birthday dress!!

Well that was an unexpected little break there. I am still here, and I wish I could say I was getting a lot done, but I'm not really. I am hoping this week will be different, but I guess we'll see. At the moment I am tired, I am unmotivated, and I have been trying to just relax and get ready for this little one. Less than a month to go! I do still hope to cross a number of things off my list (which seems to keep growing....although I guess most of them are someday projects at this point). I really want to make a quilt but honestly, it's just not so fun with a big belly in the way, so that is on hold.

Anyway, as my sweet little love turned 3 last week, I thought I should go ahead and show off her birthday dress.I don't know how long she'll want me to make her a special dress for her birthday, but I think I'm going to do it for as long as I can. We finally got some family pictures done yesterday too (after being rained out last time we tried) and she proudly wore her dress for that as well, which is always a good feeling. I used simplicity 2265 which I got at Joanns when they were $1, and a lisette fabric with a white sheet for a lining. I should have known when I went to figure out how much fabric I would need that it wasn't going to go well. Instead of telling me how much I needed, they give you mix and match yardage which you have to figure out depending on the options you are choosing. I think they wanted me to buy something like 3-4 yards of fabric to make a little dress for my 3 year old. I ended up getting 1.5 yards which was perfect, partly since the print wasn't directional or anything.

I used piping for the little detail in the front and some cool buttons I had lying around from who knows what. It took me forever to figure out how to do the lining and get that right, but in the end it works. I decided to topstitch the final lining piece in because, well, it didn't seem worth the hand sewing. And then I got it finished and tried it on her and it looked like she had wings or something. No lie. I am pretty sure I took in at least 2" on each side...in very scientific fashion which involved me clipping the sides where I wanted them and then sewing from the top down to the skirt. The gathers hid it pretty well and actually, now it's a bit on the tight side but I was too lazy to redo it again. It made a huge difference though and it looks so much better when it fits. I made her the size 3 too, so I'm not even sure what size bodice I would have needed to have it fit. It might have worked out in that size if it had sleeves, but this version was just not working without being taken in.

The moral of the story is really that I need to stop buying simplicity patterns because they are never easy to understand and it takes me forever to decipher them. I'm sure I'll fall into the trap again, but for now I will tell myself that I won't. On the plus side, the dress is really super cute and she loves it so I guess that makes it worth it. Now I need to go motivate myself to make some more baby t-shirts. They are all cut and I sewed up one, so I think I can manage it....if I don't get distracted by laying down or something :) Man, shouldn't I be nesting or something?!?! Soon maybe?? Here's hoping for a productive week!