DIY Water Fairy Costume

Learn how to make a DIY water fairy costume with shimmer fabric and glitter tulle. Add a seashell wand and clips for the perfect accessories.

One day my kids were with me at Joann Fabrics, and we were just looking through the pattern books for fun. We started looking at the costume patterns, and my daughter came across a women’s water fairy costume. I think it was a character from something, but they couldn’t use the real name for copyright reasons.

She decided that she wanted to be a water fairy for her Halloween costume. I didn’t copy the pattern we saw, but I did come up with my own unique version. I went for a soft, light, shimmery, blue look with all the different fabrics. Luckily, my daughter LOVES her costume!

The goal with the costume was to make gathers and draping to give movement to the costume and look like falling water. I went through my stash and pulled out all my glitter and shimmer fabric and anything that was blue.

To make it look like a fairy I knew I needed to add wings, but I didn’t want wings that stuck out and got in the way. The wings needed to be able to get in and out of a car and sit in a seatbelt and a classroom.

The wings have three layers. The base layer is light blue tulle gathered and folded to help the wings lift away from her back. The next layer is a shimmer organza fabric that looks like dragonfly wings. The top layer is a soft, white tulle with tiny jewels all over it.

The three layers of the wings were gathered and sewn into the shoulder seams to keep the wings in place and to give the wings volume at the base.

The skirt overlay is a dark navy blue, but I used a piece of elastic to gather the front to create falling and draping like water tumbling down. The two skirts have pleated glitter tulle sewn to the hems to look like the bubbling of water. The glitter is now all over my sewing room, and the dress leaves trails everywhere.

For the dress base I used a shimmery knit fabric that I found at Joann fabrics. It’s a beautiful fabric, but it stretches like crazy and is really lightweight. It was a little tricky to work with.

I love how the circle sleeves turned out. It’s the perfect detail for the dress.

I made the wand to get the right look. I didn’t want the look too much like a mermaid or ocean theme so I only added touches of shells. The glass gem handle is just stunning.

I also made the hairclips with shells and glass gems to finish the look.

Supplies

Blue shimmer knit fabric
Navy chiffon fabric
Scraps of tulle, jewel fabric, and shimmer organza
Glitter tulle
1/4 inch double fold bias binding
Elastic
Girls dress pattern – I used the Babydoll Dress Sewing Pattern
Sewing tools
Sewing machine

Cut out one long wing shape and one short wing shape. The top of the wing pieces are twice as wide as the shoulder seam.

Finish the edges of the wings with the bias binding.

Cut the overlay twice as wide as the bodice waist measurement and the full length. Cut the bottom skirt layer as a long circle skirt.

Use a piece of elastic to gather the center front of the overlay. Gather the overlay and baste it to the circle skirt.

Add pleated glitter tulle to both skirt hems.

Use the pattern to construct the bodice and sleeves. Add circle pieces to the sleeve hems.

Sew the bodice to the skirt pieces. Add elastic to the waist seam if needed.

To make a wand I started with a chopstick, and then I added some hot glue details. Paint the wand; I did both blue paint and glitter paint. Use super glue to add a shell to the end and some glass gems to the handle.

To make the hairclips I cut two pieces of felt and glued them together and then glued it onto hairclips. Then I glued shells and glass gems onto the felt in the design I wanted. I even added some of the glass gems inside the shells to look like they were full of water.

If you make something using this sewing project, I’d love to see! Please share it on social media with the hashtag #heatherhandmade and tag me!