Tinkerbell Costume Tutorial

Happy almost Halloween everyone! I can’t believe how fast this month has flown by. This year Claire wanted to be Tinkerbell. She has been a fairy the past three years for Halloween so I’ve come to the conclusion she really like fairies! I waited till the last minute to make her a dress thinking she would change her mind (like she usually does) but this year her mind was set! So I’m on my weekly trip to Hobby Lobby and realized I’d better pick up some supplies for her costume. I didn’t know exactly how I was going to make it at this point but I knew It needed to have tulle and obviously shiny green material. So I searched online for some inspiration and found some great ideas from here, here and here. This tutorial is going to be split up into two posts since I made the tutu underneath her dress separate. You can view the tutorial for the tutu in this post. Here we go.

You will need:

1 1/2 yards of green polyester satin fabric (more or less depending on the size of your fairy)
Matching thread
Matching ribbon
1 package of grommets
2-3 spools of tulle like this (I like to get it this way rather than off the bolt.)
Elastic
Tinkerbell shoes
Tinkerbell tutu

First you are going to measure your fairy. Measure around her chest, around her waist, and from the top of her chest (where you want the dress to start) to the bottom (where her waist begins). Then you’re going to use those measurements to make the bodice. You are going to add 2″-3″ to each measurement and draw it out on your fabric. You’re going to cut out 2.

Next I made the straps that go around her neck. You are going to cut out a 3″ strip running the length of your fabric. Fold it right sides together and iron it flat. Sew it together using a 3/8″ seam allowance.

Turn it right side out.

Then iron it flat. You want to iron the seam so it is in in the center of the strap. Cut it in half so you have two straps.

Turn under the raw edges and sew them closed.

Now back to the bodice. With your fabric marker or pencil mark the center of your bodice at the top. I wanted her straps to be 6″ apart so I marked them each 3″ from the center.

Now pin your straps in place with the seam of your fabric facing up. That way when the dress is on the girl you won’t be able to see the seam. You want to pin them on the right side (shiny side) of the fabric. Sew them on using 1/4″ seam. Then you’re going to pin your two bodice pieces right sides (shiny sides) together. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of this step. You are only going to sew together the top and the two sides, leaving the bottom open.

Now clip your corners, flip the bodice inside out and iron it flat. Turn under the raw edges at the bottom 1/2″ and iron them flat.

Now to make the petals. I already had this petal pattern from another skirt so I used it as a guide. I cut out 6 pieces (front and back to 3 petals) this size and then 8 pieces (4 petals) I cut out a little bigger using the same pattern. My large petals measure 8″wide by 10″ long and my small petals measure 7″ wide by 8″ long. This would be easy to hand draw if you don’t have a pattern.

Cut them out and pin the same size petals right sides together.

Sew around the curved edges of the petal leaving the top straight part open so you can flip them. Flip them right side out, trim the seams and iron flat.

Now you’re going to tuck them inside the bottom of the bodice. Start with the 4 large petals on the bottom.

And the 3 smaller ones on top. Pin in place and sew them on.

To close the dress off in the back I used grommets. Just mark where you want your grommets to go and follow the directions on your grommet package. So easy!

Now to make the sash to go around the waist. Make this the same way as we did the straps. Cut a 6″ strip running the length of your fabric, fold in half right sides together, iron flat and sew. Flip it right side out, iron flat with your seam in the middle, turn under your raw edges and sew the seams.

Here is a picture of the back of the dress with the grommets. Instead of using ribbon you could make a strap with your fabric using the same method as above I just got lazy at this point and had a million other things to finish so I cheated.

Here is a look at the front without the tutu underneath.

The finished product.

She loves it!! I decorated her shoes using glitter and pom poms but we had issues with the glitter coming off EVERYWHERE. They were cute though. I found some other adorable tinkerbell shoes if you don’t want glitter all over your house! =)