Is that Ella or Minnie Mouse?

This year Ella is dressing up as Minnie Mouse for Halloween. I couldn't find the perfect costume for her in the store and I didn't have time to ship one from the internet. So I set out to make one. I went to Hancock Fabrics and found the perfect fabric. Red with large white polka-dots for $4.77 a yard and red netting/tool for .80 cents a yard spending a total of $6.00! Since I didn't have a pattern I used one of Ella's shirts and a dress as my guide.

Here is what I did:

Cut out 3 skirt layers 10inch, 8inch and 6inch. Do the same for the tool 11inch, 9inch, 7inch. With these dimensions a little bit of tool will hang out underneath each skirt layered. Both fabrics are cut while folded so they are very long. Sew together using the ruffle technique.

I measured the width of Ella's shirt and traced it with pencil then cut out the front and back leaving about an inch for seam allowance. Using the dress I traced and cut the hole for the neck.

The sleeves were a bit more tricky. I did the same with sleeve that I did with the neck. I free hand a few pencil markings first. (You can see my drawing in the picture, I'm glad I didn't cut that out!)

I knew the basic shape of a sleeve pattern, so that helped. I free hand the curve, cut on the fold 5inches up, 6 inches across, and 1 inch up. This is what it looks like open.

 I didn't want to add any buttons, so on the back I cut a small V to allow more room. Pin and sew right sides together.

To attach the sleeves I pinned the bottom first then gathered the top to make them a little poofy. I knew I wanted the dress to have a smooth waistband so I cut out two 2 inch wide strips. Sewing the one on inside of the dress would cover the seems of the skirt and made it more comfortable. I had enough fabric on the outside waistband that to make a small bow.

 This is the dress I used as my guide! I think it turned out AWESOME!!