A Cotton Candy Inspired Renaissance Princess Gown

This project started awhile ago, while I was in Joann's fabric store. (RIP, Joanns). I found this amazing, beautiful brocade fabric!! I just had to get it, though it was a little expensive. It has beautiful shades of baby blue and pink woven into it that reminds me of fluffy cotton candy. Needing a dress for Halloween, and the local renaissance fair, I set out to make a dress fit for a fairytale princess!! Inspired by poofy cotton candy, the sleeves are one of my favorite parts. Though this dress isn't historically accurate, (I'm planning on doing an actual historically accurate renaissance dress here soon), I think this is a a nice historically inspired costume that would make a lovely Halloween costume!

The pink satin that I used for the skirt has a unique crepe texture and I absolutely love the color. The blue silk in the sleeves was actually from a dress I sewed awhile back, and the fabric was too good for it, so I disassembled it to make something better.

Adding trims and embellishments really ties this costume together, so have fun picking out trims! You can even try your hand at sequining, or rhinestoning. You could also purchase floral appliques and sew those on.

.There is some intermediate/advanced techniques mentioned in this instructable, such as draping your own pattern. I try to explain this process so that hopefully a brave beginner will be able to follow. Draping really isn't a hard technique to learn, so even if you're dubious, give it a shot!

I also mention a few hand stitches such as the catch stitch. Very useful stitch. I recommend familiarizing yourself with these handy stitches!

Happy Sewing!!

Fabric:

1. 1-2 yards 45"-60" fabric for bodice and sleeves. I recommend a heavy brocade fabric. (I used Yaya Han's Duchess Brocade), plus same amount of cotton fabric for lining.
2. 1/2-1 yard coordinating silk for sleeve sections. (Blue)
3. 4-6 yards 60" wide coordinating fabric for skirt and puffed sleeve sections. I recommend mid-weight silk type fabrics, like taffeta. (I used a crinkled poly satin, that was a bit too drape-y.) (Pink)
4. 6 yards 60" coordinating tulle or netting fabric. (The stiffer the tulle, the puffier it'll be. Keep that in mind).
5. 4-5 yards 60" skirt lining fabric. (I used poly lining fabric but you can use cotton too.)
6. (Optional) horse hair braid for hem.
7. mock-up fabric. (This can be an old sheet)

Other:

1. 1-2 6" spools tulle to match tulle
2. 1/4" plastic boning or large zip ties
3. Single fold bias tape or boning casing
4. Gold eyelets and setting tools.
5. 1/4" matching ribbon
6. Metal hook and eyes
7. Trims!! Get creative. Trims are what makes your costume unique and tied together!!
8. Matching thread
9. a salad fork (you'll see, just keep reading)

Fabric:

1. 1-2 yards 45"-60" fabric for bodice and sleeves. I recommend a heavy brocade fabric. (I used Yaya Han's Duchess Brocade), plus same amount of cotton fabric for lining.
2. 1/2-1 yard coordinating silk for sleeve sections. (Blue)
3. 4-6 yards 60" wide coordinating fabric for skirt and puffed sleeve sections. I recommend mid-weight silk type fabrics, like taffeta. (I used a crinkled poly satin, that was a bit too drape-y.) (Pink)
4. 6 yards 60" coordinating tulle or netting fabric. (The stiffer the tulle, the puffier it'll be. Keep that in mind).
5. 4-5 yards 60" skirt lining fabric. (I used poly lining fabric but you can use cotton too.)
6. (Optional) horse hair braid for hem.
7. mock-up fabric. (This can be an old sheet)

Other:

1. 1-2 6" spools tulle to match tulle
2. 1/4" plastic boning or large zip ties
3. Single fold bias tape or boning casing
4. Gold eyelets and setting tools.
5. 1/4" matching ribbon
6. Metal hook and eyes
7. Trims!! Get creative. Trims are what makes your costume unique and tied together!!
8. Matching thread
9. a salad fork (you'll see, just keep reading)

1. Begin by smoothing pieces of your cotton fabric over your dress form, smoothing, pinning and tucking as necessary. Draw your seam lines and trim away the access fabric. Make sure all tucks are securely pinned then remove the fabric panels from your dress form and trace onto paper, adding seam allowance.
2. (If you don't have a dress form, you can make a simple bodice from a commercial pattern, get it to fit perfectly, and draw your seam lines on that while you are wearing it. You may need an extra set of hands for this).
3. Using your new paper pattern, make a mock-up bodice, check the fit, and fix any issues and transfer any changes to your paper pattern.

Sleeve Sections:

1. Begin by measuring your arm. Draft according to the measurements.
2. Upper sleeve drafting: Blue line measurement is from the top of your shoulder to the base of your arm above the elbow. Green line measurement is width of your arm right under the armpit. Red line measurement is width of the arm where you want the sleeve top section to end.
3. Lower sleeve drafting: Yellow line measurement is length of bottom sleeve, Purple line measurement is circumference of arm, top of bottom sleeve, Orange line measurement is wrist circumference, width of bottom of sleeve. I added a point to go over the top of wrist. Make sure there's space for the poofs.

Poof Sections:

1. You will have to play around to draft these. They will be very huge and roughly the shape of the illustration. Each color section will be a separate panel that you will need to add seam allowance to. You'll also need a 1 piece pattern for the lining of each poof.

Sleeve Mockup:

1. It would be a good idea to make a sleeve mockup! I just made the lining my mockup. I cut the poofs from tulle and the sleeve sections from the cotton.

1. Cut out all your bodice pieces from the brocade and lining, making sure your brocade sections are perfectly symmetrical.

Sewing The Lining:

1. Place flat boning channels on your pieces, as show in photographs. Stitch down boning channels just catching edge of binding.
2. Sew the seams of your bodice lining: princess seams, front to back panels, and shoulder seams.
3. Pin boning channels over the seams, including the front princess seams, the side seams and back seams..... Hand sew.

Sewing The Outer Bodice:

1. Sew the fashion layer in same manner as step 2.

1. Cut out your sleeve panels and poof sections. (label very accurately!) And sleeve and poof linings.
2. For the lining: Run double line of gathering stitches on the top and bottom edges of the tulle poof linings.
3. Fold top and bottom edges of sleeve lining sections up 3/8", and top stitch, except wrist edges.
4. Sew the tulle poof linings onto sleeve lining sections.
5. For outer sleeves: Sew together color block sections, so you have 2 upper poofs and 2 elbow poofs. If you want to add trim on the seams of your poofs, now is the time!
6. Run double line of gathering stitches on the top and bottom edges of your poofs. You can do this by hand or machine.
7. On the brocade sleeve sections, fold up 3/8" the edges except for the wrist opening edge and pick stitch down.
8. Pin the poof sections to the sleeve sections and whip stitch down.
9. With sleeve folded in half lengthwise, stitch down the sleeve seam, matching poof seams. Turn right side out. Repeat with other sleeve.

1. Cut your boning to fit your boning channels and slide them into place. (Make sure there's enough seam allowance on the bottom edge!) In my pics you can see the zip ties hanging out, I didn't trim mine yet.
2. With the bodice lining on the dress form, pin the sleeve linings onto the armscyes and stitch down so there's the raw edges are facing "out" (This will be inside the sleeve eventually).
3. With right sides together, pin the neckline and back edges of the bodice lining and bodice together and stitch all the way around, starting 1" from bottom and ending 1" on center back edges. Clip curves, and grade seam allowance. Turn right side out, The bottom edge will be open. Top stitch on the lining side the seam allowance down.
4. Slip your finished sleeves over the linings and hand stitch to the brocade armscye, pulling gathering stitches to fit and folding raw edges under as you sew.
5. To finish sleeve openings: try on and mark sleeve length. Fold raw edges of brocade sleeve edges and lining sleeve edges so the raw edges are sandwiched between the layers and hand stitch.
6. At the center back bodice edges, sew 3/8" boning channels and insert boning. This will help keep the bodice from buckling while lacing.

1. I drafted a skirt with 3 different panels: 1 front panel and 2 back panels. The two back panels are curved longer to accommodate a train. You can make the panels all one length if you don't want to bother with the train. (Which can be very inconvenient at renaissance festivals)
2. Measure from your bodice front edge to the length you want in the front, and add 2.5 hem/seam allowance. (If you drafted your bodice with a pointed edge, measure from the side of the bodice instead.) In my case, this measurement was 45". I choose a 45" width to this panel because my fabric was 45" wide.
3. For the back panels, I added 10" to my front measurement for the center back length, than angled it to meet the front side seam. See illustration. I drafted my pattern on paper.
4. Cut out the panels from the pink satin and the lining fabric. (I didn't have enough pink lining, hence the white too ;D). For the tulle layer, I cut it 5.5" shorter than the other pieces. (There's going to be a 6" tulle ruffle sewn to this tulle layer bottom edge to add volume under the skirt).
5. Sew center back seam of the satin panel, leaving the top 6-8" open. Sew the back panel to front panel, right sides together, at side seams.
6. Repeat with the lining and tulle layers
7. Using a gathering foot on your machine, gather one edge your 6" tulle spool strip so that the gathers are fluffy but not too tight. Sew your gathered tulle strip edge to the bottom edge of your tulle skirt panel. You may need both spools depending on how tight your gathers are.
8. Baste the skirt layers together around the top edge in this order: lining, tulle, satin outer layer.
9. Trim up your hems if necessary, and fold the bottom edge of the satin layer under 1". Press. Fold up another 1", press, and catch stitch down. Repeat with lining. Trim tulle hem if necessary.

1. Following manufacturer's directions, install an invisible zipper at the center back seam of the skirt, catching just the satin layer. Catch-stitch the lining to the enclosed zipper tape, being sure to leave room for the slider to work.
2. Begin by determining the type of pleating you'd like to do around the waistline. Do you want it to just be completely pleated all the way around? Or do you want to vary it and do different kinds and widths of pleats? I choose to place the pleats symmetrically starting at the side front, with the pleat edges facing away from the front. For the back I did lots of pleats, closely spaced, as I had a ton of fabric I was cramming to fit my bodice edge. If you don't want to do pleats, you can gather it instead. (This can add a lot of bulk though)
3. To pleat: Using your fork, insert fabric between the bottom tine and the one above it and twirl the fork clockwise to create a pleat. Repeatedly do this spacing them equal-distant until your skirt will match the length of your bodice edge exactly. Pin each pleat, then baste into place.
4. With your bodice lining folded up and out of the way, hand stitch your bodice to your skirt with small even whip stitches. If you have a point on your bodice, make sure you pin your skirt top edge straight across the waistline and don't follow the point. You can trim the excess fabric .
5. Catch stitch your bodice lining over the raw edges between the bodice and skirt seam, folding all raw edges to the inside.

1. Mark your grommet placements with a ruler and chalk, being sure to keep them evenly spaced from each other, and the center back edge. I made mine about 1" apart.
2. Insert grommets according to manufacturer's directions.
3. For the back modesty panel: Cut two 4 to 5" by 10- to 12" rectangles, and sew them together around the edges, leaving a opening on one end. turn, Press.
4. Pin your modesty panel in place, being sure it aligns with the back neckline properly, and prick stitch it down on one side of the grommets.
5. Sew a hook and eye to the top of the zipper.

1. This is the fun part!! I hand sewed 1/8" gold braided trim to the front princess seams and around the bottom edge of the bodice. Next, using a 3/8" pink organza ruffle and pearl trim, I embellished the sleeve seams, carefully hand sewing each length of trim on by hand using invisible thread to prevent obvious stitching. This took a while but was definitely worth it! Then, I completed my embellishing by sewing the same trim around the neckline! I'm pretty indecisive, so that's the extent of trimming I did! But feel free to go crazy with this step!! I do recommend using invisible thread, though, it's very nice to use when you're sewing over multiple shades of fabric.

Ta da!! The finished costume!! Perfect for Halloween, or running through a field of flowers, or tromping through a castle....hehe! (The cloak was a project I made awhile ago but matched the theme).

This was a fun project!! I absolutely love the cotton candy colored sleeves, and all the trims I added! Now maybe I'll make a matching renaissance head piece for my next Instructable!!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope this Instructable inspires you to sew your own fairy tale renaissance inspired look!!

Halloween 2026 Contest Entry!

Please like and share a comment if you've made this!!

-Celestine Grant