Why I Attempted These Dresses
My niece kept begging for Elsa and Anna costumes after watching Frozen for the millionth time. Store-bought ones looked cheap and flimsy, so I figured hey – how hard could sewing two fancy dresses really be? Spoiler: way harder than I thought.
The Material Disaster
First mistake was underestimating fabric. Elsa’s icy blue dress needed this shiny slippery nightmare fabric that kept sliding everywhere. Anna’s green velvet felt nice until I started cutting – that stuff sheds like crazy! Found glittery threads for Elsa’s snowflake patterns too. My living room looked like a craft store exploded after three days of prep.
- Bought 7 yards of blue satin (way too much)
- Velvet ate 3 pairs of scissors
- Glitter still in my hair weeks later
Sewing Nightmares
Started with Anna’s dress first since it looked simpler. Big error. Velvet stretches weird when sewing, and that criss-cross bodice pattern made me want to scream. Had to redo the front panel four times because I kept getting diagonal lines uneven. When I finally nailed it, my sewing machine jammed with glitter thread. Took an hour to clean all those tiny sparkles out of the gears.
Elsa’s cape was another beast. That slippery fabric? It kept folding itself while sewing. Had to hand-stitch sections while watching Frozen songs on YouTube for reference. By hour five, my hands were shaking and I kept humming “Let It Go” like a zombie. The beading almost broke me – sewed individual crystals until 3am while drinking cold coffee.
Final Showdown
After two weeks of this madness, I tried assembling Elsa’s sleeves. Somehow made one bigger than the other like some lopsided snowman. Had to cut new sleeves at midnight while questioning my life choices. The final fitting? Both dresses turned out wearable but man, they’re not perfect. Anna’s skirt sits a bit crooked, and Elsa’s cape tries to strangle you when you turn fast.
Was It Worth It?
Honestly? Probably not. Spent over $200 on materials and countless hours. My niece loved them for five minutes before demanding chocolate. But hey, learned to never work with glitter velvet again. Next time I’m telling her auntie only makes pillowcase dresses. Got photos though – will survive as funny memory after my hand cramps stop hurting.
