This Rosie Revere Costume was just the thing to get my daughter excited about trying new things. Haven’t heard of Rosie Revere, Engineer? It’s simply a darling and creative book inspired by Rosie the Riveter. This New York Times bestseller is a favorite among all my children. Andrea Beaty, the author behind Iggy Peck, Architect shares with us Rosie’s dream of becoming an engineer. I love reading about this shy girl with big dreams. I usually can’t get through the book without crying. Not that it is a sad story at all. But I LOVE the message of not giving up. I want my daughter, and my sons, to grow up reading about girls and women who do amazing things. And in order to achieve great success we usually fail before hand. And that is an important lesson we all should learn.
So if you haven’t read this adorable book to your kids now is the time! This book was a Christmas book a year and a half ago. And it’s a repeat in our home. Which made my daughter thrilled to have this Rosie Revere Costume. It’s perfect for World Book Day, Halloween, or as an everyday dress. It looks darling on my daughter. Especially when I swoop her hair the way Rosie wears it in her book. I love that she holds still while I do iron work on her hair. And she was very concerned I would forget she needed a pencil behind her ear.
Just look at her excitement!!!
I probably took too many pictures! But really she looked so adorable! Creating costumes from literature really helps the stories come alive. It’s one of my favorite ways to get my kids excited about reading. (You can read more ways to encourage your children to love reading in this post!) Georgiana was so happy to wear her new dress. And now she is insisting I made Yoda an Iggy Peck costume!
I hope she grows up and know she can do anything she wants, if she works hard enough. And I love stories with strong, independent girls. Sometimes girls grow up associating science, building, engineering, and coding with boys. But I want my daughter to know she can build legos and do coding just as well as her brothers. I love how my daughter pointed out a Monarch Butterfly in a book this week. She has been listening to her older brother’s Monarch Butterfly Conservation Project he is doing for cub scouts. Exposing my daughter to a variety of interests and showing her strong role models will help her learn from a young age girls can do anything!
So let’s hear it for strong women who help change the world! I love spending time telling my children about amazing women and the things they’ve done. Proud mom moment was when my oldest had to do a biography about someone and he chose Temple Grandin.
DIY Rosie Revere Engineer Costume Tutorial
You’ll need:
- Dress to use as a pattern
- White material
- Red material
- Black material (try to get them on in the same blend so it washes better)
- Pinking Shears
- Thread
- Rotary Cutter
- Ruler
- Cutting mat
- Sewing machine
- Zipper
- Start with a dress you wish to use as a pattern. I chose a simple A-line dress. Cut your front piece. Instead of adding sleeves I just cut my front piece to include the sleeves.
2. Take your front piece and fold it in half. Fold your white material in half to cut your back pieces. I like to leave an extra inch in the center back to leave room for the zipper. Sew up the back, leaving a space for the zipper.
3. Cut 1/5 inch strips of red and black. You want them to be the length of the bottom of your dress. Sew the strips together starting and ending with black. Zig Zag the edges so they won’t fray over time. Press.
4. Lay the front and back pieces down, with right sides together. Lay out your stripe pieces on the bottom. Sew the stripes to your white dress. Stitch your dress together at the top and side seams.
5. Make sure to use your pinking shear on seams. Cut a black strip the length of your sleeve. Press. Sew raw edge to your arm hole and turn out to create a cuff.
6. Adjust your neckline and cut the front more if needed. Repeat step 5 with your collar. Finish the edges. I had to tuck my collar in and hand stitch like in the picture above. This kept the seam flat and not sticking up. Attach the zipper following packaging direction. Hem the bottom of your dress.
To get my daughter’s head scarf just right I cut two squares. One large one for her head. And another small one I used to make the knot. I wanted her scarf to be fitted but I still wanted the look of a large knot. Isn’t this material perfect? I was so happy JoAnn’s had this white dot on red material. I think that was her favorite part!!! I used a large barrel curling iron to swoop her hair to the side.
Really we should have gotten her some new tights and some red shoes! But I told her we going to improvise! Did I mention Rosie likes to dig around in the trash. A girl after my own heart! (You can find my trash finds here.)
This little engineer is all ready to play, dance, and build. I hope her she never stops being creative! And that as her parents we can encourage her to try new things and glory in life’s mishaps.
I would love it if you could pin this post! And tell us in the comments below one of your FAVORITE book characters! If you are looking for more book character costumes check out these posts for boys or girls. And you can also find last year’s Halloween Family Theme: Lord of the Rings. Only two people in our families have read the book (And I’m not one of them), but I’m sure after last Halloween they will all want to someday!
I know reading to our children and helping the stories they love come alive will bless the lives of our children forever! Happy Reading!!!
And her new book Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers
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