Surprise Doll Sundress

It seems we have a burgeoning fashionista in the house. In January my daughter saw this fabric being offered by one of my favorite hosts, and fell in love.

When the fabric got here in March, I downloaded the coloring pages from Ellie and Mac, and then used MS Paint to reduce them until several of them could fit on one page. My daughter told me she wanted an "off the shoulder dress, like Sleeping Beauty," from this fabric so I delved into my pattern files (yes, I own almost all of these already; no I haven't sewn a single one) and sketched out the pattern views most likely to fit the bill. This is what I came up with:

I showed these to my daughter, and she picked the Midsummer Dream by Striped Swallow Designs.

I was a little concerned about being able to get a full Midsummer's Dream *out* of that fabric since I'd only ordered a yard. So I borrowed the concept from the SUAT Aurora and added a waistband.

My execution on the waistband ended up a little shaky: the Aurora is designed for negative ease, the Midsummer's dream is not, so my waistbanded ended up a little bulky. I also underestimated how much ease I would want *above* the waistband when I calculated total length.

But although this dress doesn't meet *my* exacting standards, my daughter is thrilled. She picked the fabric, she chose the concept, and she loves the final product.

I mean, seriously; just look at the smile on that face! She loves that she can adjust the upper flounce up and down, she loves that it twirls, and she loves the fact that it has most of her favorite LOL dolls on it.

Oh, and one final entertaining bit about this dress; by pure happenstance, the flounce and the bodice line up to give one doll a color change halfway through. If it'd been an actual seam that lined up like that, I would have purchased a lotto ticket that day. But for a lucky flounce, I'll just settle for showing pictures of my good fortune online!

So, for a dress that had a few flaws in the execution, it still ended up making not one, but two people happy overall. What a nice surprise!

Pokemon Part II

Along with my Pokemon panel, I also scored a few scraps of Pokemon fabric - a gorgeous, hard-to-find print that goes for a small fortune online. Once I saw it I knew my SIL would love it though, and so I set about figuring out how I could use it for my nephew.

Once again, the Brindille & Twig Kimono came to the rescue. My SIL had admired the built-in gloves on the WoW Kimono, and through careful measuring, I discovered I had *just enough* fabric to make it work with these scraps. Seriously; When all was said and done, this was the total summation of scraps I had left:

And though the B&T pattern still isn't something I tend to recommend for beginners, I have found ways to make it work for me. And I am pleased with the result!

From back to front, this Kimono is colorful and fun, and putting those little contrast feet on the footie pants is getting kind of addictive. If I'd had enough, I would have made these leggings out of the same fabric, but alas! The pops of color I did manage to incorporate are still fun.

And the look even better when paired with the pokemon blanket.

I gave this gift set to my SIL shortly after my nephew was born, and although my nephew is still a little small for the Kimono, the blanket is getting lots of love.

Here are my kids showing off the kimono during my rushed photography session (does everyone else photograph their stuff right before it heads out the door?).

And here is the full gift set I gave my BIL & SIL upon the birth of their new baby. A blanket, a trial "snuggly", and a brand new outfit for baby. Here's hoping they all get lots of love and use!