We've got a birthday girl in our house! This little doll turned two years old on Sunday. Of course it blows our minds that the time has gone this fast, but it is strange to me because she also seems so old sometimes. She has been mistaken for 3 by several people this fall. I am glad to say that she is still my baby though, and prefers to be rocked to sleep and even slept on my back in a baby carrier while I cooked dinner tonight. 

     Whenever we asked her what she wanted for her birthday ahead of time, she would reply "Happy Birthday to you! Blow out candles!" Oh, if we could all have the mentality of a two year old, with no concept of wanting things you don't have; with our highest hopes being that someone will sing us a song.
     Nonetheless, she did get a few things aside from cake and happy birthday. Including her little red riding hood / snowy day / gnome birthday dress!

     I am in love with this dress. It is made out of anti-pill red fleece which was just on sale at JoAnn's. She picked out the color and I bought one yard for $3. I made the pattern piece myself by tracing her and then laying a knit dress that fits her over my tracing and adjusting a bit.

The pattern piece included the bodice, skirt and sleeves, so all I did was cut two on the fold for a front and back. It ended up being much wider than I realized, so I included a pleat on the front, and an inverted pleat on the back. 

 

 I had been planning to leave the front plain so that I could attach a big kangaroo pocket shaped as an animal or something to make her smile. I ditched that idea when I added the pleats, but I like the overall effect of the plain red dress a lot. I added big on-seam side pockets because it certainly couldn't be pocket-less for this treasure hunting girl. You can see her hands stuffed in them here: 

(along with some canine photo bombing)

   The hood is just a large rectangle folded in half and angled slightly so that the point would be more prominent, then stitched up the back. I folded the front edge in about an inch to make a casing and stitched it down. I used some metal grommets for holes for the drawstring and attached the hood to the dress. One of dad's shoelaces works as a drawstring for now.

   I love fleece for several reasons, the main two being coziness and the fact that it doesn't unravel at all. So I didn't even bother hemming the sleeves or bottom and only tucked in the front of the hood once. I didn't even finish the seams that I did sew, so this little dress was a VERY fast sew. And for $3 with fabric to spare, this was very satisfying.

   My favorite thing about it, is that she loves it too. She didn't want to wear it when she first saw it, then was cold a little later and asked for a blanket. I asked if she wanted to wear her new blanket dress and she said YES! Then didn't take it off all day.

   Today, after her nap she came to me crying "riding hood!" wanting to wear it again. Of course I obliged her and my heart sang. Great birthday present for mama whose birthday is the day after Althea's. (I got a birthday dress too, I'll post that once I actually take a picture or two of it). I love watching her walk around in this little ensemble, and knowing that it keeps her nice and toasty on the chilly early winter days we are experiencing. I also love that she chose red and will fit right in with the colors of the holiday season.

 

  

Happy Thanksgiving!!