#44 In time for Easter

This year I decided to get ahead on my daughter's dresses earlier. One Sunday afternoon in Februrary, I took out my dress patterns and spent a few minutes with each of them so they could decide whether they wanted a fall/winter dress, or a spring/summer. We have a plan folks! And one of three is finished.

Although she only wore last year's version a handful of times, this daughter chose the same pattern again. Again I let her choose the fabric, and again she chose out of my comfort zone--plaid. Perhaps I need to pick one or two and then let her choose from those? I like the color and it was much easier than last year's since I didn't have 3 layers to work with.

I had most of this dress done a month ago, almost in time for her birthday. I finished up hand-sewing the flowers and hemming last night.

I struggled with:
1)Plaid matching
2) Inserting the zipper
3) Attaching the lining
4) Procrastinating due to perfectionism

These are how I solved them:
1) Basting was my best friend to help me match plaids. There aren't a lot of seams in this dress, but I basted several of them multiple times to get the best matching I could. I love basting. It's so much easier to take out than regular stitching. I'm pretty happy with how the plaids match. They aren't perfect in the back, but reasonably matched elsewhere. Of course I only photographed where they don't look good, so no photos to show off.

2) Trial and error.
It is an invisible zipper and got twisted a couple of times. I suppose if I insert more than one a year, they will get easier?

3)I struggled to attach the lining to the dress, but after several attempts, I got it right. I think the only way to improve this system next time would be to pin baste it in, turn it the right side in (as opposed to inside out), and see if I did it right. I chose a quick lining instead of one attached to facings. I'm pretty happy with it, but recognize doing it in a more professional way will be more satisfying.

4)No solutions on this one . . . . You see it took me a month to finish up because I was upset it wasn't flawless. I hope to get better at this. Somehow. Let go?

In love with the bias trim on the sleeve--really shows off well in gingham

I plan to make this dress one more time, so I can try binding the sleeves another way. It's a great pattern for a traditional young girls dress.

It's fun to see how much she's grown in only one year.

Happy Easter. Hope you have something new & cute to wear to celebrate such a great holiday.

Details:
Fabric & notions: Homespun cotton & bemberg lining,  1 1/2 inch grosgrain ribbon, flowers all from Joann's
Size: Bodice 4, with skirt length 5
Daughter: priceless