Princess Sophiia Dress

My little  niece Sophiia is turning five this year and starting school (WHAT?) for her birthday I decided I'd make her a princess dress, as I'm pretty sure she thinks she is a princess.

When Rich and I were at home at Christmas last year, she told me all about a Disney Princess called "Sophia the First" who she obviously loves (she received a Sophia the First art set for Christmas).

When I saw a couple of metres of Sophia the First fabric going cheaply on a facebook fabric destash group I'm part of I thought I better snap it up for Sophiia. I guess Sophia the first isn't as popular as the likes of the "Frozen" crowd. Although I'm not sure, I've never seen Frozen, in fact I don't think I've really seen a Disney movie since "The Lion King".

When I told my brother I had this fabric he assured me that Sophiia would "go insane" if I made her a dress from it, so that kind of sealed the deal.

The next question was what pattern to use, I've picked up a few kids patterns from various op shops as they are useful things to have on hand for making presents. However, all the patterns I had were pretty much practical, day to day clothes rather than princess dresses.

However, when I was checking out the craft books at Whitcoulls I found this very sweet book - "Girls World" it has some cute dresses for girls as well as some craft projects and things like quilts and cushions. Also it was on special so cost less than a new princess dress pattern would have so I  decided to snap it up.

The dress I decided to make for Sophiia is the dress that features on the cover of the book "Mary's fancy sash dress". It's a simple fit and flare type dress (although not too much on the fit, as its for little girls after all). I mostly decided to make it because it included a big sash and that just screams princess to me.

Here' the finished dress, now Sophiia is five I can't use Kuromi as a model anymore. I'm not really sure a coat hanger shows the dress off very well though.

I just have to say, Sophiia is quite tall but this pattern called for the most extraordinarily long skirt, I took about 5cm off the bottom and then when Rich saw it he said "I hope that's not too long for her". I figure worst case scenario my mum can shorten it a bit more.

Finally, the dress with a sash - because Princess dresses  are ALL about big bows, you HAVE to have a bow!

I'm going to post this dress home later this week so fingers crossed its a winner. As for the pattern itself, apart from the length of the skirt issue it was a really great pattern to use, very clear and no issues. The patterns in the book range from 2-3 years up to 12-14 so I can see myself using this book a lot for Sophiia and also for other friends that have daughters. I just wish it was as easy to find cool things to make for little boys.

Hope you've all had a good weekend - I've been to Porirua today to buy some trims and other exciting bits for a Kawaii costume I'm working on for an event in September!

One time I went to Disney World

I grew up like pretty much every other kid in the western world watching Disney movies and Micky Mouse and Donald Duck cartoons (Duck Tales was a personal favourite), and of course I wanted to visit Disney Land. I mean what kid wouldn't? You got to go on all the rides you wanted, eat junk food and meet your favourite characters. Sounds pretty much like a child's paradise!

However as I got older and studied things like capitalism and realised where all that cheap stuff they sell at The Warehouse (or Walmart or whatever your local equivalent may be) was made and how it was made and who made it - things like Disney, Reebok, McDonalds and Coca cola lost their appeal pretty quickly.

However, when I was traveling through the USA an my friend Dani said we should meet at Disney World in Florida I decided I SHOULD go - I mean Disney is SO American. It would be fun - I would just have to check my socialist worldview at the door. 

So at Disney World there are four parks and we chose to visit three of them - Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Three parks over two days was pretty epic, you can actually buy 8 day passes to Disney. I'm not sure how people could spend that many consecutive days at Disney and not have some kind of mental break down. Every this is just so MUCH and its just really EXHAUSTING (especially in the hot sun).

But before I show you pictures of the park - let me show you our amazing hotel. Dani booked this place for us and it cost like US$60 a night. She got a pretty sweet deal! I could have just hung out in this hotel for three days and been happy.

The first park we visited was "Magic Kingdom" which Dani described to me as being "basically what everyone thinks Disney is" (Dani is a Disney World Veteran) and she was totally right. Magic Kingdom had all the rides you think of when you think of Disney theme parks like "It's a small world" and "Space Mountain" (Which is the BEST). Get ready for a photo overload -we spent a FULL day at Magic Kingdom after all!

 This was my two-day pass for Mickey - I was kind of hoping to get Donald, but Goofy is ok too as he reminds me of Kramer from Seinfeld for some reason.

 There were a million gift stores - I really liked the stores that sold baked goods. So amazing!

 The first ride we did was "Carousel of Progress" - which was the first of many, many animatronic experiences.

 Dani and I - looking adorable. That's what we do!

 So we had to do the "It's a small world after all ride" because its the iconic Disney thing to do.

 Slightly blurry version of the New Zealand part of "It's a small world" - not a cringe worthy as I expected. Although my picture ended up being a little blurry.

 We visited the Haunted Mansion - as Disney is "kid friendly" it wasn't as creepy as my dark heart desired. But still pretty fun.

 Sometimes you have to go onto the souvenir stands and try on the merchandise and take cute photos - that's the rules.

 Rapunzel's Castle - it was pretty impressive. 

Since going to Disney World a lot of my American friends have told me that the Peter Pan ride was their favourite when they went to Disney as a child. It is pretty fun and cute!

 Cinderella's Castle (and about a million tourists!). I liked the fancy mosaic in the castle.

 We finished up the night with a ride on Dumbo - because who wouldn't!

 Actually I lie - we had to try on mouse ears one more time and look adorable!

Day two we decided to head to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. First up Epcot which is kind of like an experience the whole world in one park kind of place.

 Inside the big golf ball like object was a fun ride about the progress of human kind - with more animatronics (everything is better with animatronics)

In Epcot you could drink all the fizzy drink your tummy could handle from these international soda fountains. In this photo I think I'm drinking the one from China and its not delicious (although I may not be a good judge as I don't drink fizzy drinks in general).

 There were a lot of exceptionally well manicured gardens at Epcot - it was nice to see some greenery.

We went on this ride and it was amazing - just amazing!! I found the movie on you tube so you can get some idea of just how incredible it is, but its nothing like watching it in 3D!

 Before I left New Zealand Dani offered to book us a restaurant for lunch in Epcot (or one of the Disney Parks) I chose this aquarium themed restaurant.

 After eating fish at the restaurant (well I ate fish) we went to check out the finding Nemo ride which included an aquarium!

 Then it rained, because it rains a lot in Florida. Luckily Dani was prepared with rain ponchos and we took cheesy pictures in front of this Monsters University Display.

 So where did our travels take us next? Mexico - seriously, this made me want to visit Mexico even more than I already do!

 The we were off to check out Norway...

 Then it was time to visit China....

 

Then we went back to Norway for a bit and I meet a Troll...he seemed nicer than I expected and we rode the Maelstrom ride.

 Seen as we were back in Europe anyway, we decided to go to Italy...

 Then it was time to head back over to Asia and check out Japan.

 Next minute we were in the bazaar in Morocco!

 Then it was back to Europe to check out France.

 Then England...

 ....and FINALLY Canada!

After finishing up at Epcot it was time for the final park of our adventure - Hollywood Studios. In case you couldn't guess from the name, this park is about all things Hollywood related. I didn't take as many photos at this park as by this point I was totally exhausted.

 We checked out the Indiana Jones stunt show which was pretty fun - first time I'd really been to a show like this.

 We also went on the muppets ride - I love the muppets!

 There were loads of photo zones including fake NYC and fake San Fransisco. Dani also took a moment to go singing in the rain.

 This photo was taken near the Toy Story area - I liked the monkeys.

 Our final journey of the evening - a ride all about the history of Hollywood movies.

So that is the story of the one time I went to Disney World - It was extreme and I don't think I would ever do it again. But it was fun to go once and take it all in, but after two days in Disney and three days in Orlando I think I was ready to move onto quieter times in San Fransisco!