Part Three: The Tinkerbelle Bust, Magical Mops and Tears for the Oysters.

As we continue our adventure on this epic Disney Sewing quest, we are 5 projects into 9 possible garments. If you havn’t read Part One in which we plan, or Part Two in which we create our first garments, feel free to go and check them out because this will all make a bit more sense if you do. Welcome back fellow travellers if you have been keeping up but today we embark on the most difficult part of our journey where we attempt to make a Tinkerbelle inspired mod dress, a Very Easy Vogue saviour for the Magician Apprentice, and some very curious and stressful oyster pyjamas. If you’ve already done the maths, just wait for it, it’s a doozy.

As there are 9 garments on my ‘to-sew’ list, part three will cover the following makes;
-Tinkerbelle Mod Dress
-The Magician’s Apprentice Day Dress
-Oyster Pyjamas
-Evening Gown

Onwards! To the sewing machine!

Tinkerbelle Mod Dress
Recently, I’ve been toying with the idea of sewing some *gasp* shorter skirts, so I was keen to play around with the idea of a Tinkerbelle inspired Disneybound. She is known for being in her short and tight green dress so I wanted to turn it into a 60s/70s mod mini dress using green cotton. Once I had the basic shape of my dress done, my plan was to play around with adding wings. Now I didn’t just want to buy kids wings and wear them but my two main ideas were; using white cotton to become two long collar pieces that kind of represented her wings (possibly along the back neckline), or use some sort of iron-on or transfer to add wings of somekind (more research was clearly needing to be done at this point but nothing was concrete at this point).
Finding fabric was going to be straightforward as I just wanted plain green cotton and as I only needed about 2.5 meters, I got some from Homecraft Textiles so I could choose the right green shade for me. Don’t ask me why but when it came time to finding a pattern, I was feeling ever so brave (and probably delusional from Endometriosis pain at this point) and I chose Simplicity 9594. Now there is nothing wrong with Simplicity 9594 as a sewing pattern; in fact, there were barely 5 pattern pieces needed to make this garment. She was simple, straightforward and a very fast sew. But let me drag you along for a quick side tangent: at this point in the sewing, I was very sick. I had had an awful migraine for several weeks without respite at this point as well as was half way through a severe Endometriosis flare up where I would be unable to move for hours at a time. I really wasn’t ok, my pain got so bad that my vision and balance were affected and I had to go to Urgent Care for medical attention. It was bad. Also, I had just finished my Christmas sewing project where I made these pyjamas just intime to release before Christmas which just resulted in me being very sick, sad and feeling so broken.
I was looking at this dress and I noticed that she seemed a little … too simple. She was bascially complete, the only thing left to add to her was to finish the hem but I decided to try her on at this point. It wasn’t good. The dress made me feel like a sack of potatoes shoved into a condom. Due to my severe Endo flare up, my abdomen was so bloated that the dress I made sat so horribly on me. She was frumpy, lumpy and very unflattering. I was very disappointed in this as I felt I just needed a win due to me feeling so down. This dress was immediately taken off, put in the cupboard and I called it a day on Tinkerbelle.
Even without my Endo flare up, this dress was just really unflattering and I think partially that came down to the fabric. I think the cotton I used wasn’t soft enough and maybe a bit too stiff because she felt rough on the skin and the bunching along seam lines was really odd. The dress just looked really dowdy and ‘homemade’ in the worse possible way. An imediate no. She will have the zip removed before being turned into lining or stuffing for furture projects. Please no one clap, this Tinkerbelle needs to stay down.

The Magician’s Apprentice
By the time I had started this project, I was five days out from leaving for my trip, I had just needed some serious medical intervention, I needed to pack and still complete more projects. Let’s press on despite my doctor’s warnings.

Due to the fact that AliExpress had bumbled two sewing projects, I decided to change my idea for the Magician’s Apprentice fabric. This fabric arrived during the construction of my Tangled Dress and I immediately noticed that it felt a little stiff and rough to the touch. Most likely, this comes from the dyes they use but I washed it twice just to see if itll soften even a little bit. It made a slight difference but I had 2 and a half meters to use and very little time. I decided to use the Very Easy Vogue V9100 pattern because I knew I could make it in an afternoon and I was very low on physical strength.

When creating this dress, I used leftover soft cotton from this recent project, as lining for the bodice to keep my skin protected from the roughness of the Disney fabric. It’s not as though it felt like wearing sandpaper, but it just had an uncomfortable stiffness. This came in handy when it was time to add the skirt because the stiffness made for a little added fullness. I didn’t have too much fabric to work with and since we’re all friends here, I cut the skirt panels so wonky I was shocked at myself and clearly took a nap break if I was making silly mistakes. Regardless, this dress was done within two afternoons, and I made sure to add pockets. There was a time where I was going to add a dickie to the dress for a little added flare, but I ended up running out of time.

Due to my brain not working the best, I forgot to shorten the shoulder straps which resulted in them being a little too long. Whilst on the cruise itself, I wore the straps pinned for a day before I realised how comfortable she was to wear and I used my travel sewing kit (see?! It does come in handy!), to sew the straps up a little. I loved wearing this dress as she was really cozy and effortless to wear. Even when I wore the dress to dinner, I didn’t feel underdressed and felt she was appropriate for all activities.

Oyster Pyjamas
It is time for me to share the story of how the Alice in Wonderland Oysters stressed me out. Whilst sewing the Tangled dress, the fabric for my Oyster pyjamas arrived (in the same package as the Magician’s Apprentice parcel) and when I saw it I loved it. I have always loved the Alice in Wonderland Oysters as I think they are so cute but they do not get much imagery or merch. When I first saw this fabric after hours of online shopping, I fell instantly in love with them and saw the vision for my pyjamas. The fact that theoyster motif featured various poses and faces of the oysters, I thought the hearts were cute and the plain white background made me think they were perfect for pyjamas. Oh and they were pretty soft too so a plus but, as mentioned above, when I went to wash the Magician’s Apprentice fabric, I figured I’d wash the oysters as well. As I was unravelling my fabric bundle I noticed it, my fabric was cut into two pieces.

As I only ordered a total of two meters, my first piece was cut at 1.30cm and then I was just given a 40cm piece. Instantly, I went to check the listing and and realising it was their mistake, I messaged the store. Long story short, they were very insistant that I should have messaged them asking for my order not to be cut up and next time, I should do that. With no warming or information telling me I had to do that anywhere on the item listing or even their shop, I felt that it wasn’t up to the customer to request my order wasn’t cut up. They ignored me until I contacted AliExpress and they suddenly were happy to talk to me again. In the end, I just didn’t want to argue over fabric and just moved on. This was a really disappointing experience for me as the piece I was most excited about became such a damper on my sewing adventure but also it took a lot of courage for me to message with a problem, especially after they blamed me for the fabric being cut. Snaps to AliExpress for being super patient and understanding as they helped me with this issue, the customer service reps really were a blessing in all this.

The oyster pyjamas were the last thing for me to sew and due to the fabric being cut at awkward lengths, it took me a little while to properly re-plan and adjust my original idea. My original plan was to sew using Lisette X Butterick 6296; this is the same pattern as my Christmas pyjamas and in fact, both projects sprung to life fully formed from my brain at the same time. I wanted to do a really good job with the oyster pyjamas because I really wanted them to replace some older pyjamas from my wardrobe that have no elastic and are held up by optimism. I loved the look of this pattern as it gave me multiple shirt pocket options and I the shorts looked flattering. The main reason I wanted to sew this pattern for Christmas, was honestly so I could practice this pattern before cutting into my Oyster fabric.

The cut-up fabric meant that I could no longer make my Oyster pyjamas as I had planned; the cut meant that not all my pieces could fit on the fabric with the cut in the way, and I didn’t want to turn these pyjamas into a quilted look. Looking through my fabric stash, I saw some plain white cotton and figured I’d just readjust my original designs. I was planning on keeping the shorts with the Oyster print. I could save Oyster fabric by cutting out certain pieces, such as the internal shorts pocket, out of white cotton as it wouldn’t be visible anyway. For the pyjama shirt, I was going to make the front and back bodice pieces with white cotton but use the Oyster fabric for the collars, sleeve band and front pockets. In order to add as much Oyster fabric to the piece as I could, I decided to add an additional pocket to the front of the shirt, which kind of also doubled as peep-protection due to the sheerness of the white cotton fabric. In order to make the Oysters pop a little more against the white, I decided to add some dusty pink toned piping which ended up being the perfect touch.

If you remember back to my Christmas pyjamas also using Butterick 6296, there was on Piece 5 (Front Facing), a mistake making it too short. For this version of the pattern, I made sure to mark out on my cotton where I needed this piece cut. Cutting out of this pattern was done by my Prince Charming Husband who knew I couldn’t bend my back due to Endo and cut out my pattern pieces for me. What an absolute sweetheart. When I had all my pieces gathered, it was finally time to sew.
Sewing pyjamas has been a fun challenge for me and I kind of want to make a few more lounge wear pieces in the future. Sewing up this pair of pyjamas was smoother than my first attempt as I had worked out some simple rookie errors on my first round. These pyjamas still had mistakes (to be honest I was so sick and delirious from pain, I didn’t care which was the interfaced collar piece was sewn down). but I think they came out great. It took me about a day to create the shirt with lots of breaks throughout, and about half a day for the shorts. Having made the Christmas version first, I already had the correct elastic which helped speed up the process.
Just to remind me that chivalry is not dead, my darling husband took a brave solo trip to both Homecraft Textiles for the dusty pink piping trim, and also to Spotlight a day later for buttons (and a bubble tea). He made the best choice and I really love this pair of pyjamas a bit more knowing it took a little extra love and help to bring her into the world.
Wearing these pyjamas on the cruise was super comfortable and I enjoyed lounging in them whenever I could. Butterick 6296 has really made me want to make more pyjamas and may have sparked a little something in me brain making me want to make more jammies.

The Evening Gown that Never Existed

As someone with chronic pain, you never know what kind of pain day you will have tomorrow, so you tend to just push yourself a little too much due to the fear of being bed-bound for another day. Often this results in us overdoing it, and ending up sick anyway. I really should have stopped this whole sewing project at Tinkerbelle, but looking back over the last two years, there are so many mini-series and projects that got stopped or abandoned because my body just couldn’t keep up. The fear that this project could also just be abandoned sat really heavy around me, so changing a few things to be easier on me was the smart thing to do. Realising that the project had already had a few failures along the way made me feel as though even when I pushed my body, I still couldn’t create the project I originally envisioned. In order to save my body so I could even enjoy my holiday, I decided to leave the evening gown sewing project. To be honest, I kind of realised 10 days before we were due to leave that there was no way my body could create something of the standard I wanted, which would have been a further disappointment within the project itself due to everything that had already gone wrong.
I am very lucky to have a wardrobe full of beautiful dresses and honestly, I miss wearing them as often as I once did. Therefore, I shopped my closet for the rest of my Disney Cruise wardrobe and called it a day on the sewing for my Disney cruise.

And onwards we go!
Oh we have had triumphs, we’ve had tears, we’ve had letdowns, and we have overcome obstacles. No matter how many inspirational songs I sang, the time didn’t magically pass by, and everything was done, nor did any local vermin or rodents decide to lend a hand to my sewing endeavours. But fear not, entrepid adventurers; we still have a juice final part to Crafting a Magical Disney Cruise Wardrobe, which includes some very pretty dresses, a budget-friendly DIY project and my super landbound outfits. Oh, there’s so much more fun to be had, so I will see you in Part Four, the finale!

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.