It happened in a moment of boredom on a cold April day while dreaming of warm weather that I found a way to use this sparkly teal fabric Elena loves. I bought it as a remnant at Joann's and had only this much left. I searched through my patterns and landed on this dress. Everything else came from my stash so in about an hour, there was this adorable dress ready to try on. Later that morning, Elena came home from preschool and her friend came over to play. Elena wanted to try on the dress and both girls loved it. "B" said she would love a dress like that too. I said that sure I could make her one and that I'd really like to do that. They ran off and played some more, and I went about my work around the house. About an hour had gone by when "B" came and asked if her dress was ready yet. Oh my goodness, how cute! I totally meant it when I said I'd make her one, I just didn't realize she thought I would right then and there.
So after Elena went to bed that night, I went through the stash and whipped up this one for "B". The fabric is from Joann's Doodles collection at least a year or 2 ago and it is paired with white ribbing. I should mention that the rest of Elena's is a lightweight pink interlock with glitter elastic for the waistband.
The pattern gives you a multitude of options: gathers, pintucks or pleat, top or dress (a-line or with a waist), flutter sleeve or not, a keyhole back that is either closed or ties closed, and different hem options. So many good options and ways to be creative. That keyhole back is really cute.
Both dresses got some kind of embellishment. "B's" has a repurposed little pearl and flower bauble tacked on and Elena's has little flower beads I took off a bracelet someone made for me a long while back. I'm pretending that I intended for the Elena's pintucks to be squiggly. I did mention that it was thin fabric right? It really was a tough technique for this particular fabric, or maybe just for this particular sewist. ;-)
I made them both the same size - a 3 for the top, and for the skirt a 3 width with 5 length. These girlies have legs for days. I love the fit. I think the ribbing worked better for the waistband. The elastic was tough to sew and looks a little ripply. I also noticed Elena touching her belly a couple times this afternoon and asked if it bothered her. She said no, so I don't think it's scratchy, it's just noticeable.
These 2 will be off to kindergarten together in the fall. Their little friendship is so cute to watch grow. I hope they will be friends forever. "B's" mom and I are good friends too and went through these pregnancies together. The girls are just 2-1/2 weeks apart. It's so good to have kind and supportive friends in this ever-increasingly crazy world.
And speaking of crazy.... Goodnight from this little nut!
What a lovely story <3. I really like the pattern, that keyhole back gives the dress a really nice and fresh look!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! They are darling and look comfortable to play in as well!
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