Princess Leia DIY Costume

Princess Leia is definitely one of my favorite princesses. I made this costume last year but still wanted to post it, even though I didn't snap that many pictures. For the fabric, I found a white suit material that turned out to be extremely durable. She went rolling in grass right after finishing it and to my amazement, not a mark. It's really worn in now but there aren't any stains on it. I'm not sure what the exact blend was, but I'll be on the lookout for the same fabric and will post it if I find it again.

I used Burda pattern 9541 and sketched my own pattern for the belt.

The dress was pretty simple and I followed the pattern exactly. This definitely was one of my earlier pieces and the edges were a little rough. Of course, she never noticed or cared. She has spent hours and hours in the dress.

Here is the back latch:

For the belt, the below pattern is the basic design that I used. I cut this shape in the white fabric, not on the fold. There was 2 long pieces of white fabric, each one about 24" long by 4" wide at the edges. The point will be wider.

I purchased some silver fabric to look like metal. I cut 4 pieces of silver fabric with the dimensions of 4" by 3". For the other two pieces that included the point, I used the center of the pattern and traced the same height but 4 1/2" wide.

On the 2 shorter sides of all 6 pieces, I ironed 1/2" under. Then, I pinned the silver pieces onto each long white piece, but didn't sew them on. I put the right sides together of the whole belt and sewed the 2 long edges with 1/2" seam.

I turned the belt inside out which was a little tricky. Then I sewed the shorter sides of each silver pieces close to the edge and going through both top and bottom silver pieces. Sewing it after the long edges are sewn will ensure that it doesn't puff out. So, I actually sewed through two pieces of silver material and two pieces of white. The belt should then lay flat.

I finished the two open edges by ironing them over 1/2" and sewing the fabric down. I would do a much nicer job of this now, but it got the job done. To hold the belt together, I added iron-on velcro. Finished, the belt was 23" long.