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Think you’re fast at building a castle in Minecraft or great at putting together a killer cosplay outfit? Beat these guys: Callum Knight of London, UK, built a castle in Minecraft creative mode […]

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The Princess Costume is a classic for a reason! Who doesn’t want to dress like a princess? It’s simple to create your own no-sew princess costume for use as a Halloween costume, or just for everyday pretend play. 

Even if you don’t sew, this princess costume idea is perfectly simple to construct. You can make this princess dress in under an hour using a few no-sew tricks. The main requirements for a great-looking princess dress are proper length and the right color, so let your child help you pick out the perfect color of fabric and ribbon for a dress she’ll just love.

Don’t let these instructions stress you out! You’re basically making a tube of fabric with elastic. You can do it!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which may provide a small percentage of any purchase you make when clicking on the links, at no additional cost to you.

DIY Princess Costume Materials:

• 1 yard of fabric (color of your—or your child’s—choice)
• 1 spool of coordinating ribbon
• fusible fabric webbing tape (I used Stitch Witchery)
• ¼-inch wide elastic (length depends on your child’s measurements)
• safety pin
• hot glue gun
• hot glue sticks
• scissors
• iron
• measuring tape
• ribbon (at least 36-inches long)

Princess Costume Instructions:

Adjusting the Size: This dress fits a 5T nicely, but if you want to make a different size, measure from your princess’s armpits down to the tops of her feet and get your fabric cut to that length. Once you add the casing and the bottom hem, the dress should be about 3-inches above her feet, to keep her from tripping.

1. Iron the fabric to remove excess wrinkles and creases. Open up the fabric and lay with right side down. You should have a rectangular piece of fabric with two raw edges and two finished edges. Fold over one raw edge about 1-inch and iron to crease. After fabric is creased, iron a piece of fusible fabric webbing tape under the crease and fuse fabric according to package instructions. This is the hem of the dress.

2. With fabric still right side down, fold the other raw edge over about 2-inches and iron to crease (this will be the edge opposite the hem). Use your hot glue gun to glue just the very edge of the 2-inch fold, leaving a casing. You will run the elastic through this casing later, so be sure to leave an unglued area wide enough to eventually feed through a safety pin and the elastic.

3. Lay fabric out flat with right side up. Fold in half so that the plain edges meet. Hot glue the two plain edges together to form the back seam. You should now have a tube of fabric with the hem at the bottom, the casing at the top, and a seam at the back. The dress will be inside-out.

4. Leave dress inside out for now. Flatten the dress so the seam is in the middle back. Cut a 24-inch piece from your ribbon. Fold the ribbon in half to find the middle. Hot glue the very middle of the 24-inch piece of ribbon to the front-center of the dress (over the casing) so it forms a V. This will be a halter strap to keep the dress from falling down.

5. Turn dress right side-out. Flatten dress so seam is in the middle back. Take your remaining piece of ribbon (about 12-inches depending on your child’s size) and fold it in half to find the middle of the ribbon. About 6-inches down from the top of the dress, squirt a 4-inch line of hot glue horizontally on front of dress, and attach the center of the ribbon to the line of hot glue. This will fix the ribbon waist ties to the dress.

6. Use the measuring tape to measure around your child’s chest right at the armpits. Add 2-inches and cut a length of ¼-inch elastic using that measurement. Attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic, and thread through the casing at the top of the tube. When the elastic is threaded completely through the casing, tie ends of elastic together.
 

7. To wear the dress, the elasticized top will be pulled up to the armpits. Tie the neck ribbon around the back of the neck halter-style. Take the long waistband ribbons and criss-cross them around the body as many times as you can and tie at the back or the front.

No Sew Princess Costume Tips

What to Wear With This Costume: Pair this dress with a long-sleeved top or t-shirt underneath, and add tights for warmth while trick-or-treating.

Accessorize: Be sure to glam this dress up with the right accessories. Every princess needs a crown, jewelry, a wrap or feather boa. You can find most of these things at the dollar store or your local department store, or craft them up yourself.

Fabric choices: Plain cotton is the cheapest option, and the easiest to work with in terms of ironing. Polyester can come in many different finishes, and can look very shiny and princess-y, and will have a good drape and fluidity. You can find inexpensive costume fabrics at your local fabric store that will work nicely. You can add additional ribbons and trim to fancy it up as much as you like.

Washability: You can actually wash this garment, even though it’s constructed with hot glue! Hang to dry.

The post No-Sew Princess Costume Tutorial appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

BGN recently had the opportunity to chat with the women of Black Lightning about season 2, while on a recent set visit. It is the ultimate dream of any talent or writer to be a part of a show where the executive producers and showrunners genuinely consider their talent’s perspectives, have diverse writing rooms, and create an atmosphere on set amongst the production crew that inspires the work of the talent involved. All of the women concur that what showrunners and executive producers Salim and Mara Brock-Akil are creating is of great magnitude. It is shifting paradigms and putting images on the television screen that are giving an open invitation to others to see things differently.

In season 2, Black Lightning fans will see transparent characters who do not always have it all together. Salim Akil and Mara Brock-Akil have come to the forefront of creating women who are strong and complex. As women acting in the Black Lightning series, they all express gratitude for being a part of something that allows them to tell well-informed and great stories.

Christine Adams (Lynn Pierce), Nafessa Williams (Anissa Pierce) and China Anne McClain (Jennifer Pierce) all unanimously agree that it is the magic that is happening in the writer’s room that affords them the opportunity to bring such real, transparent and relatable characters to life in a way that is influential and meaningful. They see the opportunity to showcase female characters who are strong physically and mentally, as a privilege.

Lynn Pierce is not just a mom who cares deeply for her daughters. She’s a well-respected medical researcher who is not afraid to do what needs to be done to protect her community and stand beside her daughters, yet she gets to be vulnerable and soft. Anissa Pierce is an extremely, intelligent part-time teacher who studies medicine, and is a proud lesbian. Jennifer Pierce is a smart, beautiful teenager who does not shy away from having a good time, and she’s refreshingly far from perfect.

The women of Black Lightning concur that telling authentic stories about people who are real, who matter, and that showcasing practical beauty makes a positive and powerful impact on women and young girls. Lastly, all of the women purport that working with creative teams that strive for and have a genuine passion for deeper cultural and human understanding has a great influence on the work that talent brings forth.

Adams, states that “I’m basically not wearing any makeup in my scenes, and that speaks to the authenticity of the show. You know, not everyone’s hair is always done.” The Pierce women are naturally beautiful, and the team wanted to showcase women who were not overly made up.

Adams stated that when she auditioned for the role she wore a wig because she just assumed that’s what they would have wanted. “So, I got the job. Went in the first day with real, cropped short hair. Salim was like…that’s what we want!” Adams states that many will still come up to her, and talk with her about her natural hair and what it means to them. “The impact has been huge”. Adams boldly asserts that being given that space to look and feel as real as possible makes the narrative so much richer.

China Anne McClain who plays the youngest Pierce daughter is reluctant to embrace her talents. She says of her character that she’s glad that Jennifer is reluctant because it gives her character more of an arc. Oftentimes, we see images where the character easily submits to the obligation or responsibility that comes along with a gift or talent. The beautiful thing about Jennifer in season 2 of Black Lightning is that her struggle is showcased. We get to see the painful and uncomfortable journey of a real teenage girl who just wants to live her life and have fun. This makes for a more realistic story, and this type of narrative is just as authentic.

Not everyone has a smooth transition when embracing new things, experiences or gifts. Jennifer’s narrative explores this difficulty in a manner that is necessary is real and relatable for those who may be struggling in this area. McClain states, “Thunder is like the complete opposite. She accepts the obligation. She loves that she has superpowers, and I like that Jennifer is the complete opposite side of the coin.” It shows that sisters can grow and develop differently, and still support one another. “Thank God that we have people like the Akils’ running our show because they let us have a say in our characters. If the way something is written doesn’t feel right, they let us change it or have input. And, I love that.”

In Black Lightning, the women have such a strong voice. As Anissa Pierce, Williams is wholeheartedly embracing her opportunity to tell stories that matter to communities that are often marginalized. While we had the opportunity to see Anissa embrace her superpowers in season 1, in season 2 be prepared to see a more mature superhero who doesn’t need validation.

On playing an intelligent teacher and med student who happens to be a lesbian Williams states, “I believe as a Black woman, and as a Black woman in this industry wanting to see more of myself and more of my people…lesbians and gay, LGBTQ people are no different. Those stories need to be told. So, I could care less if somebody judges me, or what people think of me telling this story…I am an artist, and I want to tell all stories.”

When asked about feminism, Williams made it clear that she feels women are to support one another.  She feels that women should not compete like they have been conditioned to do in the past, but rather “Support each other and love on each other a little bit more. We’ll get there quicker, together.”

On what makes this role different from any other role that she has played, Williams proudly declares, “Black little girls are seeing superheroes who look like them, with cornrows! I feel like I am walking in my purpose.” All of the women that BGN chat with on the set visit shared this same sentiment.

Season two of Black Lightning airs at 9 PM EST on the CW.

The post BGN Interview: Christine Adams, Nafessa Williams and China Anne McClain of ‘Black Lightning’ appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.