Toddler Easter Dress 2011

As I was working in my craft room the Monday before Easter, I came to the realization that I always am sewing for other people or things for the house but actually pretty seldom my own children.  The last time I made anything for Vivian to actually wear, it was for her blessing day which was over a year ago.  So I pulled out some scraps from making Vivian’s bed skirt and made her a little dress (thank goodness little girl dresses use a lot less material than other things).  I love the “butterfly” sleeves on this dress. It made me re-remember that I love  to sew for my children so I’m going to try to do it a little more often.

Grey Ruffled Dress…

In July we had a wedding up in Utah to attend for my cousin.  I needed something to wear that would fit me, be cool in the heat, and be appropriate for a wedding. 

After spending some time looking at dresses and not really fitting anything (my post-pregnancy body is a little more "hippy" than usual) I decided to try my hand at making my own dress. I pulled out one of my favorite patterns that I tried and never was happy with the results. Then I headed to Wal-Mart (The only store with fabric that was open within a 10-mile radius) and picked up a remnant of some grey cotton material that had some stretch to it.

I decided to add a ruffle to it as a lot of dresses right now have ruffles and little fun feminine details and I wanted to be special too (besides the fact that the ruffle made the dress a little more modest was a bonus).

 

Here I am at the wedding…

It turned out pretty nice I think.  After the wedding my sister sent me a link to this dress to show me how similar they are.  It only cost me about $5 to make this dress… that’s a little better than $130 don’t you think so?

Baby Girl Blessing Dress

As it turns out there is a nice learning curve to sewing.  When I made this dress I had never been very successful  making anything wearable before.  According to my friend that I gave it to it has received more complements than all of her daughters other dresses.  I thought that making Vivian’s blessing dress would be a difficult undertaking but it actually only took me about two days: one to cut and sew most of it and the second day for the finishing touches.

Here’s Vivian sitting on Grandma’s sofa on her blessing day.  I really love the ivory brocade satin that I found and the gorgeous Venetian lace that I found to trim it with.  I also got creative and made a pleated bow for her head since the bonnet  seemed a little overpowering for her little sweet face.

   

Here she is with her daddy ready to go get blessed.      

 

It’s a little difficult to see the bow detail because of the lack of contrast but I’ll make another in color at a later date and do a tutorial if anyone is interested.

Here’s a pretty fuzzy though cute picture of her big brother trying to kiss her!

Lavender Little Girl Dress with a Little Detail

A year after my back surgery, I told Jared that if he wanted to have kids, I would need a sewing machine.  I just felt like if I was ever to have a little girl I would want to make dresses for her.  So he took me over to this special they were having at Big Lots on Necchi sewing machines with all metal parts and bought me one.  I love my sewing machine and I’m so excited that now I am actually going to have a little girl to sew for!  I decided to practice my sewing skills and made this little dress for my friend’s daughter since she’s in a bit bigger size and sometimes bigger is easier than smaller.  My favorite thing about this dress is are the little fux pearls I added to the already darling trim.

 

It’s all in the details!