Making Jasmine costumes

I've realized that my sewing skills are pretty rusty. My stitching lines are a little crooked here and there. Ok, fine. They are crooked everywhere. Oh well. It's still fun!

I am using a variety of patterns. The pattern for the pants is a sweatpants pattern, and it is unbelievably high waisted! I'm annoyed about the waste of fabric, I've had to cut both pair of pants down several inches. Princess Jasmine does not wear her pants up around her rib cage. She should, but that's another story.



Since I'm using a light satin and organza, the raw edges are a constant battle to deal with. At first, I just sewed up a quick seam. Oh no, that won't work. I went back and trimmed and tucked the seam in and made a french seam out of it, well, sort of. It's all tucked in and neat now, even if it isn't done correctly. I don't think this backward french seam would win me a ribbon at the county fair.





After I spent some quality time tucking in my seams, I went with french seams the rest of the way through. They look much better, even if the stitching lines look like I was drunk when I was sewing along. I wasn't, I swear!

Honest, Ossifer, I'm not drinking while sewing! Did I do that?

The tops either need a lining or facing. I just hate to use satin facing since it just adds to the fraying problem and doesn't solve anything. I ran out of fabric to cut out linings though, and didn't find a matching color at the store. hmm. I came up with a solution! I zigzagged the seam, tucked it french style, used Fray-Check where I clipped the seams, and top-stitched it all down. Now, you can see the seam right through the organza. No problem! I thought of that!


Princess Jasmine has a lot of gold bling on her outfit, Disneyland Jasmine does, not movie Jasmine. I got some gold trim and will be trimming right over the visible seams. Poof, they are out of sight! I used a loopy decorative ribbon on the armholes and will use the same on the neckline, and I used a pretty beaded ribbon trim on the waist. I did not realize the ribbon was beaded too. I thought it would be quick and easy, just sew the ribbon and the beads will hang. Oh, not so easy! The ribbon is beaded too. I did a "stitch in the ditch" trick that I learned from quilting, worked great.

Well.... it worked great most of the time. Didn't work so well when I missed the ditch.


This is Gracie's top. It isn't done yet, but it's close. I forgot that my child has a big head, and didn't make an allowance for that little problem. I had her try it on and I managed to sqeeze her big melon through the head hole, but just barely. Otherwise, it fit just fine. I will be making a faced placket in the back so she can get her head in and out. Might come in handy. Then I'll finish it off with gold trim around the neckline to cover the visible interior seams.