Tatulinka's Tales: The Belle Dress

I have been a bit absent in the online world recently, and will probably continue to be for a few weeks yet! Unfortunately my reason for this isn't as exciting as Casey's - I just have a thesis due soon, plus a whole bunch of other assignments/tests/other uni stuff to work on...

Meanwhile, my sewing plans were put on hold this week, when I realised I had a fancy dress ball to go to on Saturday night, and no costume!! The theme was animated characters, so, obviously, I went for a Disney princess! Belle has colouring closest to mine, but I have never been a fan of her yellow ballgown, so I decided I'd wear her blue day dress:

Screenshot from YouTube

I bought some old bed sheets and managed to whip myself up a dress and an apron over a few nights. Towards the end, there were many short cuts taken, but it turned up all right if I do say so myself!! I had planned on making a blouse as well, but luckily I found one I already had that did the job. I was running late, so I only managed to take a few pictures beforehand. There might be a few more of me taken by others floating around, I'll see if I can find any :)

I was literally the Belle of the ball ;)

And here is what you need to know:

Fabric: 2 second hand bed sheets (~$1)
Pattern: Dress pattern 8736 from March 1956 Australian Home Journal. No pattern for apron.
Features: The dress has back, waist and bust darts, a round neckline, a gathered skirt and a side zip. The apron is simply a gathered piece on a waistband.
Alterations: The dress pattern was for a 36" bust. I cut it out without adding seam allowances, but added around an inch to the bodice, and cut the straps super long, so I could adjust them before sewing to the right length. I sewed the straps together instead of making the button closure. I ended up taking in the side seams about 2 inches at the bust, tapering to an inch at the waist.
Notions: 1 zipper (~10c)
Total price: ~$1.10

If everyday clothing is cake, and special occasion dresses are frosting, I wonder if sewing a costume is like sprinkles?? Hehe.

Which leads me on to a few links I'd like to share:

Everyone seems to be posting about wanting to sew a wardrobe of versatile, useful clothing! Sunni posted another great piece in her "Everyday Wardrobe" series, Mika posted about the goals she has set in sewing her Autumn/Winter wardrobe, and Scared Stitchless points out that buying the fabric that catches your eye will usually not result in your dream wardrobe!
Oona gave a real world example of different proportions working for different people (though I think she looks amazing in anything!)
I received Gertie's book this week!! Still unsure about buying it? There is a great review here!
And finally, there are more participants listed for the Patterns and Postcards swap! I promise I will post more of my patterns very, very soon! :)