’s collar and cuffs! Thanks to my fancy new sewing machine.

The scalloped border at the bottom of Anna's skirt I did NOT use fusible webbing. It is too large. Fusible webbing is expensive and stiff. So I first straight stitched it in place and then did a satin stitch zig zag over.  This can look really nice. 

I would have loved to have done all the motifs this way, but then I would have probably spent the next five years making these dresses!  REALLY!

Disney can go crazy with the clothing in their animated films now computers are involved. You would never see such unrelenting detail if the cells were are being hand painted!! grrrrr!

So, I hand traced the motifs on the paper backed fusible webbing ...

Grouping them by color.

And used a print out of the design, folded in half to help with placement.  The very small pieces kept sticking to my fingers and I found using a small tweezers so much easier.

I sewed the gold bias tape around the faux bodice neckline with a small zig zag, carefully mitering the points.

Now all the hard parts of Anna's dress are done ... phew! ... and I can finish the sewing.

I am left with a pile of rubble! 

Actually, this is the pile from Elsa's coronation dress, but there was a very similar mess from Anna's dress.

There is so much to say about the four Frozen dresses. And this is a good thing. I'm going to stretch it out over a number of blogs, which will give me something to write about while I am furiously working on next year's costumes.

Probably topics are ... "The crowns and Capes", "Elsa's snowflake cape", "Anna's pleated skirt ... AHHHH!"  and ???