dress

For Bailey’s 4th birthday we had a beach party.  She wanted to be a purple and pink mermaid so I promised her an amazing mermaid dress (silly mommy for setting such expectations!). 
I started with purple sequin fabric and tutu tulle (purple and pink).  The sequin fabric was see-through so I had to line it for it to work as a skirt.  I used a tshirt of hers (which she never wears) for the lining and made a skirt.  Then I alternated colors of tulle and created a “mermaid tail” base.  Initially, I planned to just create the skirt and pair it with a tank top (maybe adding a bit of mermaid “bling” to embellish).  But then I remembered how much she prefers dresses to skirt/top combos so decided to maximize the chances of her wearing it and create a dress.  This caused some issues, because I couldn’t easily just attach a tank top (as I wanted to) since she wouldn’t be able to get into it.  The mermaid base was too tight to fit over her head and she wouldn’t be able to step into a tank top.  So I used the purchased tank top to create a halter top for the dress.  I chopped off the top, creating a tube.  Then flipped it upside down (for a nice finish at the top), sewed it to the skirt, added elastic at the top and then used the cut off peice to create halter straps.  Perfect! 
When I first revealed it to her she cried.  (I did too, but not in front of her luckily).  It was heart breaking.  She is very shy and I think she panicked she’d be too much of a focus if she wore it.  Plus it was definitley different to other “party dresses” she has. So I quickly showed her images of mermaids and she slowly made the connection in her head of the dress looking like a mermaid.  I added a massive tulle bow to the top and she was smiling. 
At this stage I was just hoping she would wear it once, without frowning, for a photo. Surprisingly, on the day she loved it. After an initial issue with a very scratchy bow which was later removed, she happily wore it throughout her party when she wasn’t swimming and paired it nicely with her still-smelling-of-chemicals-from-the-factory-in-China pink heels.  It definitely was helped by a four year old party attendee saying “wow, you look like Ariel [from Disney's Little Mermaid]“.  I could have kissed that child!! 
She was a beautiful mermaid and I am pleased the dress will get future wear as an addition to her dress-up box.

Dresses, dresses, dresses.  I am taking a break from quilting to enjoy dressmaking for little girls.  After watching the lovely and inspiring Great British Sew Off, I decided I shouldn’t spend any more money buying cute dresses for my girls and instead I could make them! 

It has been awhile since my dressmaking course (adult education course which I loved for three years), so I was lacking in confidence.  I bought a girl’s pattern ranging from 12 months to 5 years from Etsy (I definitely like Etsy original patterns rather than the usual Butternick, Simplicity, New Look, etc patterns.  I find Etsy is more modern and fun in comparison.).  The pattern was easy to follow and after the one I felt confident enough to start making my own patterns, using the bought one for sizing purposes. 

After making a few I felt especially brave and reserved the local café window for two weeks in July to showcase (and hopefully sell?) my dresses.  So the pressure is on! 

Over the next few weeks I’ll detail the dresses and show some pics…