DIY Pocahontas Costume

This is a quick DIY on how to make a Pocahontas cosplay dress. My sewing skills are mediocre at best so this wasn't too complicated.

What you need:

White fabric (I used an old bed sheet)

Brown fabric (I used an old suede pillow case)

Tape Measure

Sewing machine

Cotton

A dress to measure up against for size

Pins

Scissors

Zipper

Chalk or pencil

Belt

I have always loved the idea of cosplay – especially as Pocahontas and when I recently came across a brown felt seeming pillow case cover, I decided that the time was finally right to create my outfit

I took the pillowcase and unpicked it so that it was one length of material that I would be able to cut and use as desired. Obviously you can just buy a length of material which would make this step redundant.

I then took a bed sheet that I bought and measured a dress up against it. I was being thrifty but you can just buy normal material - ideally with a little bit of a stretch as pure cotton was a little tough to work with. Be sure that when you trace around a dress that you remember to leave enough space for the seams and any additional cutting and altering that may need to take place. I cut mine small and had to start over again which was frustrating

Obviously I wanted mine off the shoulder so when I removed the dress, I tried it cut it a little more in that shape. I also made sure not to cut the part that would be going over my shoulder so that there would be one continuous piece running over. I then pinned the sides and began to see a shape forming. It is at this point that I would encourage you to instead buy a cheap dress or a long top that you can cut up to make into this outfit because it was a long and arduous process but if you wish to proceed then it is totally worthy the multiple pin stabbings and sweat.

Thus begins the sewing. I began with the one side which you sew from the bottom up and leave a bigish enough gap for the arm to go in

As I mentioned, I would recommend that you get a material that is a little elasticized. The issue with the bed sheet was that it had no stretch or give and my sewing skills are pretty mediocre so parts are a little sketchy.

In order to figure out where the zipper goes, you need to actually try the dress on and see the fit. From there you can gauge where to place the zipper. I only have a bright pink one on hand at that point

Word of advice- make sure you are sewing the zipper in the right place. I sewed it inside out, so I had to unpick and start again

There was a little bit of fabric left at the top because my zip was short so I just sewed a button and cut a button hole for that left over part

The dress is a triangle at the bottom so I had to put it on,I did get stuck with pins a few times so do be careful. I drew on the dress while I was wearing it. I marked where about I would want the lowest point of the triangle to be. So when I took it off. I then folded the dress in half and used a book to draw a straight line.

Now time to try it on properly!

Being sheet fabric, the sewing was a bit more technical and I needed to a sew a dart in

From there it was time to start making the tassles I measured the length from the side of the dress to the middle triangle

Then measured on the brown fabric that width. Initially I cut it at 12cm in length but 10cm worked better because it showed just the right amount of leg.

So began the cutting and cutting and cutting of tassles. I left 2cm uncut to be able to sew onto the bottom of the dress

I then pinned all of the tassels on to sew them on. And finally I measured and cut out the piece long enough to

go over the front and voila!

I paired it with a brown leather belt that I had just to cinch the waist in