So it's been quite a while. My baby is almost a year old and walking. Making lots of messes and getting into trouble. Life with four kids is quite a busy one. Thus my absence in this space. I've been making things (both sewing and knitting) as I cannot live without crafting. It is definitely one of the things that keep me sane and keep me going every day. It did become a luxury as all my time usually is taken by my girls. Oh, and don't forget about the moving. Oh, those annoying moves across the globe. When you ship your craft stuff off and then wait for it for months, when you have to pack or unpack instead of crafting, when you have to spend all your time on making a new home wherever you are. By the way, we are moving in less than three weeks to Kazakhstan so I might fall off the face of the Earth again.
But here I am, wanting to show off one of my latest projects. My oldest daughter wanted to be Dorothy for Halloween and asked me to make her a dress. I, of course, obliged. I don't make costumes every year, nor I make costumes for all of my kids in the same year. But one a year is a good rule of thumb for me. That way it doesn't stress me out and I finish it by Halloween and don't have those late night trying to cram the sewing right before Trick or Treating.
The pattern is Fairy Tale Dress by Oliver+S. Size 8. All fabric from JoAnn's.
As I researched the ideas of the costume I wanted to make something that she'd want to wear after Halloween too. So instead of making a blouse and a gingham apron I made a gingham dress and a white simple apron (not shown here). I stumbled upon this idea and shamelessly did the same thing. I am so glad I did! The dress turned out so cute! It is an intermediate pattern but I wasn't afraid to tackle it as Oliver+S patterns are so well written. It did take me a week to make it as I was working in the evenings mostly and then allowed myself one evening to do all the hand stitching required by the pattern. But the end result looks quite professional. The dress is fully lined and has some tulle to make the skirt fuller.
I really do like everything about this dress. I will tell you a secret - I already made another Fairy Tale dress for the same daughter but you'll have to wait to see it. I see myself making a couple of more dresses for her to wear to church because this pattern makes a perfect church dress.
She loves her Dorothy Dress! And she makes a beautiful Dorothy.