I made a baby dress!

Have you ever used a pattern to make clothing? I never have, until this week when I decided to make one! I never thought I could use a pattern because I always make things out of my head, but after I drew out the design for this baby jumper I realized I was going to need something to help me create it. I tend to be really ambitious when I start a new project, but I think this little dress turned out just perfectly!

I picked out some really soft gray corduroy for one side of the dress:



And some ultra feminine and washy pink batik for the other side of the dress because I really wanted this dress to be reversible. If I'm going to make a dress, I want it to be as versatile as possible and be able to transition from fall to winter to spring.


Then I drew and cut out a pattern for the front bib, the back straps and skirt. I measured it on baby first, but she grabbed a hold of the pattern piece and tried to put it in her mouth (hence the really wrinkled paper!) So I used a dress that fits her as a measurement guide.



Then I pinned the pattern to my fabric and cut out the appropriate pieces: one pink and one gray for each side of the bib, two pinks and two grays for each side of both straps and two pinks and two grays for each side of the skirt.
I didn't really chronicle the rest of sewing it together, because my brain was working overtime on how to do it properly, but basically I just sewed all the matching pieces together inside-out and then I pieced them all together, and inserted a piece of elastic in the back to make it easy to get it on and off her. Then I learned how to sew button holes - which were really difficult for me to understand until I just did it - and it was SO EASY! I guess I'm a hands on learner, 'cause it really was the easiest thing in the world with my (semi) new Brother sewing machine.






So, anyway, this is the pink side. (It's currently buttoned on the inside, because I had it on her, and I took it off without unbuttoning it and turned it inside out. But it does button on this side too.)





And this is the gray side. Please overlook the slight wrinkled-liness (yes, I know that's not a word - I like to make up my words just like I make up my patterns.) She wore it all day to church and since we left early in the morning, I didn't have a chance to get pictures of her in it until after. She slobbered on it some too...



Overall (no pun intended,) I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I think if I make another one, I'll add a bit of length to the skirt - but not too much because I want her to still be able to crawl and move around.
I'm excited about making clothes for her. I've never done this before, and it's so much fun. I feel like I have a little live doll. (The boys were dolls too...but we called them action figures.)

Ta ta for now! Have a great day!