18 inch Doll Faerie Costume Tutorial

I received exciting news from Tina at C&T  that she will be attending an event at Pottery Barn Kids and they are  interested in my book. The craft event is in October at their Costa Mesa, California store – in the South Coast Plaza. They had planned to make something from my book at the event, but there are no sewing machines at the event. Tina asked if I had a non-sewing doll craft for her to teach kids at the PBK craft activity event, so I designed this non-sewing craft for their event. Since the PBK craft event is in October, I thought it only appropriate to have the kids make a Halloween costume for their dolls ♥

For years my daughter was absolutely in love with Faeries. She had Fairy dolls, Fairy paper dolls, Fairy books, clothes made from Faerie fabric. She made Fairy homes in the backyard hoping to invite fairies to come live in our yard. She had several fairy birthday parties. And of course, I made her a fairy costume for Halloween one year.

My “no-sew” craft and its tutorial are inspired by the crown I made for her all those years ago, using round elastic cording headband and organdy ribbons. [that was during the pre-digital camera days or I would definitely post a picture cuz she was a completely adorable rainbow fairy!  ]

Here’s the craft tutorial that I created for Pottery Barn Kids and C&T to teach to the children participating in the event.

18 inch Doll Faerie Costume Tutorial

What you’ll need:

For the crown, you will need:

1 piece of elastic cord, 14 inches long

60 to 80 pieces of sheer organdy ribbon, 1/4 inch or 3/8 inch wide, each 4 inches long (You’ll need 80 pieces when using 1/4″ wide ribbon)

5 to 9 pieces of organdy ribbon, 1/4 inch or 3/9 inch wide, each 20-24 inches long

For the tutu, you will need:

1 piece of elastic cord, 14 inches long

Short tutu (shown in blue):

30-35 pieces of 3/4″ or 1 inch wide organdy ribbon, each 9 inches long

Long Tutu (shown in pink):

30-35 pieces of 3/4″ or 1 inch wide organdy ribbon, each 14 inches long

To make the crown:

Step 1

Place the elastic cord on the table.

Fold a ribbon piece in half, keeping the ends together. Place it under the elastic, with the loop at the top.

Folding the ribbon over the elastic cord, put the ends through the loop in the ribbon and pull tight.

Step 2

Continue to tie the ribbon pieces onto the elastic cord, sliding them together as you work. You should cover about 11 inches or so of the elastic with ribbons.

Step 3

Once all the ribbons have been added, trim the ribbons to 3/4 to 1 1/4 inches long. It looks best if the ribbons are cut to slightly different lengths and are cut diagonally.

For the crown, you may want to separate the ribbon ends to help it look more crown-like.

Step 4

Tie the ends of the elastic cord together to form a loop. Tie the knot at the point where the ribbons meet, as shown in step 5.

Step 5

Take the long ribbons and place them across the knot in the elastic. Tie another knot in the elastic over the ribbons to secure the ribbons in place. Carefully trim the extra elastic cord.

Tie at least 2 of the ribbons into a bow.

Your Fairy Crown is ready for your doll to wear.

To make the tutu:

Step 1

Tie the ribbons onto the elastic cord, just as it’s done for the tutu. (Follow Step 1 in the crown instructions)

Step 2

Continue to tie the ribbon pieces onto the elastic cord, sliding them together as you work. You should cover about 10 1/2″ of the elastic with ribbons. Tip: you don’t need the ribbons to be as bunched together as you do on the crown.

Step 3

Once all the ribbons have been added, tie the ends of the elastic cord together, at the point where the ribbons meet. Trim any extra elastic.

Step 4

You can trim any ribbons that hang awkwardly long. Your doll’s tutu is all done.

Here’s the shorter version:

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. It brought back some very fond memories of my faerie adoring daughter’s younger days. This would make a great craft for a Fairie-themed birthday party, too! Or make crowns for the children as party favors! We had many fairy themed parties and they always were such great fun!

Enjoy!

Update: this event has been rescheduled for January 11. Remember to let Pottery Barn Kids know that you would like to be able to buy my book through their stores and websites. Ask them to pass it on to their buyers! I love giving DIY-style craft books to kids for birthday gifts–let’s them get crafty and foster their creativity!