Modeled Pictures of the Sally Dress

Remember in April when I made 2 Sally Dresses for E and her cousin? Well, here are a few pictures of E in her dress :)

It fits better than I expected it to. I was worried that the straps were going to be too wide and would fall of her shoulders, but they have been fine. It's still a little tight to put on and take off, but that is to be expected in a non-closure woven dress.

I created the flower crown with a twine ribbon and fake daisies from Walmart and a shear ribbon leftover from my wedding 5 years ago. E has enjoyed playing with her crown now and again :)

Especially with all the hot days that we've had this summer, I'm so thankful that I made this dress with lightweight fabrics. It is perfect for a Midwestern summer!! 

Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Testing ~ Simple Summer

Happy 4th of July!

This was the third and final Felicity dress that I made during testing for Peekaboo Pattern Shop.

Fabrics: Red Gingham from my stash and a lightweight chambray from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy (Denim Swiss Dot Chambray by Robert Kaufman)

I added the red piping that was also in my stash - the pattern does not come with instructions for the piping, but it is such an easy addition! This was the updated bodice (and final version for this size), and I think I could have sized down to her true size. You don't want to size-up too much with this dress because then the bodice is too wide as you see in the pictures. 

I've wanted to sew something with gingham and chambray for so long, and this dress was the perfect reason to finally do it! Plus, it's so lightweight - perfect for summer (see, I'm just a broken record over here, ha!) and the 4th of July! She wore it to a hometown parade a few weeks ago... it was so hot out, but this dress kept her cool (well, as cool as you can be while running after candy and just loving life at a parade!)

We took pictures at a local park and hiking trail - I took pictures of the batik dress first, so by the time we were ready for this dress, so was a little less excited for the photo shoot. 

But, I still hope the pictures convey a fun and comfy addition to any summer wardrobe. Seriously - I plan on making her one of these every year from now on ;)

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Peekaboo Patterns Felicity Dress Release

I recently helped test another pattern! This time it is the Felicity Dress by Peekaboo Patterns and it released today (and is discounted for one day only... go check it out here!)

I sewed 3 different dresses throughout the testing process and I have blog posts coming that looks at each one more closely. Until then, here are the specifics of the pattern:

• Felicity is a collared dress with several options.
• It comes with Maxi or Knee length skirt.
• The back can be shirred or full coverage (I only tested the full coverage option).
• The placket in the front can either be half or full (you need to do a full length placket if you do a full back in order for ease of dressing).

I love how this dress conjures up memories of sweet childhood summers. It's the perfect summer dress for Fourth of July picnics, blowing bubbles at family weddings, or just picking flowers with the neighbor kids. 

This was my first collar in a long time - a first that isn't a 4-H project with my mom helping me step-by-step. Amy from PAB does a great job with using clear pictures and great instructions. The collar connects the front and back bodices and is finished with bias tape. The skirt is attached to the bodice with an exposed seam on the inside of the dress, but with the 1/2" seam allowance, a french seam would be a simple modification. 

According to the size chart, my daughter chest measurement is a 2T but her waist is a 3T. These two dresses are straight 3T, and they will fit for the rest of the summer and into the fall. 

**Blue Border Batik: Alison Glass Handcrafted Batik for Andover from a random online fabric store that had a sale last fall :)

**White on White Polka Dots: Stash! (Mini Confetti Dots by Dear Stella from a fat quarter bundle that I won in a giveaway from the Inside Quilters Newsletter Blog)

**Lightweight chambray: Denim Swiss Dot Chambray by Robert Kaufman from Raspberry Creek Fabrics

**Red Gingham: Stash!

(I added the red piping to the blue and red dress - these instructions are not included in the pattern but it is an easy addition!!)

Matching Sallys for Cousins {April Goal Complete}

Whew! Getting this post up on the last day of April... I finished the dresses earlier this week and now the gift is wrapped and ready for giving tomorrow. Woohoo! I was busy making other projects off and on, which is why these didn't get finished until the very last minute :)

This was my first time sewing the Sally Dress pattern from Very Shannon. The one above is for my newly adopted niece. She's being baptized tomorrow so it seemed like a good time to finally present her with a token of love for being adopted into my sister-in-law's family. We love her so much and we are so thankful that God has brought her into our lives!!

I made a size 4T for Kae and a 3T for E... They are 6 months apart in age and very similar sized, although K is a bit taller. I'm just crossing my fingers that Kae's dress will fit her at some point :)

I used a very thin pin-dot chambray from Raspberry Creek Fabrics on Etsy, and the floral came from the local fabric store. It's a Free Spirit voile (I'll post the actual name of the fabric in the post with pictures of E wearing it - I can't find it online right now). Both fabrics, especially the floral, have a bit of sheer-ness to them, so I did make some knit shorties to wear underneath them as well. I also figured that 3 year olds will be running and jumping in them, so the extra coverage underneath will be nice ;)