Dress with Quilted Bodice Finished - Carefree Clothes for Girls

It seems like my sewing machine and I have made up.  We haven't seen much of each other since the pillow incident, but she seems to have forgotten all about it.  I frantically sewed up the dress for this month without a single, rip out half my work along with half my hair, mistake.  I don't think that has ever happened. 

So here it is!  Please be warned.  You are about to see lots and lots of pink.  If pink makes you break out in hives and run for the hills perhaps you should go now.

She wore this dress all afternoon.  Says its her "favoritest" princess dress.  She also wants to know when I can make another one.  A purple one...

I made some changes to the fabric instructions.  I used the sparkly fabric as the outer skirt only and used the pink for everything else including the lining.  At less then $2 a yard, how could I go wrong with that?

I left off the sleeves and sewed the skirt with the hem on the inside.  I didn't think that the sparkly fabric would fray well if left on the outside.  I also wasn't sure if it would bother my little one's skin by turning it to the inside.  After wearing it a while she made a point to say it was less itchy then her other dresses.  It was a small gamble that worked out fine.

I embroidered the bodice with a lighter pink embroidery thread.  It was actually nice to break it out.  I haven't embroidered in a long time.  I took Tanya's advice and watched tv until all the sewing was done. 

I decided to hem the bottom of the ruffle and the bottom of the outer skirt.  The top of the ruffle is left unfinished as the pattern instructs. 

The back was a toughy.  My back ended up with a 1/2 inch of extra space.  To fix that I used another piece of fabric for more facing on the other side with the intention of adding buttons and button holes like Adrianna did on hers.  The facing helped but it still wasn't close enough for button holes and I wanted to make it easy to get on and off.  I dug through my drawers and found a packet of hook & eye clasps.  Even better then buttons!

This was a great pattern.  Easy, relatively fast and it didn't use up too much fabric.  It could be altered in a zillion ways too.  I was thinking of adding a sash around the waist but was itching to finish. 

I will be heading to Southern California for Labor Day, so you have until Sept 6th to post your project (or finish & post it if you procrastinate like me).  I will post next months project tomorrow so you can get a head start.

Comments

[Adrianna]

This is the best dress-up dress! What a great idea. And the easier it is to get on and off, the better, at least if your daughter requires as many costume changes as mine does :)

[Tanya]

This is interesting about the facing gap. I thought that the gaps I've had in this dress & sundress were because of my older girl, who's on the edge of the sizing. But, you are probably not sewing a 7 for the same-sized princess....hmmmmm....

Well, either way - your solution is great. I wouldn't have thought of that myself, and yet I have a nearly-full packet of hook & eye clasps just like you. ;-)

[Melissa Howard]

It looks adorable and isn't it a pleasure to please your little girl?

[kristin]

oh, this...is, just about as sweet as it gets. beautiful work!!

[Louisa Crompton]

This is just beautiful!!! your little girl is so pretty aswell :) your blog makes a lovely read, I can't wait to read more :)

[Selena]

I think the embroidery is perfect. At first I thought it was hand sewn because it was so neat and straight. Mine would have looked like a maze I think. It's a gorgeous dress.