KCW :: Happy Homemade : Sew Chic Kids - Dress with Frilled Shoulders

For Kids Clothes Week, I had, let's call them soft plans for making a dress or two this past week.  Then, last Sunday, we had some water damage to our floors.  In an instant, sewing dropped to the bottom of the old priority list.  This week our house felt like a mix between Grand Central Station and a zoo.  People were in and out.  Fans were running, a massive dehumidifier was dehumidifying. Baseboards were pulled.  After a day or two, it was evident that some of our wood floors were permanently damaged.  But because of the way they were installed and because this particular line of flooring had been discontinued, almost all of the floors on our main level would need to be pulled and replaced.  So, yeah, this week was pretty much mayhem.

When these things happen, I really try not to get too stressed out about it.  Our insurance compay is covering it.  None of our personal belongings were damaged.  It will all be fine.  Our kids are like sponges, soaking up every drop of the emotional energy we're putting out there, the good and the bad.  It doesn't take long to create a soured emotional environment, which only makes everything so much worse, so much harder.  Dan and I tried our best to set the tone by staying relaxed and positive.  But by Friday, as I was exhausted and looking ahead to spending a weekend of us moving many of our belongings upstairs, organizing and covering/taping things off, all with four kids underfoot.

So, late Friday evening I turned to sewing as a coping mechanism.  :)  I reminded myself that all would be well, even if I took a couple of hours off to sew.  So I did (and it was).  I sewed an already-cut project from Happy Homemade : Sew Chic Kids - A Dress with Frilled Shoulders for Ms. Tarikua.  It was pretty much exactly what I needed to do to decompress after a chaotic week. 

Having sewn a Japanese pattern before, I was more prepared going in this time.  I was careful when adding seam allowances.  I was ready for instructions that left me somewhat bewildered, but then impressed with how much can be understood by simply looking at an illustration.

I was really happy with how quickly and easily this dress came together.  I think I might just have a thing for these Japanese patterns!

Tia's measurements didn't quite line up with those listed in the book.  She was measuring between a size 2 and size 4.  After making a muslin of the yoke to get an idea of fit, I went for the size 4 and hoped for the best.  

The fit was great, long even.  I ended up taking about 2 inches off of the bottom of the dress before hemming it.

I love stripes and I love dots, but I didn't know I would them so much together.  (Isn't that a longstanding fashion no-no?).  I bought the fabric here.  I haven't found a fabric print that I love this much in a long time.

 It was quite thin - it felt most like a double gauze even though it's a linen/cotton blend.  Also you could kind of see through it, so I (fully) lined it with my trusty cotton couture in soft white.

 

I cut the yoke so the stripes ran horizontally, the skirt so the stripes ran vertically and the sleeves (or 'frills' as they're apparently called) on the bias.

Playing with stripes like that makes me practically giddy.  I get far too much enjoyment from it.

I was really unsure about how the two button loops would work out.  I contemplated creating a button placket instead.  But I was under these time constraints given the aforementioned issue of having a lot of work ahead of us, so I needed to stick with quick and dirty.  I was really happy with how the loops looked in the end.  I sewed on some red buttons for a little extra color.

After reading your very helpful comments on knits, I ordered a yard of a Lillestoff knit fabric on Etsy with aspirations to make a coordinating pair of leggings to match this dress.  I am still waiting for that fabric to arrive, which I guess worked out well given that there wasn't time for me to make them anyway.  Soon, though, I hope - and I will definitely report back!

I like this dress.  I enjoyed sewing it.  Tarikua loved it.  My other kids liked having a (mostly) chilled out mama.  And we still got everything done... with time to spare!  I call that a win all around.