a dress for my wee girl...

I bought some fabric a couple weeks ago with the intention of making a couple as-yet-undecided things for Molly and a bag for me. When the order arrived I was absolutely thrilled! The colors of the fabrics were so much nicer in person. As I was preparing to wash everything I noticed they sent more than the half yard of the Echino Grassy Plain I had ordered...a fortunate oversight in my favor. And just today I realized they sent me a different color way than I originally ordered, another fortunate oversight in my favor, because this colorway is WAY prettier than the one I ordered. Anyhoo, all signs pointed to a dress needing to be made for Molly instead of a bag for me.



I used the bottom portion of the print for this dress and still have the top half to do something else with...maybe another little dress or a top. And if you're wondering about the design process:

• I sewed the back seam first and then hemmed the dress.
• I placed the armholes and pinned the dress on Molly to fit her across the shoulders.
• Originally I was going to do the same treatment on the front as I did on the back, you know, easy peasy dress done in an hour and a half tops...ha.

• Then I decided to sew a bunch of tuxedo pleats across the front and it was cute.
• Since the dress ended up as long as it did, I decided it should be a fancy dress she could wear to church and my little sister's upcoming wedding...the pleats then seemed a little too casual. Hello smocking idea.
• I've never smocked anything before this, but I did have an understanding of the steps required. I laid out the all the tick marks and then machine stitched the smocking. It looked too casual again. s h i i i i i i i t.
  
• I busted out my seam ripper, a needle and thread and double tacked each and every one of those little points.
• I made some bias tape. The bias tape was machine sewn to the raw edges of the dress and then rolled and hand sewn to finish.
• I still need to iron it. But that would involve getting the ironing board out. When I'm sewing I just use a towel over my cutting board table pulled right up to my sewing table for pressing seams and whatnot. Some might call it lazy. I call it streamlining my work environment.
  

Overall I am extremely happy with the way this dress came together. If I didn't have so much time already invested in the smocking, I would have redone the the arc of the neckline. Now that this one is finished, I'm ready to cook something else up!

Also, we're going to need some sandals to go with this dress for the wedding...her little orange sandals from last year would've been perfect, sadly the style is discontinued. Leave me a link if you know of anything cute!