dr seuss for sisters

One of my nieces is celebrating her first birthday.  Her sisters and she will be decked out in style!  The two older sisters have matching skirts.

This is the birthday girl's dress.  It's basically a pillowcase dress with fabric band at the top tied in a bow, and a ruffle along the bottom.  The diaper cover matches the blue bow.

The fabric was chosen by her mom.

A close-up of the neckline.

The older sisters' skirts are a mathematical feat.  I used a red and white chevron for the underskirt, added three layers of ruffles, and a layer of red tulle.  The top layer has a red ribbon on top.  Each of the three fabric ruffle layers were pieced together from a variety of Dr. Seuss fabrics.

The bottoms of each ruffle layer were serged with a narrow rolled hem on the bottom and just a regular 4-thread stitch at the top.

The lines were marked on the skirt after the tube was made, and before I put the elastic in the top.  That made it easy to attach the gathered tulle and fabric ruffle layers.

I started at the bottom and added layers as I went up.  Because all the edges were serged, I didn't have to worry about a lot of loose threads or frayed edges.

 

Happy Birthday, E!

very hungry caterpillar

My daughter's latest dress is made from Patty Young's Frida pattern.

I finally cut into my Eric Carle stash.  The headscarf and bodice are from the Brown Bear collection.  The skirt, pockets, ruffle, and sleeves are from the Very Hungry Caterpillar collection.

She loves retelling the story and pointing at the foods on the skirt.

She wore it proudly for her brother's Eric Carle birthday party, and will hopefully wear it for the first day of Kindergarten.

pink hearts and purple stars

One of my nieces requested a dress with pink hearts and purple stars.  I did my best to fulfill her wish.

I used Patty Young's Addison pattern for the big girl.  (Her sister was the one who got the purple version in March).

Her doll got the Mini-Addison version, with slightly different buttons.

Happy birthday, G!

more knit dresses

I love Spoonflower.  It's a great concept, and although I've only used it once - I plan to use it again for another special project.  I bought this rainbow fabric in the organic knit and used Patty Young's Morgan pattern.

I used an old tshirt for the yellow, and some scrap knits for the green and the turquoise.  I cut the fabric carefully to get a nice zigzag effect at the shoulder and neckbands.

I love the pockets peeking out a bit of yellow!

This version was made for one of my nieces using Patty Young fabric and some other solids from my stash.

Here's another peek at the pocket.

The tuck at the neckline is a cute detail.

I've made many of Patty Young's Abigail dresses before.  This is my latest version.

It comes together so easily now, especially with my serger.  Easy breezy!

bloom

This is the bloom dress from Patty Young's book Sewing Modkid Style.  It came together very easily, and is light and comfy.


I thought the print was a perfect one to use with this dress that already called for a five-petal flower applique.

warhol tank x 2

Here's my latest version of Dana's Warhol dress for my daughter and her doll.


I used a black and white polka dot Michael Miller knit, and did the strap and heart applique using an old pink tshirt.  The doll version doesn't have the bow at the shoulder and is a little more of the typical tank pattern.

rainbow dress x 2

Rainbow dresses for the birthday girl and her doll.  For her, I used Patty Young's Claudia pattern.  For the doll, I used her Mini-Addison pattern as a base, and modified the bodice and sleeves and didn't add the sash or overskirt.  The doll dress didn't have a collar either.  They each had light blue dresses, white cloud sleeves, and rainbow ribbons along the skirt.

Easter outfits

Here's another Addison and Mini-Addison set of dresses.

I found that the doll dress bodice lined up a little differently than the kid's version, so the buttons look off center in this picture.  I think that was my fault and I ironed the fold in the wrong direction.

The sash becomes a bow in the back.

The boys got matching gray tshirts with the geometric fabric appliqued on as ties.  Happy Easter!

dolly & me, the purple one

Perfect dresses for dolly and me!



Patty Young's Addison and Mini-Addison patterns sewed up quickly and easily.


Little details like sparkly buttons made it fun for the birthday girl!

Button-up tabs reveal the underskirt.

Bitty Baby loves hers too!

Happy Birthday L!

piper - three ways

I just love the Piper dress pattern from Patty Young.  The large pocket is perfect for little girl's treasures, the pleated skirt is fun, and the crossing straps in back are cute.



I chose a bright striped corduroy, with plain turquoise for the pocket and pleats.  My husband, the Willie Wonka fan, calls this the Oompa Loompa dress.  It is pretty brightly colored, I'd have to agree.  I used some sparkly ric rac on the pocket and sparkly buttons because my daughter LOVES sparkles!


This is actually the first version I sewed.  It was meant to be the one for my daughter, but it didn't quite fit her right.  When I decided to make a sewing kit for my niece for Christmas, this dress seemed like the perfect choice for her.  She loves green, and the flowers all have an edging to them that looks like handstitching.


The yellow flower buttons seemed just perfect with the corduroy fabric.


This one was made for her little sister.  I usually try and do similar styles of dresses for them, because I think matching your sister can be fun.  I also try and do something floral for her because her middle name is "Rose".  This corduroy fit the requirements.


It is definitely a different color scheme though, which sets her apart and doesn't make them matching twins.


Using corduroy with this pattern made it a little tight to do the pleats, so I look forward to trying it in some lighter weight fabric and springy print!