how to make dress up clothes for toddlers?

Dear Creative Rae,

I have used old sheets, curtains and tablecloths for many home made outfits! Tacking a few accessories on here and there does wonders for each child's playful imagination. I've used everything from ribbons, sequins, elastic, old cording stitched for a waist band, old curtain tiebacks, tassels for a soldier, plastic ivy that I had left over from another creation, etc. Almost anything can be used that is left over from other projects depending on the child's age, of course.

One thing that I found very inexpensive and fun for my daughter was...salvation army and thrift stores! I found about six inexpensive $2-$5 dollar sequined dresses used for weddings or prom. I took them home and in about three hours had six beautiful costumes that looked like a fortune was put into them. My daughter was ecstatic! She was only four at the time. I bought the smallest sizes that they had and with minimal cuts, stitched them to her tiny frame. She thought they were beautiful and played for years in them. They also have a lot of necklaces, crowns, purses and gloves for a princess.

Dollar stores are great too! They have all kinds of hats, toy guns, toy swords, magic wands and accessories to make an outfit complete!

I hope this helps. Sometimes I think I have more fun creating the outfit than they do playing in them and they have a blast! Happy creating!

I agree about the thrift stores too.

I've made many a cape (for boys and girls) with fancy fabric I've gotten at thrift stores as lace tablecloths, nightgowns, cocktail dresses... just anything with a fair stretch of fancy fabric. Just cut into a rectangle, etc., gather or elasticize one long side, then add a tie or Velcro, etc, to hold it on around the neck. You can also buy the shortest width of fake fur possible at a fabric store, then sew or glue a few inchees of it around the edge of the cape.

Blouses and jackets can be cut off or cut down to make costumes too, by belting them, adding large fancy buttons (from other thrift store clothing), etc.

Metallic or chain, etc., belts can be fun too.

Their jewelry can often be taken apart and restrung in various ways to make fancy jewelry... but when Christmas rolls around also consider buying some bead garland, etc., then cut it shorter to make all kinds of fancy sparkly long necklaces.

It's a good thing to just put them all in a chest or a large storage box with a lid to let the kids dig through on a whim and put various parts together. What they come up with can be very surprising sometimes <remembering a photo of my 4 yr old son wearing a large floppy red felt hat, a yellow cape, his homemade belt with "sword" hanging from it, and a pair of flippers!....lolol>

Diane B.

I agree with Tasty Morsel.....second hand stores are great....you can get some great dresses for little gals, and hats, belts, shawls, jewelry......go for it....I used to do this for my niece when she was 3-6....and she loved it.....a great big box of dresses and accessories....she still talks about it all and she's now 10.....