Friday, April 10, 2009

what's a girl to wear??

Anna's "spring collection" has 3 dresses in it. I made all 3 (over the past couple of weeks) and let her decide which one we would call her "Easter Dress".

I LOVE this fabric. It is Sugar Snap by Free Spirit. It turns out though that I didn't pay very good attention to how much fabric was needed to complete many of my projects so I've had to make a few alterations. I made view D of this Portabello Pixie Dress (instead of the mix of A and D - I was a little skeptical of the shirred waste in D). It turns out though - I love how it turned out and will make it again. As a side note: the pattern calls for a serged rolled hem, but shows you how to extend certain parts of the pattern to just do a normal hem. . . so don't let not having a serger discourage you from getting the pattern.

I had high hopes for this dress. It's ginorm on her. Huge. I cut a size 4, but she probably won't wear it until she is 6. If she will wear it. She told me she hates it. As I have now discovered with Butterick patterns in particular - they are HUGE. The sizing is so. . . huge. In the adult patterns too.

I didn't put in a zipper. I sewed up all the way to the bottom of the yoke and did two covered buttons instead
. Easier.

It's too bad. I had embroidery plans for this one. Maybe in another year or two.
Last, but not least, the Bubble Dress. At first I wasn't crazy about this dress - especially with the wavy sides (omited here), but I saw that it could be made without the wavy sides and loved the little "cap" sleeve. It's really easy to sew, and is fully lined so all of the seams are encased. I had some issues with the back placket/button area/gaping hole, but I think that it is more me not following the directions than it was the actual pattern.

I bought the turquoise vintage buttons from this etsy shop. Great prices and a lot of cute buttons! I got 24 of these buttons for only $4. Seriously. You can't even buy 24 plain white ones from Joanns for that price!

8 comments:

Emily said...

The last one is my fav!!! It's way cute!! Good job Lizzy!!

ali said...

looks great, I love the bubble dress! I was going to make my daughter an Easter dress but I was more interested in being lazy this week... So it'll have to be a summer dress instead!

Love the buttons, thanks for the etsy link!

- Tracy said...

Wow, you have been so busy. I love the way the first dress turned out It is super cute and the last one is amazing. Having seen it in person it fits her so well too. Liz you truly have skills

Autie said...

Haven't looked at your blog lately...fun to catch up on all your great ideas. I especially love the gardening post.

Unknown said...

Best dressed kid award!
♥ Jen

Unknown said...

those turned out so well!! and i love those turq. buttons. adorable with that pink!!

Poetry of Life said...

My favorite is the bubble dress!

melissa said...

beautiful dresses! You are so prolific and gifted!