Disney Princesses: Ariel, pt. 2

My next step was to make the bodice. I also followed the same pattern, as it pretty much matched my design. I used the same fabric as the over-skirt, but reversed. The wrong side of the fabric was matte instead of shiny, but still crinkly and pretty. I flatlined the bodice pieces with some scrap fabric and threw in some plastic boning for good measure.

Working on the bodice.

The bodice itself is lined with standard pink lining fabric, left over from a dress I re-purposed for a different costume.

To create some variety of textures, I splurged on half a yard of bridal-quality beaded net to use as an overlay on the bodice.

The back of the bodice.

The overlay fabric had a scalloped edge, which I cut off and hand-stitched onto the princess seams on the front of the bodice.

Trimming the bodice with gold!

Next, I had to make those fabulous poofy sleeves. I used the shiny side of my pink fabric, for variation. The main shape was cut out using the Simplicity pattern, modified for only one poof per sleeve. For the diamonds, I cut each shape out of double-sided fusible interfacing and ironed it in place.

I cut a slit out of the fabric, folded it back over the interfacing, and ironed it down to finish the edges. The sleeve "filling," as it were, was made from the same fabric as the underskirt. It wasn't puffy enough...

Close, but not the right shape.

...so I also stitched in some lengths of tulle, shorter than the sleeve itself. This did double duty, both adding more poof and pulling up the sleeves into the right shape. For good measure, I did some gold embroidery stitching around the edges of each diamond .

Setting the sleeves, my least favorite part.

The very last step was adding trim, and believe me, I went with the "more is more" attitude.

Pining on some trim, 

Most of the trim was hand-sewn on last, including some beaded net onto the overskirt. The beaded triangle centerpiece was ripped off a thrift store ballet costume.

All finished!

My Ariel even made her own jewelry!

Appropriate movie choices!

Jewelry in progress.

Accessories included gloves and a seashell purse.

We chose not to include the stuffed dolphin that came with the purse.