Kivi is almost 11, and has a 30” chest, so the kid pattern wasn’t going to work. The kid’s version of the pattern covers sizes 3-8, with a chest measurement topping out at 27”. Kivi fell exactly between the child and adult version of the pattern. Merida wears three dresses in the movie, but I only wanted to make what I think of as Merida’s favorite dress – it’s a dark turquoise dress with detached and split sleeves that allow full arm movement so that she can shoot properly. Besides, Merida isn’t just a princess (although, that’s an added bonus), she’s also a badass archer. Since she has naturally red, wavy hair, it seemed like a natural fit. This year, Kivi is dressing as Princess Merida, from the Pixar movie Brave. Or, if you are REALLY dye-hard (pun intended) you can read BOTH! :-) So… pick and choose the one you want to read.

The long version, which includes more of the story, and which is probably detailed enough to help someone make their own Merida costume, is linked HERE.

Those who know me, know if nothing else, I’m wordy. You get some pretty pictures, a few anecdotes, and just a hint of how I made the dress. The TLDR summary version, which is below.

Side note – my original version of this article was nearly 3000 words long. But it’s fun for both of us – she gets a great costume, and I get to work on a fun, creative project. Another year to go overboard on my daughter’s Halloween costume.

Merida brave dress pattern