DIY BEDSHEET PRINCESS LEIA COSTUME (A Tutorial)

The theme for this past New Year’s party was Celebrities Who Died in 2016 and we couldn’t let Carrie Fisher go unrepresented. So I grabbed a couple sheets up from the thrift store and did a quick Princess Leia white dress. I ended up double layering it because the white sheet I got was sheer and the other sheet I got was off-white. But the tutorial is worded for one layer.

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TUTORIAL

(Some of the photos are a little blurry since I took them with my phone as I went.)

MATERIALS:

-Thrifted White Sheet (full size or larger -I used full size)

-Velcro (or hook and eye)

-White Bias Tape Remnant (about ten inches; not required)

-Interfacing remnant (about 15-20 inches long by 6 inches wide)

-Scissors

-Iron

-Measuring Tape

-Thread

-Sewing Machine

-Pins

1. [Skip this step if you have a top sheet]. I only found fitted sheets in white, so they had to be unfitted before proceeding.

Use a seam ripper to open up part of the hem and pull out the elastic. OR cut the hem off (if you aren’t worried about saving every inch for length. I’m 5’5” and the full-sized sheet seemed to be a decent length).

Cut open the seams on the corners. (This will allow the sheet to lay flat.)

PRESS THE HEM/EDGE to get out the wrinkles from being elasticated.

2. FOLD THE SHEET IN HALF WIDTH-WISE (so that the longest side of the sheet is halved -this is for a full-size. I believe Queen size may be square).

FOLD IN HALF LENGTHWISE (so that you now have four layers and two folded sides).

3. MEASURE ARM LENGTH FOR SLEEVE & CHEST LENGTH (from shoulder to a couple inches beneath armpit)

TRANSFER MEASUREMENT TO FABRIC BY MEASURING IN FROM UNFOLDED SIDE EDGE (sleeve length) AND DOWN FROM FOLD#1 (chest length)

DRAW LINE FOR SLEEVE, WIDENING AS YOU APPROACH UNFOLDED SIDE AND BOTTOM EDGE

CUT ALONG LINE, MAKE A CLASSIC T-SHIRT SHAPE

CUT REMNANT INTO TWO RECTANGLES, RESERVE FOR COLLAR AND HOOD.

4. MEASURE NECK. Add 2 inches for overlap. This is your COLLAR MEASUREMENT. Divide the Collar Measurement by 4 to get NECKLINE MEASUREMENT. Using a soft measuring tape, create the neckline on a curve to the NECKLINE MEASUREMENT. CUT.

OPEN OUT FOLD #2. ON BACK OF GARMENT, MEASURE DOWN FIVE INCHES (from CENTER of neckline).

CUT ALONG PLACKET LINE (through BACK LAYER only)

FINISH PLACKET using scrap of BIAS TAPE or by NARROW HEMMING or with SERGER/OVERLOCK

5. MAKE HOOD The hood supposedly is more of a tube (not closed in the back). Take TWO of the large rectangles of scrap leftover from creating the T shape (there should’ve been four layers/rectangles). PLACE them RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER and SEW a seam along the shorter end, finishing with SERGER or FRENCH SEAM or etc (if desired).

FINISH LONG EDGES if you did not reserve the sheet hem.

You should now have ONE HOOD PIECE, vaguely rectangular (you may want to curve the seam/top of the head part to fit better).

GATHER RAW EDGES (with long machine stitches or hand basting). PIN RAW EDGES TO NECKLINE, PULLING UP GATHERING STITCHES, so that the hood it even with the placket in the back but leaves a few inches space in the center front. BASTE HOOD TO COLLAR. REMOVE PINS

6. MAKE COLLAR by taking another one of the four remnant pieces. MEASURE the neckline of the garment and add seam allowances. CUT A RECTANGLE to this length with a width of 6 INCHES (which includes ½ inch seam allowances). CUT ONE OF INTERFACING (fusible light to medium garment weight recommended). FUSE/SEW INTERFACING TO WRONG SIDE OF COLLAR

RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER, FOLD COLLAR IN HALF LENGTHWISE & SEW ENDS WITH ½ INCH SEAM ALLOWANCE. TURN AND PRESS.

SEW RAW EDGE OF COLLAR TO NECKLINE OVER GATHERED EDGE OF HOOD. FINISH SEAM & PRESS.

7. ATTACH VELCRO TO BACK OF COLLAR. Hooks on side that will overlap. Loops on side that will underlap.

8. TRY ON (with belt) and ADJUST SLEEVE LENGTH. FINISH ANY EDGES/HEMS THAT ARE STILL RAW. (I kept the original sheet hem in several places).

9. RESIST THE EMPIRE!

BELT

I ended up using a piece of twill because it’s sturdier and the remnants of the sheet would have to be pieces. The belt shape can be easily replicated with just one piece that looks like this…

1. MEASURE WAIST. AND FIGURE OUT LENGTH NEEDED.

2.CUT ONE OF FABRIC AND OF INTERFACING

3. FUSE INTERFACING TO BACK OF BELT

4. FOLD IN HALF LENGTHWISE (along dotted line in pic).

5. SEW RAW EDGES (ends and length, leaving hole for turning).

6. TURN AND PRESS. STITCH UP HOLE.

7. ADD VELCRO TO ENDS, ADJUSTING FIT.

8. ADD METALLIC DETAILS (hers are geometric panels of silver metal… I didn’t have any gray fabric but do have a stash of old fashion belts. So I just attached one of those.)

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