While planning the girls’ outfits for Disney, we tried to sew in sets of twos . . .using one pattern for {at least} a few outfits. The Children’s Corner, Nora was one of those overlapping patterns.

It was previously used on EA’s African Safari top, and now, it was the perfect look for CL’s giraffe dress.

We sewed CL a Children’s Corner, Nora {size 6} with no modifications. The fit . . . the comfort factor . . .the cuteness . . . everything was right about this dress.

We opted to stitch a non-conventional giraffe on the front of the dress, as opposed to the more traditional one.

SO. VERY. PLEASED. with this decision . . .

As opposed to the wide range of emotions after riding “THE” Dinosaur ride . . .

Just like all of the girls’ Disney outfits, this detailing was done manually. And, at times, the giraffe seemed like a giant puzzle for us.  The order of fabric to be sewn, as well as the position of the fabric was key in bringing it all together.

First, the entire giraffe was traced on the main dress fabric, taking care to position it where it would be sewn.

Then, the body of the giraffe {excluding the mane} was traced on teal fabric, but we kept the teal fabric as a block – not cutting out the giraffe shape.

We traced and cut giraffe spots on scraps of multi-colored fabric used as the lining of a previous sewing project.

The outer ear fabric was traced and cut on striped khaki fabric {leaving excess around the outer edges, but cutting exactly on the portion that connected to the head}.

The inner ear fabric was traced and cut from hot pink fabric. The mouth and nose area was traced and cut from solid khaki fabric.

After cutting the pieces mentioned above, we glued the spots, ear pieces, and mouth/nose piece in place on the teal giraffe.

The spots were stitched in place by machine.

The mouth and nose area were stitched by machine, and then hand-stitched with dark brown DMC.

Heat n’ bond {affiliate link} was added to the teal portion of the giraffe and then set aside.

For the textured mane piece, we traced two manes and extended the side nearest the body of the giraffe. Then, stitch one of the mane pieces to the main dress fabric – using the traced lines originally drawn on the main dress. Stitch horizontal lines every 1/2″ down the mane. Snip between each horizontal line, angling the snips in no particular pattern. Place the second mane piece on top of the stitched mane, offsetting it by 1/8″ towards the body of the giraffe. Stitch that mane in place in the same manner as the first – stitching every 1/2″ {offsetting the first mane piece’s horizontal stitching}. Snip between each horizontal line – angling the snips in no particular pattern.

Finally, place the teal portion of the giraffe on top of the stitched mane and press and stitch in place. “Fluff” the mane to add texture to the piece, and add double button eyes.

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