The fleece dress I made for Althea that was the star of my last post was very much inspired by this dress I made for Fern last year.
Fern is one of those fancy little girls that wants to wear a beautiful dress every day of her life. I thought all little girls were like that, but her sister actually isn't. At the age of 2, she is thus far a bit more practical. We shall see if that holds out. Anyways, I saw a version of this dress and a pattern for it on pinterest, and it basically inspired me to break out that dusty 'ol sewing machine and climb on the sewing horse for the first time in quite a while. This dress is great. She provided a well done tutorial as well, which was just what I needed to really inspire me to go to the fabric store and get myself ready to sew. The only thing I would do different next time is sew the collar on with the seam facing the inside of the dress. She has it facing outside, I assume because there is a chance you would be able to see the seam when the collar is turned way out, ie:
but we never have it turned out THAT much. It confuses my husband greatly; he always wants to turn the dress inside out. He's right, it is does tend to look like a mistake, can you see it poking out there:
I recently decided it is driving me crazy enough that I am going to turn it into a french seam; quick fix.
Aside from that simple detail though, everything is very well explained and easy to follow. And I am so happy she has this dress to feel fancy AND WARM in! Sometimes she uses it as a coat. She wore it quite a bit last year and it still fits fine. The above photo was taken this year, while the others were last year at this time.
So I am very thankful to Un Petit Design for providing me with both the pattern and inspiration to start sewing things for my kids! I am so happy that I remembered how much I enjoy sewing while my girls are still so small and fun to sew for (and I am still staying home with them, providing more time for sewing!)
I am also planning on making myself a fleece dress soon. I think it will be a Laurel with leather patches mixed in and long sleeves. (I made a Laurel this summer and I find it very cute and flattering.) And Fern picked out some unicorn fleece, so she has another fleecy number in the works as well. It sure is cold out there; these can't get finished fast enough!
(Unfortunately I can't even think about starting them until after Christmas though. Let's see if I can squeeze them both in between Christmas and New Years!)
Here's some parting shots: I think a year made rather a lot of difference in that cute little face. It certainly made a huge difference that I notice every time she opens her mouth.
I wasn't expecting four to be so old!
