Dressing up like a princess never goes out of style. Neither does Cinderella. But, we thought it would be fun to act like a Fairy Godmother and transform our classic Cinderella play dress into the modern version from the new Disney Cinderella movie (which you can pre-order today using this link). My girls and I thought the costumes from the film were simply spectacular. Who wouldn't want to look like the princess in her beautiful blue sparkling ball gown with dainty butterfly accents? It doesn't take a magic wand to makeover your Cinderella play dress. All you need is an hour of time and a few craft supplies. Can you say Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo? And...with Halloween approaching, this would be a perfect costume for the little princess at your house!
You can buy the dress I used for this tutorial from this link - keep scrolling until you get to the Standard Cinderella Dress. They are cute and very affordable.
You will need:
Cinderella Dress Up Dress
Craft Wire
Light Blue Tulle (1 Yard)
Dark Blue Tulle (1/4 Yard)
White Sparkle Tulle (1/4 Yard)
Shimmer Fabric (1/4 Yard)
Acrylic Jewels
Hot Glue Gun
Sewing Supplies
You can buy the dress I used for this tutorial from this link - keep scrolling until you get to the Standard Cinderella Dress. They are cute and very affordable.
You will need:
Cinderella Dress Up Dress
Craft Wire
Light Blue Tulle (1 Yard)
Dark Blue Tulle (1/4 Yard)
White Sparkle Tulle (1/4 Yard)
Shimmer Fabric (1/4 Yard)
Acrylic Jewels
Hot Glue Gun
Sewing Supplies
I started by crafting the butterflies first. You can make as many or as few as you want to embellish the dress. I decided that it looked best to do two styles of butterflies. I made three of the blue tulle butterflies and then four of the sparkle fabric butterflies. It made a good combination! The wire you choose for the project should be moldable, but not too flimsy. It needs to hold shape. I found some cool blue wire at the craft store for only a dollar. I bought a total of six yards. I would say each butterfly uses about 3/4 yard of wire.
With one end of the wire, make an oblong circle shape. Then wrap the end of the wire around the length of the wire to hold the circle in place. Cover it with a square piece of tulle. I used about 6x6 inch sections of tulle. It was plenty big. Pull the tulle tight around the circle and gather it around the wire end. Then wrap the long piece of wire around the tulle to hold it in place. It sounds confusing, but it is very easy. The picture below demonstrates the first step.
Make another smaller oblong circle, in the same manner as the first. Wrap the end of the wire around the end of the circle once to keep it in place. Then, cover it with a contrasting color of tulle. Gather the tulle at the edge of the circle and then wrap the wire around it a few times to hold the fabric in place. I cut the extra ends of the fabric off to get it out of the way. You will not have to cut the wire until the very end. Just keep bending it to where you want it to go next.
Make the second side of the butterfly just like the first. Start by making another large oblong circle.
Once you have made all four parts of the butterfly wings, it will look kind of messy in the middle with all of the extra tulle poking about. That's okay because, you can hide it behind the jewels. Wrap the wire around the center of the butterfly a few times to get a nice solid body. I used flower wire to wrap the body and then extended it up above to give the butterfly antennae. Then, hot glue three acrylic jewels along the center of the wings to create a cute sparkly body.
You can be creative with your butterfly shapes. They don't all have to be the same. When I used the sparkly fabric, I decided to make the wings different. Instead of having the small wing overlap the big one, I put the small part of the wing below. I think both ways are cute. Have fun experimenting with yours. You can also add embellishments to the butterflies. I used some silver sparkle glitter glue to line the outside of the tulle butterfly wings. It gave a little extra shine.
Once your butterflies are complete, you can begin adding the tulle collar to the dress. It is a very easy process, and tulle is so fun to work with because it doesn't fray. Fold the tulle accordion style, back and forth, so it is about five inches wide.
Then, sew along one end to keep it in place. Do not backstitch. Gather the tulle along the thread by pulling it tight along the bobbin thread.
Fold the gathered end under and pin it to the back of the dress.
You will repeat the sew and gather then pin steps four more times. Gather where the tulle attaches at the shoulder seam, the front middle of the dress, the other shoulder, and then to the back on the opposite side of where you started. Do not sew the tulle onto the dress yet. Just pin it in place as you work your way around, so you can get everything lined up correctly. Just continue measuring and sewing the tulle and pinning it onto the dress.
Be sure to find the middle of the dress and mark it with a pin, so you know where to attach the tulle when you get to that part. The tulle should attach about 2 inches below the neckline. Don't attach it right at the neckline or it will be too high and the dress will be itchy.
So, the only tricky thing about this, is making sure you have the same amount of tulle on each side. I wanted lots of fluff, so I made the tulle at least three inches longer than the measurement from the shoulder to the center of the dress. It shouldn't fit snug. You want it to drape. For example, my dress measured seven inches from the shoulder seam to the center of the front of the dress. So, that section of tulle was 10 inches long.
Once it looks good and you have the tulle pinned onto the dress nicely, sew the fabric onto the dress. I used a simple straight stitch and simply sewed over the places where the tulle was already stitched and gathered. You will sew on the back, the shoulders, and in the center of the front.
Then, use your fingers to fluff the tulle and separate the folded layers apart. It should be nice and puffy.
It is as simple as that! The final step is putting the butterflies onto the dress. I pinned them onto the tulle first to make sure the spacing was even. Then, I sewed them onto the tulle by hand using a needle and thread. Sew around the wire part of the wings to get a nice solid hold on the butterflies. You don't want them flying off on their own. I stitched them on in about four places along the body. Just make sure they are secure. It doesn't have to be perfect.
And just like that, you have transformed a classic Cinderella Gown, into a modern day dazzling ball dress. I hope your little princess enjoys her new outfit as much as mine did.
We hope that your little princess enjoys this Cinderella dress makeover! When you are ready for your family to meet the real Cinderella at Disneyland, let us know. We'll be your vacation fairy godmothers and turn your dream vacation into reality faster than you can say "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo" with our discount Disneyland tickets, hotel specials and exclusive extras. Book your Disneyland package online or call our experts at 855-GET-AWAY.
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