Twin Minnies (Twinnies?)

My sister and her husband's family headed to Disney World recently and she asked me to make some Minnie Mouse themed dresses for her girls with fabric she supplied.

I used the Fair & Square Dress pattern by Tie Dye Diva because I wanted the dresses to fit well and I needed a pattern for two fabrics. The red polka dot was some sort of synthetic blend and kind of yucky to work with, but I thought it looked pretty Minnie-esque. My sister also supplied some heat & bond and some yellow rick rack for embellishements.

I'm not normally a rick rack girl, but I think it definitely suited the look and was very much needed to spruce up the dress a bit. For the applique, I found a silhouette with just the right proportions (and learned about Hidden Mickeys) here.  I printed it out at the size I wanted, fused some Heat 'n' Bond to some plain black fabric, pinned the mouse head to the fabric, cut it out, ironed it to the dress and then zig-zagged around it with my sewing machine. This blog post on Sew Like My Mom does a great job of explaining how to do applique neatly.

I also added a little surprise in the package for the girls:

I ordered these bracelets from Kinsley River Designs (whom I discovered through a mutual friend). The necklace Danielle wore with her birthday dress was made by Alana as well and I've ordered several custom items that will show up on my blog with future outfits. She's super talented and is competitively priced and it is too easy to get addicted to what she makes!

Until my sister sends me pictures of the girls in their dress (hint, hint Shawna!), here's proof that I made two of these dresses (my twin body forms aren't nearly as cute as my nieces...)