We had family pictures this weekend with my entire extended family. With a color palette of brick red, black, and white, the look was very formal and quite beautiful. And after making Lucy’s dress I thought, well, this should/could have been her Christmas dress.
I made a simple A-line dress of polyester suiting fabric. Baby Brother wore his pants from the UNO outfit, and they matched perfectly! The same fabric print….just in charcoal gray.
I used a previous dress as my measurement guideline and the idea for the front was inspired by this cute shirt on Get Your Craft On.
The ruffle was made of black cotton: about a 3-inch strip, ironed in half, and gathered together. I printed off a huge oval from my computer, traced it to the gray fabric, ironed under the edges, and top-stiched before sewing the ruffles under it (to help the gray fabric stay intact). Three accessory buttons on front. And a simple zipper down the back. One day I’ll get super savvy and try out Deborah’s fabulous Invisible Zipper Tutorial on Whipstitch. It can’t be that hard, right?
Sewing for me is always an evolution (which I love), since I rarely use patterns. I often make decisions based on necessity to make it fit or work. This time around, I added two little darts to the gray top portion to keep it from gaping open. And originally I made this a tank dress. But when I was done, it seemed incomplete. So I added sleeves which created the funky top-stitching on the sleeve seam (see top picture). It’s a different look but I like the result. The benefits of making things up as you go!
After taking pictures, we were all rewarded with chocolates from See’s. And Lucy got to relax in (as she calls it) the King’s chair. What a tiny girl; what a big chair.
Good thing she seems to only grow up and not out. We’ll be wearing this again when December rolls around.
For info on sewing puffed sleeves, please see the tutorial HERE:
