Rapunzel From Disney's Tangled

When my daughter wanted to be "Tangled" as she puts it, I took it as a challenge and wanted it to look as close to the movie as possible. I looked up pictures online finding that others had the same interest and there's some great resources out there showing stills from the movie and advertising. The best ones I found were these:http://findingcorona.tumblr.com/post/9097819285/detail-of-rapunzels-dress-a-bodice-b-skirt , http://www.squidoo.com/disneys-rapunzel-costume and http://costumesandcouturebykris.blogspot.com/p/rapunzel-purple-tangled-dress-disney.html I also looked at a lot of cosplay but some of the best resources were the live-action performers at Disneyland and Disneyworld. http://wdwpics.tumblr.com/post/1671091800 andhttp://disney-nerd.blogspot.com/2011_07_01_archive.html (the second photo is a nice large one you can zoom in on to see details when you save it to your computer) It was looking at those photos that I found that the shirt was where the puffy sleeves were and the bodice was a separate piece on top.

I drafted a pattern by both measuring my 4 year old and pinning fabric on her to get seams figured out. I made a skirt, a shirt, a bodice and a cloak. (We can sometimes get snow on Halloween so I made up a cloak that would match in case it was cold) After 5 hours of research and around 30 hours of sewing I got through it. The last aspect to do was the hair. I didn't want to do the little hair wreath like what you can buy at the Disney store and I didn't want to just put a big hairy wig on her as I knew it wouldn't look right and she wouldn't leave it on. I braid peoples hair and have been working with making my own fake hair pieces for a medieval reenactment group I'm a part of so I was determined to figure out a hairpiece that would finish the costume off perfectly. It took 2 1/2 sections of fake Kanekalon hair that you can buy in a Jumbo Braid at Taylor Maid. I got color 22 and mixed in a little of the lighter 20 and a little brown color 6 as my daughter isn't completely light blonde and I wanted it to match her hair. I didn't get any pictures of how I attached it and in trying to type it up and explain it, it was too confusing but basically the top loose end of the jumbo braid got attached to two ponytails and there were a ton of bobby-pins. The best part however was the glowbys we got from http://www.luminence.com/Glowbys-Glowbys.html, they are fiber optic clips that make the hair glow - an element that you know is super fun to have if you've seen the movie. Sadly catching these in a photo seemed impossible but I've added the best ones I could get. It took around 2 hours to make the hair piece and almost 45 minutes to get it put in. My daughters hair only reaches her shoulders and she wasn't too excited about all the bobby-pins and weight but when everyone was saying how amazing and beautiful it was she was really happy and she didn't complain about it once she got running around so I don't think it was really too heavy but getting any 4 year old to sit still that long causes complaints of some form. ;)

Here's a breakdown of the different aspects of the costume I made:

Skirt - Purple satin, purple brocade and white cotton lining

Shirt - Lavender satin with white lace on neckline and pink lace on bottom, puffy sleeves with pink ribbon and sheer pink cotton sleeves with white lace

Bodice - Pink satin with purple cotton lining, silver grommets and purple cord for lacing

Cloak - Purple satin, pink fake fur lining

Fake Hair - 2 1/2 packs of fake hair, 4 glowby clips, lots of fake flowers and tons of bobby-pins

Hope you like it and it inspires you to create your own!