What the heck is a Pirate Princess anyway?

So, my daughter decided that she wants to be a pirate princess for Halloween this year. She informed me that she would like her costume to be purple as well. I didn't have much to go on, seeing as how I have no idea what a pirate princess is, so I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. I found several ready-made pirate costumes for little girls that were frankly rather slutty looking. I don't know when Halloween became Skankoween, but I do not approve. So I started looking for DIY costumes and found a TON of adorable inspiration. I sat down and put together a sketch, combining things that I'd seen and loved and came up with this:

For the life of me, I can't get this damn photo to rotate the right way.

The back side of the blouse

Please don't mock my lame ass drawing skills. It's been ages since I've sketched anything.

So, I've been working on this costume piece by piece over the last few weeks in between another huge project of costume making. I made the blouse first. To make the blouse, I used a shirt that fit my daughter fairly well and fashioned my pattern off of that. From then on, I was pretty much winging it. Sometimes, my best work comes from that. I am really happy with how it turned out. Its tailored in the front and buttons down in the rear and looks freaking adorable on her.


Then I put together a tiered skirt made from stretch velvet and tulle. I had to redo the bottom tier twice and I'm still not thrilled with how it turned out, but I have to keep reminding myself that its for a costume and I need to not be such a perfectionist.

I wasn't able to find the prints I wanted to make the handkerchief skirt but I did find some cute fat quarter fabric that worked perfectly. I cut the fat quarters into perfect squares and hemmed the raw edges, then I followed this tutorial to make the final product: Snips & Spice: Handkerchief Skirt
I also made a pair of bloomers to go under the skirts. You won't be able to see the bloomers in the final costume, but I felt they were necessary, plus I just really wanted to make them. Here is the tutorial I used for the bloomers: Sew Easy Being Green: Rectangle Bloomers

I was able to find the perfect Pirate boots on Zulily.com for about $14.00 and they will be great fall/winter boots for The Bug in the months to come. They turned out to be exactly what I had drawn. I was pretty stoked about that!

Finally, I made the pirate hat. I took at pattern that I had for a reversible bucket hat and made the brim 6 inches wide instead of the the original 3.5inches. I made the hat from heavy duty craft felt. I lined the bucket portion with the same fabric I used for the bloomers. You won't be able to see this, but it adds a little stiffness to the top and also makes for a softer feel inside. The Bug has tactile stress and would end up ripping the hat off if it was too itchy. I took some dark purple bias tape and ran it around the edge of the brim for a spark of color. I then placed the hat on my mannequin head and shaped it into the Tricorne shape. I hand stitched the sides to the top to keep them in place and then added a little pirate skull applique for flair. I still need to get a giant purple feather to go on it, but I'm running out of time for that one. Here is the finished hat:

Tricorne Pirate hat from a Bucket Hat Pattern

There are a few more touches I'd like to add to finish the project. My hubby wants to make a bandoleer and a sash to go with it. She has a little foam sword to carry and definitely needs the sash so she has somewhere to store the sword. All in all, I am thrilled with the outcome of the costume. I am pretty grateful that we live in an area where it will be warm for Trick or Treat, otherwise I'd probably have to make a grand, double breasted, privateers coat. . . on second thought that might be fun! I better get on that.

Here is a pic of the almost finished product:

The Bug in her Pirate Princess Costume (not quite complete)

I'll post more photos when we are fully dressed and ready to go! Thanks for taking the time to read! And feel free to pin and share!
Much love!