My friend and her husband wanted a Princess Leia costume for their daughter. She's a few months old and teeny tiny, and they couldn't find any costumes small enough for her.

So here we go!

Obviously not a exact replica, but modifications were made to make it easier for them to dress and undress her in case she was feeling fussy! I left off the sleeves and made the dress more like a robe.

My coworkers loved it, I hope you guys do too. :D

Step 1: What You'll Need!

You'll need a hat that fits the baby, along with a loose fitting item of clothing. These will help you make the pattern!

You'll also need brown felt or fleece, white cloth of some sort - preferably quilting cotton or linen, and some gray/silver felt for the belt. :D

Also all the basics, of course, sewing machine, thread to match, etc.

Step 2: Preparing for Takeoff!

Gather all your materials.

You'll need to wash and press the white cloth before sewing if you want it to be washable. if you're not worried about washing it again, simply press it.

The felt doesn't need to be pressed.

Make sure you have bobbins ready containing the appropriate colors of thread. :)

Step 3: Making the Back of the Robe.

You'll want to place the white fabric flat on a table, and then place the clothing item on top of it.

Flatten the clothing item as much as possible.

Take a pen or pencil, and trace the top of the garment as closely as possible. Trace down the sides starting at the bottom of the armhole, and then across the bottom.

It's best to use a ruler to even out the side and bottom of the pattern.

Then, connect the edge of the shoulder to the top of the side line in a nice, curving motion. :D

Now, cut this out. You can fold it in half to verify that it's the same on both side if you'd like.

Step 4: Now Make the Front of the Robe!

Place the back of the robe on the rest of your white cloth.

Trace the upper left shoulder and all the way down and around the the bottom of the right armhole.

Then, connect the left shoulder to the right armhole. This will give you a nice sloped front! You can also take a bit off the right side so the width is less, like I did. It's up to you!

You can either flip this piece and trace it, or do the back piece tracing again, but opposite. It's up to you!

You should end up with three pieces like the picture below. :D

Step 5: Hemming, Hemming, Hemming.

Now, we must do a ton of hemming. For the two front pieces of the robe, you need to hem the top angled piece and the side of that, and also the armhole.

For the back piece, you need to hem the the neck and armholes.

To do this, simply fold a small amount of fabric (1/4 to 1/3 inch) over to the wrong side of the fabric and press. You'll probably need to do this in tiny sections, especially for the armholes and neck. They'll be more curved!

Then sew the folded fabric in place very close to the edge. :D

Step 6: Sewing the Robe Together!

You'll sew this with the right sides together! (You should see the sloppy hemming on the outsides!)

Sew the shoulder bits together on both sides, and then sew from the bottom of the armholes to the bottom.

Make sure you don't accidentally sew the robe closed when you start sewing the second side.

And leave the bottom open, we'll hem that in just a minute.

Step 7: Hem the Bottom of the Robe!

Turn the robe right side out!

You'll want to press the side hems open to make this easier.

Then, press the bottom of the robe flat and fold the edge over to the inside of the robe. Fold it over about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. Press this and then sew just as we did the other hems. :)

Now you're done with the robe bit! YES!!

Step 8: Make the Belt!

For the belt, I simply folded over a small strip of fabric and sewed it so that it was about an inch wide. I think mine was about 12 inches long. The size will really depend on the child - make it proportional!

Then I cut out the belt decorations from the gray/silver felt. You'll need to cut out two of each, and sew them together of each side of the belt.

A belt sandwich, if you will.

I attached a length of elastic to each end of the belt to make it easy to tie. but you could add a clasp or whatever else. Considering I made this very late at night, my logic wasn't working. :P

Step 9: Make the Buns!

You'll want to cut out two long rectangles for these. You'll use the brown felt/fleece for these!

I used two rectangles that were 5x18 inches. You just fold them in half so they're 2.5X18 inches, and them begin rolling one end and sewing it as you do so.

I used whipstich to connect the end to the roll.

Once you have the "playdoh snake" looking bits done, make them into spirals. After I had them spiraled, I put pins in them to keep them together as I sewed the backs.

I just haphazardly sewed the layers of the spirals together. Nothing fancy. Just make sure the outside end lays as flat as possible, and none of the layers are separating!

Step 10: Make the Hat!

We're going to use the same approach that we did with the robe. :)

Lay the hat down on the brown felt or fleece. If your hat is stretchy, try stretching it as much as possible and then deciding where to trace and cut. You might need to do this a few times. I did. :P

Cut out two pieces for the hat and sew them together pretty close to the edge. Then, you'll turn it right side out and attach the buns.

I used the side seams to line up the buns. I positioned the buns so that they hung over the lower edge a bit.

These are easy to attach, just sew through the entire bun, making sure to keep the stitches small on the top. :D