Last month, I finished and mailed a Rapunzel costume to a childhood friend for her daughter. Not a huge deal in and of itself, but the thing worth noting is that it’s specifically the Tangled costume. Which I made from an official licensed Simplicity pattern. I’ve got a number of licensed Disney patterns. I’ve got a counted cross stitch kit that I bought at California Adventure. I don’t have any licensed fabric, but it’s available after years of not. Basically, Disney is once again recognizing that there’s money to be made in crafters.

I remember being young and every year having a new sundress out of Minnie Mouse-printed fabric. Which we wore to Disneyland. When I grew up, my first roommate worked at a fabric store, and she complained to me about all the customers looking for Mickey-printed fabric, because it didn’t exist; she hadn’t been aware until I explained it to her that it had, in the past. I’m unsure as to why they went away, but it seems to me that Disney is really stepping up their appeals to crafters these days; one of this season’s new patterns is a vintage Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto stuffed animal pattern.

Which I will end up buying, probably, because I’m the reason Disney does this, or part of it. So are many of my friends. Some years ago, I was deeply irritated that there wasn’t an adult-sized Merida costume for a dress I made for a friend of mine. She’d rather pay me the money than buy a cheaply made but expensive version which may or may not be licensed anyway. The other friend’s daughter has a collection of Disney costumes, and she’s realized the same issue—making it yourself, or having someone you trust make it, means you get better quality.

And, of course, there’s the hobby aspect; I enjoyed working on that dress. It was pleasant, and it was fun to make adjustments to get it closer to the movie version. I don’t know that anyone at Disney thought about my amusement factor, but they had to know that this is a hobby for a lot of people. There are a lot of us who would rather sew our own whatever just because the sewing is fun for us. Are those stuffed animals cheaper than ones you could buy, especially when you factor in time? Yeah, probably not. So what?

This extends somewhat to properties owned by Disney—my son’s got a Black Widow backpack that I made from a Simplicity pattern, though that pattern appears to be out of print now. And I’ve made Jedi robes from an official pattern. That was, as I recall, before the buyout, but there’s an official pattern again. And a couple that are “totally not Rey” or what have you. You can also buy kids’ craft kits to make lightsabers. Things along those lines.

Disney actually bans you from wearing these outfits in the park, apparently, so you won’t confuse small children into think you’re an official cast member. And that’s fair. I would imagine the people who make them mostly wear them to cons and costume parties. Once you’re over about seven, people tend to look down on you if you’re just kind of running around, dressed as your favourite Disney princess. Which is kind of a shame, really, because it’s a kind of fun we’re missing out on. And Disney is giving us the tools to do it if that’s what we want to do, and more power to them.