How (not) to sew a dress expediently

Step 1)
Receive a lovely handmade gift for your daughter on her second birthday (which she is crazy about and wears all winter), and decide you'd like to repay the giver with an equally thoughtful gift for *her* daughter.

Step 2)
Identify adorable Octopus Panel online (for friend, who is octopus-crazy), and pore over pattern books at local fabric shops. Select the perfect one to show off the octopus. Round out the supplies for this dress with a some lively coordinating prints from your LQS.

Step 3)
Conceive Child. Get kind of morning sick. Ugh.

Step 4)
Push through to make dress anyway. Pull pattern out of envelope and discover that - surprise! there's a big pleat in the center of the apron that gives it its shape. Ooops; that's not going to work with the octopus! His head will get chopped off.

Step 5)
Panic. Search through PDF patterns on Etsy, downloading 2 or 3 potential candidates, and ultimately and decide on the Baby Peasant Dress by TieDyeDiva.

Step 6)
Realize that fabric selection is a little... less appropriate for new pattern/style, and order more fabric online from Gee Gees Quilting.

Step 7)
Wait for fabric to come. Get EVEN MORE Morning sick. 

Step 8)
Fabric comes, yay! Decide at this point that you are better served making the dress in size 18m than size 12, since steps 1-7 have taken you until well after the child's 14-month natal anniversary.  Cut into fabric.

Step 9)
Realize you made a mistake. Blame morning sickness. Order more fabric anyway.

Step 11)
Third Purchase arrives! Tie Dye Diva pattern is simple and straightforward; make it in a day.

Step 10) Make a complimentary diaper cover the next day (from another TDD Pattern).

Step 11) Mail the goods to friend a mere 4.5 months after child's birthday, and 6 months after your initial fabric buy.

And... That's how I spent my hiatus from sewing. Honestly, once I got on a roll the dress was short work, but getting all my fabrics and patterns lined up took most of the time. I am pretty excited about this dress though - It was easy to put together and turned out really nicely. Incorporating the panel took a little bit of doing, but now that I've done it once, I wouldn't blink at doing it again.

I will admit I was a little sad that my first project in over 6 months (and actually the project before it, now that I think about it) won't be sticking around the house. But it's always exciting to send a handmade gift to its recipient, and I'm glad to have this "late" first birthday gift off my conscience!