Hey guys….it’s been more than an hour since my post this morning. I just KNEW it would take longer! ;) Oh, and if you have no idea what I’m talking about….I posted the Strawberry Costume winner and mentioned posting again later today. Anyway, go read that if you’re confused!
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Okay, onto today’s post. And my goodness, this one turned out so fun! Okay, I say that all the time but Star Wars isn’t necessarily my thing, but my husband loves it…and so does my 7-year-old Connor. So, it was fun to study the real R2-D2 and try to add detail to impress the 2 of them! :) And Chloe has never even see Star Wars bus she knows who the characters are (mostly because of her older brother) and she knows who is good and who is bad, etc. But when I made this little dress……she shrieked! But not only because she recognized R2-D2, but because it was a frilly DRESS!
Star Wars costumes are definitely popular with the boys and an occasional Princess Leia for the girls (I’m sure there are girls who dress the male roles, and that’s cool too)…..but how about really adding some girly flounce to R2-D2 and entice the girly-girls to participate in the Star Wars craze! Because if it doesn sparkel shine, or flounce my girls aren’t digging it……anyone else out there like that?!?!
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to show you how to create something a little more girly for your Star Wars costume theme this year, but we don’t actually need to keep another costume. So, once again, if anyone is interested, this one will be mailed off to one of YOU! More info on the giveaway of this costume down below!
This little dress is a cheater dress and is actually a really full circle skirt with a bib front that ties around the neck, kind of like an apron! And the reason for that, was to keep the nice rounded look of R2-D2…..so there would be no guessing as to who this was. Yep, it’s our favorite little droid from a few decades ago!
The bib top and skirt bottom also speed up the process for this “dress”…..because there are no sleeves, necklines, zippers, etc. And that’s pretty cool when it comes to making something that is only worn for dress-up!
But boy is the skirt portion flouncy. And twirly. And a whole lot of girly fun! (I decided to put one of our dress-up pettiskirts under to really fill out the skirt….and of course that makes it even more fun to wear!)
The whole dress is made from felt. Why, you ask? Well, felt is stiffer and helps give the skirt more of a flat (rather than gathered) surface to show off some of R2-D2’s details. Also, felt is pretty cheap….so that’s another perk. For a costume, it’s perfect!
The skirt portion has an adjustable tie in the back and another at the neck. All you need is a white Tee to wear underneath and an optional pettiskirt to wear underneath. And depending on your Halloween weather, you could wear a white long sleeved Tee and white leggings to help keep warm.
All I know is that this flouncy little dress definitely passed Chloe’s test. And caused her to dance and spin and do her little thing…..over and over and over!
Then, I brought out R2-D2’s friends……and Chloe had a ball pretending. And talking for the characters. And telling Darth Vader that if he kept talking so rude to her friends, she was going to “Pow!” his face with Yoda’s light saber.
Then, I handed her Luke and told her to have him battle it out with Yoda! She said, “uhhhh, no, these guys can’t fight. They’re BOTH good guys.”
What was I thinking?? Here, have Darth Vader back……he’s a “bad guy”!
So much fun!
And since Stars Wars is coming out with another movie, I’m sure their costumes will be filling the store shelves this year. But this one, my friends, won’t be there! So, hooray for another girl option for the Star Wars costume line up…that won’t be a thing like anyone else!
SO—
If you don’t sew, don’t have time to sew, or would rather not sew…….this costume is up for grabs! It would work for a 3 year old (and would be longer and maybe a little high up on the neck) up to probably a 8 year old (but would be a little shorter…..and possibly a little tight in the waist).
If you’d like the costume, leave a comment below (make sure you leave your email address in the comment form, not inside the actual comment, just the form) and let me know who you’d like this costume for! :) Hopefully it will work out for one of you! ****Giveaway closes Friday September 18th, 11:59 p.m.
Okay, and for those who’d like to just jump right in and make your own R2-D2 costume…let’s do it!
SUPPLIES:
- white felt (amount depends on size…but felt is very inexpensive, AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE)
- blue felt (not very much…1/4 yard is plenty, AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE)
- red felt (a tiny piece)
- silver costume fabric (1/4 yard is plenty…the stuff I bought from Joann’s was pretty sturdy, similar to canvas, with a shiny silver coating on it)
- white grosgrain ribbon, 1 1/2 inch wide (AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE)
- white grosgrain ribbon, 7/8 inch wide (AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE)
- blue Bias Tape, 1/2 inch double fold
- silver bias tape or 1/2 inch silver ribbon (to use as bias tape)
- lighter or candle (to heat seal the ribbon ends)
- epoxy glue (optional…more info on that below, AVAILABLE ONLINE HERE)
- sewing supplies (here’s a list of my favorite sewing supplies, in case you need a few ideas)
***Check out my Sewing Terms 101 post, for additional help.
Start off by measuring your subject’s waist. Then measure down from the waist and decide how long you want the skirt portion of the dress to be.
Now, draw a circle the size of your waist circumference onto your white felt and then measure out from the circle, the same dimension as your desired skirt length. Create a line for the outer circle and cut it out. (Refer to the Simple Circle Dress tutorial for cutting out a circle skirt.) Now, this is optional, but I really think it helped stiffen up the skirt…..but I cut out a second identical circle piece and placed them together, treating them as one.
Next, cut a line straight out from the inner circle (both circles together), that’s 3.5 inches long.
Then cut little triangle slices down to the length of the cut you made in the last step, which creates a larger triangle opening. (This is to give you some variance in how loose or tight the waistband of the dress can be.)
Now, grab a piece of the 1.5 inch wide ribbon and cut a piece that’s long enough to go around the waist and tie around the back, with ends as long as you’d like them.
Find the center of the ribbon piece and match it up with the center front of the skirt, which is opposite the triangle cut (and remember, the two circle layers are still stuck together, acting as one circle). Overlap the ribbon 1/2 inch over the the edge of the inner circle and sew them together. (To sew a straight edge to a curved edge, you have to sew a small section at a time and adjust both pieces frequently. While attaching them together, they should both be relatively straight while stitching them together.)
It will look a little wonky when the skirt is laying flat….
….but when the waistband is flat, that’s when the skirt falls in ripples, creating the fullness.
Now, cut another piece of 1.5 inch ribbon, that’s exactly the same length as the first one, and then sandwich it on the opposite side of the skirt, enclosing the upper edge of the felt skirt inside. Line up the ribbon edges exactly together, and then attach this 2nd piece of ribbon, using a 1/8 inch seam allowance from the bottom edge of the ribbon. This second piece of ribbon will now become OUTSIDE of the skirt. Because when you attach it, it will create a second row of stitching on the 1st piece of ribbon you attached….and it’s not as pretty!
Leave the upper edges of the ribbon open, and it should look like this when you lay the skirt flat…
But when you lift up the skirt and flatten out the waistband, it will look like this…
Now, moving onto the top section of the dress.
Cut out 2 pieces of white felt in a curved shape, that is as tall as you want it to hit your subject on the chest and then about as wide as the width of the skirt. (This section doesn’t need a seam allowance, so the size you cut it will be the actual dimension. So holding it up to your subject is helpful.)
Also, cut a piece of your silver fabric that has an identical curve as your felt pieces but is only about half as tall.
Place the silver piece on top of the 2 pieces of felt and tuck under the bottom edge of the silver fabric about 1/2 inch. Sew in place, right along the bottom edge of the fold.
Then, using your silver/grey bias tape (or your 1/2 inch silver ribbon), sandwich around the outer curve of this section, and sew in place. If you’re not super skilled with Bias Tape and sewing around curves, using the straight ribbon is a lot trickier. Using actual bias tape is a lot easier. (If you need it, here’s a Bias Tape tutorial that explains a lot more.)
Now, you can either look at a picture of the real R2-D2 online and pick and choose the details you want…..or scale it down like I did. Whatever sizes and placements you choose, lay them onto this section and decide how you want them. Then sew them in place, stitching nice and close to the edges of each piece. Cute, right??
Just be sure to keep the lower 1 1/2 inches free from anything because it will be tucked into the waist band later on.
Now, place a pin at the very center of the upper portion of the dress and then another pin at the very center front of the skirt (opposite the V notch in the back).
Slide the upper portion of the dress down in between the 2 layers of ribbon, sliding it all the way down to where the felt edge is from the skirt….making sure you match the 2 pins at the center marks.
Pin in place.
Then make sure the back ribbon is even with the top ribbon and sew along the very top edge of both ribbons, securing this top section to the dress.
Now, you can continue sewing the edges of ribbons together, all the way to the very ends, but I decided not to because that would stiffen up the ribbon and I wanted them to hang freely. So, I sewed out about an inch past the felt at both ends and then sewed a vertical line to connect the top seam and bottom seam. Then I heat sealed the ends of each ribbon piece with a lighter, so they wouldn’t fray.
Now, cut 2 pieces of 7/8 inch ribbon and heat seal one of the ends. Then attach the heat sealed ends to the back of the upper portion of the dress, for the neck strap. I sewed 2 stitches along the curve of the dress just so it wouldn’t be noticeable on the other side. Then, I placed dabs of epoxy glue to hold down the rest of the ribbon flap.
Now, be sure the bottom edge of the dress is even and that the 2 layers of felt match up…..and then attach your blue Bias Tape to the bottom edge of the skirt.
Now, cut out more piece of your fabric pieces to mimic the bottom half of R2-Dr.
I didn’t place the pieces exactly straight up in down next to each other, because the skirt ripples, so I angled the sections out just a bit.
Sew around each piece, just like you did with the upper portion. At the last minute, I decided that instead of sewing around those funny shaped silver pieces in the middle, I decided to use epoxy glue to secure them in place. Then I wondered if I could have glued down all of the pieces down. I’m just not sure how secure they’d be, or if they’d peel off. But, since it’s felt and really fuzzy, I bet it would work just fine. It’s up to you though….and might be a great time-saving option!
And that’s it!
A cute little flouncy R2-D2 dress! :)
Enjoy!
-Ashley
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Need a few other costume ideas??
OH, I would love this for my grand daughter!!!!!!! :) R2-D2 is this Nonni’s personal favorite! :)
Well, really, I want the costume for ME, but I will put my daughter in it so I can admire it instead. Oh my goodness the CUTENESS and I love the addition of the pedi-coat!! I think this is a fabulous inspiration for a RD D2 apron!!
R2 D2 … typing too quickly!
So cute. My daughter would loves it and it would be perfect to surprise her brother with at his Star Wars birthday party!!
This is PERFECT for my daughter is 2 (wears a size 3T-4T because she is so tall. My husband LOVES Star Wars and was just saying to me we need to figure out her Star Wars Halloween costume. :)
So cute. Would love to win this for either of my daughters
My daughter would love this, her brothers are doing star wars costumes this year.
Love it! Totally thinking of hacking that idea for a darth vader costume! We are doing star wars family costume this year too! This one would totally work for my petite 8 year old. (Or my 2 year old!) Such a great idea!!
My 4 year old would wear the costume to play with her Star Wars obsessed 6 year old brother. Love it!
I love this!! I have three little star wars obsessed girls, ages 2, almost 5 and almost 7 who would love it too!!
I just figured out what my three kiddos should be and LOVE being for Halloween. This past year, my oldest daughter was Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and she convinced her older brother (9) and younger sister (2) to join in and be a related character from Wizard of Oz. My son, was the tornado and my youngest girl was the Tin Man. They had so much fun. NOW i see this R2-D2 costume for little one and my brain is working overtime. Would love to win this for little bit. Very, very AWESOME!!!!!
I just figured out what my three kiddos should be and LOVE being for Halloween. This past year, my oldest daughter was Dorothy from Wizard of Oz and she convinced her older brother (9) and younger sister (2) to join in and be a related character from Wizard of Oz. My son, was the tornado and my youngest girl was the Tin Man. They had so much fun. NOW i see this R2-D2 costume for little one and my brain is working overtime. Would love to win this for little bit. Very, very AWESOME!!!!!
I would love this for my 4 year old daughter. She loves Star Wars (due to her older brother) but is a total girly girl. She only likes to wear dresses, ha! I can never find super girly Star Wars things. She would love this!
I would love to have this costume for my 6 year old daughter Abigail, she would love it!
This is exactly what I have been looking for. Her brothers will be other characters and she wants to be r2d2 but with some girly flair. I was having such a hard time finding something. Would love to win!
How perfect for my 6-year-old who says cool stuff isn’t just for boys! I love it!
Hello! Your costume is wonderful. I want it for my sister’s doughter. She and her brother loves Star Wars, so she be grateful.
Oh my GOODNESS! We are a Star Wars family & I would love this for my 3.5 year old. She would flip. So cute!!!!
I would love this for my daughter! Especially since her Star Wars obsessed brothers wants to be a Jedi this year!!
Oh MAN! I would love to win this for my younger daughter! Right now my kids have decided to be Luke, Leia, Yoda (that’s my 4 year-old daughter!) and the baby as an Ewok. But I just know she’d rather wear this adorable R2-D2 costume instead of Yoda!
I would love this!
Oh my word! We only have one boy in our house – daddy – but my girls have still decided the family is dressing up in Star Wars theme this year. This would be an amazing addition to our troop!
I would love this for my friend’s little girl–my boys and their friends have been planning their Star Wars costumes for months!
Madison would love this as Jackson is Darth Vader this year! So cute!!!!
I would love this for my daughter, but if it doesn’t fit her (she’s 8 1/2) then my BF’s daughter would love to have it too!
I’d love to give this to my daughter!
omg this is sooo cute! My oldest girl would love this. She’s the same age as your Chloe, and my husband and her just watched the first 3 original episodes and she loved them. She plays “star wars” now With my husband and her little sister, who’s always Darth Vader. Its hilarious watching them.
Your costume is amazing!!!!!! My daughter would love being a girly R2D2.
My daughter would go crazy for this costume! She collects R2 items and almost almost chose to dress as him for Halloween (but decided on Yoda instead). This would be a perfect birthday gift for her!
This is so cool!! Would love to win this!!
My daughter this is perfect we are huge Star Wars fans and my son is going to be darth vader !!
I would love to win this costume for my daughter Gracie! It is so awesome!
Oh my!!! This is adorable and so very creative! I would love to give one to my niece. I would actually love to wear one in my size!!! To cute
I was thinking about making one in my size! I have a cheapo r2d2 mini dress in polyester, but it isn’t the most appropriate outfit ;) but I could make a knee length skirt and some r2d2 features onto a t-shirt…
My girls would love this! Nice work!
I’d like it for my daughter.
Omg! I was excited when I saw the preview this morning. This is awesome! Would love to win it for my little girl … But she’s gotta be prepared for a jealous brother!
My daughter Olivia would love this! Her brother is going to be a storm trooper for Halloween and it would go perfect. I absolutely love how girly it is!
Ooooooohhhh! I want it! For my niece! :) [email protected]
My 3 year old would love this! She calls him “D2D2!” So adorable! Great idea! And thanks for thinking beyond the mainly male characters!
My little 5 year old Hailee would LOVE this for our first trip to Disneyland next month!!
My daughter Noelle would love this!! So would her daddy! He has turned her into a die-hard Star Wars fan!!
My daughter Atlee would love this costume! She would’ve so excited to dress up as a Star Wars family
Oh my goodness! I would love this for my almost 6 year old daughter! Her “virtual” twin brothers want to be Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper. The three would be adorable. The twirl of the skirt is fabulous! My daughter would be beside herself with joy.
I love your site and have been following you for years!! I have been thinking a Star Wars theme for my kids costumes this year. What an adorable R2-D2! This would be perfect for my 3 year old! My 5 year old would be the perfect Luke Skywalker and my 7 year old would be Princess Leia.
This would be so fun for my daughter to wear and pretend in!
I would love to win this dress for my daughter. My husband turns 40 this year and he is a HUGE Star Wars fan. I’m throwing him a Star Wars themed surprise party complete with outdoor movie screen to watch his favorite movie in the series. It would be amazing if my little girl had a dress like this to wear to her daddy’s party. she would be the star of the night!
Oh, my 3 year old daughter would adore this! We LOVE Star Wars. I was just thinking the other day about how there’s only one female original Star Wars character and wondering what my daughter could be to go with our family Star Wars theme this year!
My son’s dying to be a Jedi. This will go with his costume perfectly!
So cute! I’d love this for either my 3 year old or my 4 year old! I have my 4th baby due in October, so I was just wondering how I’d be able to get costumes ready for all 4 kids with a newborn in tow!
My daughter would love it!
Thank you so much for this tutorial; it is such a clever idea! You’ve given me so many ideas for my own R2D2 dress for my daughter. I would love to win this one for her, and yes, she loves to make all things girly, twirly and glittery. Although ever since I showed her the picture of the strawberry costume she’s been asking me where hers is, LOL.
Oh my goodness!! I have a three year old girl who loves twirly skirts and a husband who loves Star Wars. (we even had Star Wars music a part of our wedding ceremony) They would both get a huge kick out of this costume!
This is brilliant! Very well executed! Girly, but still truly R2D2. My kids walk around humming the Star Wars theme song (no nerds in our home…). My six year old and my three year old daughters would love this (and probably wear it daily). Their brother might even get a little jealous.
My just turned 3-year old daughter is totally obsessed with R2D2! It all started with a classic pencil eraser and she clung to it and thought it was great. We had a Star Wars birthday filled with all sorts of R2D2 gear. This would be an awesome costume for her this year!!
I would have my daughter wear it, she would love it!
My girls or my nieces would LOVE THIS!!!(which actual means me and my sister would?)
My middle daughter would LOVE this. She loves star wars! What a great costume. Great Job!!!
I’d love this for my daughter!!
I hope you get one!
What am adorable outfit! My little niece would look darling in this! We are huge Star Wars fans!
This would be beyond perfect for my daughter to wear this year since we are planning on the whole family dressing up with a Star Wars theme! We would be sooooooo happy if we won!! ;) Thanks, Ashley, for sharing your talents and offering such a fun giveaway!
Oh my goodness! Who I really want this for is ME! But I don’t think it would fit. .. so next best thing would be my daughter – that’s what kids are for right? To live vicariously through? Jk but I really do LOVE IT & so would she!
i have a 4 year old who would love this costume!! She would probably wear it everyday!! Lol
My daughter would love this costume! R2D2 is her favorite Star Wars character. She has wanted to be that character for Halloween and I couldn’t figure out how to make it girly. You nailed it!
Oh this costume would be absolutely perfect for my 4 year old girl Nolah who has inherited her father’s love for everything nerdy. I showed this costume to my husband and he replied with, “oh we will need to have a study session before she can wear this costume so she can know everything that r2d2 does.” Lol!
This is the most adorable thing ever! I smile every time I look at the pictures. Please enter us in the giveaway! We have a little one who would go crazy over this!
So cute! My 4-yr old daughter is really into Star Wars right now and would love this!
Sew creative ;) we love this…the girls would have a blast
Oh my goodness! My husband would flip if he saw this! We have a 2 year old daughter and a baby boy due in January. Our daughter already knows who her “friend” Luke is (action figure). My husband wants to decorate baby boy’s nursery in a Star Wars theme and I’m sure there will be Star Wars Halloween costumes in the future. So this R2D2 costume would be perfect!
I would love this for my Star Wars loving daughter who is 4! She would flip!!!!
I would LOVE to win this costume for my daughter!! I made an Anakin Skywalker for my nephew years ago that my son will be wearing so this will pair perfectly!!
this would be so fun for my little girl!! We are big Star Wars fans and this is too cute!!
I would love this for my granddaughter:)
I’d love to win this for my 3-year-old! She LOVES R2! Thanks for the entry!
My Daughter would love this ..
i have a four year old girl like you with an older brother super into star wars – and she wants to be included in the fun! thanks for the giveaway!
THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who wouldn’t want this!!! I am in love! Both of my girls would adore this! Good thing they are peanuts, it will fit! Not to mention a few other of their friends! What a great tutorial! So fantastic! Thank you so much for the giveaways!!!
My daughter would love this! She’s nearly 4, and we’ve called her R2 (last name starts with R and she’s our 2nd born) since birth. I just may have to try and make this, but it would be even better to win!
Love this and so would my six year old who is obsessed with star wars! So what is Chloe going to be????
My daughter would absolutely love this! With three older brothers she is a huge Star Wars fan!
I would love to win this for my 5 year old daughter! She loves R2-D2!! We have actually been searching for a costume for her and this one is perfect!! *fingers crossed*
So darling! My friend’s daughter wants to be R2D2, this would be perfect!!!!!
My girls would love this! We are all big star wars fans in this house.
Love love your site! i have been following you for years and have used multiple costumes from your site. I love to make my kids match in costume! This would be perfect for my 3 year old who would make an adorable R2 D2. Her brother as Luke Skywalker and big sister as Princess Leiea would be a perfect trio.
We’re huge Star Wars fans, especially my husband and my 6 yo daughter. Unfortunately, my sewing machine and me have a strained relationship. I would really love to win this for my daughter…she would be absolutely thrilled.
Love this costume! I’m not sure I will ever be brave enough to try making this, but would love to outfit my daughter as R2-D2!
My 7 year old loves watching Star Wars with her Daddy and me. She was Princess Leia for her 1st Halloween and wants to dress up as a family this year!!
We are definitely a Star Wars family! This would be perfect for my girl and for me (then I don’t have to think of anything for Halloween!)
The dress is “so awesome” says my granddaughter, Kaelyn and would love it!
Holy crap!!!! I totally need this for my girls with brothers! I could make it – you showed me exactly how- but I’m thinking yours is going to be cuter than mine could ever be. So let’s cheat and give it to me!!! Ps – we miss you in Denver! I know we didn’t hang out or anything, but I liked knowing you were breathing the same air!!
I would love to win for my daughter. Her birthday is on Halloween too.
This would be perfect for my granddaughter, Lucy!!
I love this. Absolutely love it. We have three girls and a boy and I can just imagine our 5 year old wearing this, making similar ones in other character for her sisters, and having their younger brother be Yoda. You are so talented. Thanks for sharing that talent with others who just wish we were that talented, and are working with what we have until we get better.
You are so awesome for doing these giveaways! This would be a super cool costume for my daughter :)
My 4 year old would love this. What a super cute idea. You are so creative.
This is so adorable! My kids are obsessed with Star Wars. This costume would be perfect for my 4 year old.
Loves this so much! My sweet 4 year old will love this!
My daughter would love this! What’s not to love about that skirt!! :)
My 4 year old would LOVE this dress!! Please enter us in the giveaway!
[email protected]
I’d love to win this for my daughter. She’s fascinated with the new BB-8 droid so I got her a small R2-D2 toy and she’s absolutely in love.
Creativity is Intelligence having fun! R2-D2, you are full of imaginative braininess! My daughter is 2 and wears 3T/ 4T and LOVES Star Wars with daddy and twirling with mommy. Our school is doing a star wars theme, I’m a science teacher, and STEM night is waiting for a costume like this. R2-D2, you have never looked so good!
With 3 brothers, my Zoey would love this!!