Are you looking for a fun Princess Lia Costume DIY? It makes a great Halloween costume or dress-up for comic-con. You can also use it as a fun group costume to pair with a jedi like Luke Skywalker or other star wars characters - we actually have tutorial for Chewbacca and Han Solo Costumes too....In this DIY tutorial, we will guide you through crafting your own Princess Leia dress. I made this little princess leia dress for my daughter using the Kid's Essential Turtleneck Pattern dress pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop as well as a DIY belt instruction tutorial. Also, check out our tips below to get the right hair style for this easy princess leia costume.

What About for a Women's Princess Leia Costume?

You can make a similar costume for an adult using the dress option with the Women's s Essential Turtleneck Pattern. Just print out the pieces from that pattern and follow along with the same instructions

Necessary Supplies for a Princess Leia Dress

• Essential Turtleneck Pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop: Women or Kids
• White Knit Fabric- preferably a drapey knit to keep with the princess Leia theme.
• Sewing machine, thread, scissors, iron and clips or pins.

Before we get started on sewing the dress, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the minor adjustments I made. While looking up photos of Princess Leia's dress, I couldn't help but think that the best option to create it was the kid's essential turtleneck pattern. It features not only a top but also a dress option and the mock turtleneck view was the perfect look for this princess dress inspiration!

Sizing

One modification I did make to the pattern was I sized up a few sizes from my daughter's normal ready-to-wear size. It gave me the extra length I wanted, although adding length would be very simple for this pattern as it is more of a straight-fit style. I also wanted it a bit loose around the midsection so that when the belt was worn, it gave that gathered look without actually having to gather any material.

The last thing I did was I went with the bishop sleeve option, and instead of adding the sleeve cuff and gathering, I left it as is to create the bell sleeve look like Princess Leia's dress.

Dress Construction | How to Sew the Princess Leia Costume DIY

I've got my pattern pieces cut out for the dress and we are ready to sew up our princess Leia dress!

Step One: Shoulder Seams

With right sides together, pin or clip the shoulders and sew using a 1/2" seam allowance.

The front and back are sewn together at the shoulder seams.

Step Two: Sleeves

With right sides together, pin or clip the sleeves to the arm openings and sew.

Sleeves are sewn on.

Next, we will clip the front and back together from the end of the sleeve down to the bottom of the dress with right sides together.

Our inseam and side seams are sewn up. Now, we will move onto the mock turtleneck since we will be omitting the sleeve cuffs.

Step Three: Mock Turtleneck

With right sides together, fold the turtleneck piece in half and sew along the short edge.

Our mock turtleneck piece seam has been sewn.

Now fold the turtleneck in half this time with wrong sides together so the seam is enclosed.

Slide the turtleneck piece inside the dress and pin or clip in place around the neckline and sew using a 1/4" seam allowance for this step. 

The turtleneck has been sewn on. Time to turn the dress right side out!

Step Four: Hemming

Lastly, Fold the bottom edge up 3/4" and topstitch in place. I like to iron my seams and hemlines as I go. You may too if you'd like. I chose to leave the sleeves raw instead of hemming them as knits won't fray but it is up to you.

It's time to try it on and see how it fits! Next, we will move onto the belt construction.

Belt Construction and Supplies

• White ribbon
• hot glue
• Marker and scissors
• aluminum foil
• snap or hook
• Metallic material of sorts for the 3 shapes
• 3 lightweight round objects that can be glued onto the shapes.

Pictured here are the items I had lying around my house to use to create this belt. I did try super glue at first but did not care for it after trying it out so I switched to hot glue which I would recommend using instead. The ribbon will be cut according to the individual's waist size. Not too loose but not real tight either.

Step One: 3 Lightweight Round Objects

I cut out the bottoms of a paper egg carton very carefully for my 3 circular objects. If you have bottle caps or another comparative item, I think those would work well too.

Next, I cut 3 strips of aluminum foil and rolled the circular objects inside of it.

This is how they looked after being rolled up inside of the aluminum foil. You may need to roll the edges against a firm surface to smooth out the foil.

Step Two: 3 Metallic Shapes

For this step, I had a metallic bag that held some new shoes I had purchased from Amazon and so I decided to use this for the shapes! Princess Leia's belt has some very distinct shapes used so after looking up images of her belt, I hand drew the shapes onto the metallic bag and then cut them out.

I then hot glued the metallic shapes onto the ribbon spaced evenly in the middle and then hot glued the aluminum round objects onto the metallic shapes. I let it dry for a bit to make sure all was secure before moving onto the last step.

Step Three: Snap Closure

I placed a single snap at the end of the ribbon. A hook and eye, Velcro or even a button and loop would work too. For the edges, I used my pinking shears to prevent fraying, but you could also fold the edges in and glue or sew if you prefer.

And that's it! Time to put it together and try it on!

This was such a fun and easy sew that my daughter was happy to be able to play in! Even better if you have a light saber lying around to really get into role play :)

Hairstyle to Make Princess Leia Costume DIY Come to Life

Maybe we'll spend a minute on princess leia hair buns. If you or your daughter has long hair then it might be time to get out the bobby pins and follow along with this YouTube tutorial to get the iconic Princess Leia hair look from A New Hope to go along with your new white dress. Some might say it's the most essential item for your princess leia look.

Well, this brings us to the end of our Princess Leia Costume DIY Tutorial. As mentioned before, the kid's essential turtleneck pattern is such a good and easy sew and there's also a pattern for women's sizes too if you would like to create a matching mommy and me (or just an adult version) of the princess Leia dress costume. The adult pattern features nursing access, too if that's something you need to think about, which would still work well for this costume idea.

Thanks again for joining us today. I'm sure you'll get a ton of compliments on your new costume from all of the star wars fans out there. Time to get to that costume party but before you leave make sure to join our Facebook Group and follow us on Instagram. Happy Sewing!