Princess Anna

I made this costume for our local December Parade of Lights, and wore it in the parade two years in a row. As a chunky 40-something at the time I felt really self-conscious about wearing a costume of such a young character, but the little girls did NOT care at all! They all saw Princess Anna, and they all wanted a hug! It was a really nice feeling. 

I am 5'7" and weighed around 160 when I made this costume.

Costume Includes:

- Black velvet top with hand embroidered decorations and a lace-up back. I spent hours and hours and hours on that embroidery, and I was really happy with the way it turned out! I really struggled with the gold edge trim; even though I cut it on the bias it didn't take the curves well and didn't want to lay flat! I did the best job I could with it.

- Blue-green shirt with decorative edges. After sewing the shirt I painted the triangular designs with a chemical that attracts dye. Then I dyed the shirt, and everywhere I painted the design the dye came out darker. So the lines are the same color as the shirt, just more concentrated. I do wish I had made the shirt a bit longer to help it stay tucked in better. I made it short so that there wouldn't be too much fabric tucked into the skirt waistline, but it meant that every time I raised my hands up high I had to tuck the shirt back in snugly afterward. The front of the shirt closes with a row of hidden snaps.

- Fleece cape with hand painted designs. The balls hanging off the top area of the cape were hand made from wool roving.  I did notice that the fabric paint soaked into the fleece and left a very faint area of darker fabric around the patterns, though you don't really notice it unless you're looking closely. The lining fabric I found in the correct color was an end-of-the-bolt piece and while it was large enough for the cape, I found that one section of fabric was damaged, so I had to do a bit of puzzle-piecing to make it work.  The lining can be replaced if you don't like it, but you don't see the pieced area when you're wearing the cape so it didn't make a difference to me. The cape had a tendency to billow out oddly in the back so I tacked it to the cape lining in a few spots to keep that from happening.

- Cape clasp... sorta. I had an accurate heart-shaped clasp, but it broke right before the parade. So I grabbed this gold toned clasp that I had on hand and sewed it onto the cape a few hours before the parade. It worked for most of the evening, but right at the end of the parade the rough edges of the clasp cut through the thread and one side came loose again! It has been sewn on more tightly, but really should be replaced with a more accurate clasp. (The perfectionist in me doesn't like it!)

- Blue polyester skirt with hand painted designs. The skirt closes in the back with a hidden zipper. (I wish now that I had made it with an elastic waistband to help make the sizing more flexible. It can be adjusted if needed, it'll just take a bit of sewing to modify it!) The skirt fabric turned out to be prone to snagging, so wear it with care. There are a few faint snags that you don't notice unless you're looking closely at it.

- Fleece cap with fake fur. The cap includes a pair of wig clips and has thin wire hidden in the front seam to help with shaping, but I must say that thing is a challenge to manage. It likes to do whatever it wants... kind of like Anna!

 - Braided wig with patch of white hair. This wig was pretty heavy; it needed an abundance of wig clips and pins to keep it from sliding backwards off my head!

- Fleece mittens with machine sewn design on the backs to approximate the design on the cartoon references. There is some faint staining on the palms of the mittens because I wore them in December when everything was always wet and grimy!

- Boots with design in metallic gold. This pair was found on Ebay and they were surprisingly comfortable! I think I painted the design with Angelus leather paint.

- White cotton petticoat with elastic waistband. This was my very first petticoat... I had a lot of fun making it, and it really made the skirt look great!