Call it nesting, call it keeping my mind off of the fact that I am STILL pregnant, call it whatever you want. I made my first little girl dress this past weekend. This is actually my first attempt at clothing period, baby or otherwise.
I will admit that as soon as we found out we were having a girl I started getting excited for all of the little clothes I could make.
I have really enjoyed sewing but until now it really has been limited to craft projects which are a bit more forgiving as far as fit. I was a bit nervous to try my hand at clothes but at least they are baby things and don't have to fit perfectly, right?
I really like rather simple styles without a ton of fluff and flounce. (Although I do have a bit of a weakness for ruffles on baby behinds...). I like my dresses with straight lines and not a ton of ruffles.
I came across a Butterick pattern at a JoAnn's sale I thought it fit the bill. In addition to the pattern I found this super cute seersucker fabric in the red line clearance section for half off. It ended up being a dollar a yard! Score. Plus it seemed perfect for summer.
There is no tutorial here as it is not my pattern but I will share some things that I learned along the way.
1) I have become a bit spoiled by online tutorials. Working off of a pattern is not my favorite as you are left to make some leaps of faith when the instructions don't necessarily make sense.
2) When in doubt go with your gut. When I was working on the arm holes I didn't like one of the instructions as I felt it was going to turn out a bit bulky. I decided to try it as written on the first side... Guess what it turned out really bulky so I made an adjustment for the second side and I liked the result much better. Maybe I didn't read the instructions correctly...or maybe I am just really awesome and my way was better (let's go with the second option).
3) Basting is for suckers. Holy cow I have never seen so may basting steps. I decided early on that I was not going to waste my time basting every 2 seconds and I would "honey badger" it using pins and such. Potentially my lines would have been a bit sharper if I had done the basting but I honestly think it came out great in probably half of the time it would have taken me if I had followed all of the basting craziness.
4) Baby girl may be wearing this dress in the dead of winter vs. summer. I think I ended up with a 9-12 month dress vs. the 3-6 month I was shooting for. I am not sure if this was due to me or just the sizing in the pattern. If she doesn't end up a chunker-nutter/Michelin Man baby she may have to wear a baggy dress or plan on being in a cardigan in the winter.
All in all it was pretty easy to put together and I will definitely be making another one. I am really excited to start making some clothes and I already have my next project picked out...however if baby girl decides to actually come out it may need to wait for a bit!
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