I’ve been quilting like crazy lately, but over the weekend I shifted sewing gears for a couple days and made a dress for Emma! It started on Saturday when I pulled out this dress that I made for Emma three years ago..because it’s now a perfect fit for Charlotte. The conversation then went like this:
Me: “Hey Emma, see Charlotte’s dress? I made that for you when you were little and now she can wear it too!”
Emma: “You made it?”
Me: “Yep, do you remember it?”
Emma: “No.”
Jose: “Hey, maybe Mommy could make you another dress now that you’re bigger!”
And by that very afternoon, we were at Joann’s and browsing the novelty print aisle! Emma’s obsessed with Trolls at the moment, so her fabric choice was not exactly surprising. I bought two yards, went home, and got right to work that night after the girls were in bed.
I have a handful of patterns for girls’ dresses and as I scrolled through them, Emma stopped me at the First Day Dress by MADE. Why? Because it was twirly, of course! I do a lot of quilting but can count the number of clothing items I’ve made on two hands. (Pajama pants. Emma’s-now-Charlotte’s geranium dress. A skirt. A shirt. That’s about it.) Fortunately, this pattern was a great choice for my skill level — it features very simple construction but results in a really polished-looking dress.
For the lining, I ended up digging some random muslin out of the very bottom of one of my fabric bins. This was a spur-of-the-moment choice but hopefully a good one — it allowed me to fully line the dress without adding much weight, which will help keep it cooler for Emma despite the heat of summer. The pattern also includes instructions for a partial lining just on the bodice, but I a full lining was important to me because Emma is really picky about how her clothes feel on her. If she thinks anything is pinching or pulling or scratching, she will flat-out refuse to wear it. The full lining means that all the seams are enclosed, which means less potential for scratchiness!
Making this dress took me 5-6 hours from start to finish, and that’s everything — from printing and taping together the pattern to completely finished product. Not bad at all! I’m so, so happy with how it turned out.
And most importantly of all, Emma LOVED it.
Cute! I have not had much luck with clothing lately. I can’t decide if I just need better patterns, or more practice, or if I should just stick with quilts (and anything else that does not require an accurate fit.)
Patterns can be really hit-or-miss — I’m always nervous about that, because I’m still new enough to clothes-making that I need very clear and explicit instructions for most steps! Kid clothes also seem easier to me because of the fit thing you mentioned. They don’t have curves yet, which makes things a lot easier than if I were making something for myself I think.
Super cute. I love it on her 🙂