Sewing: Easter Dress for Audrey

I am finally switching gears to Spring sewing, and Easter dresses in particular! Easter is one of my favorite holidays. There is nothing more welcome than a rebirth--of flowers and trees and all living things. My mother always made new Easter dresses for my sisters and me and I love the idea of doing the same thing for my girls. Three dresses is certainly more work than two were, and I seem to have made it a bit difficult on myself with the outfits I chose, but I'm getting there!

For Audrey, I chose this vintage pattern (Simplicity 4327). I love the classic girl's suit. I especially love the scalloped hem on the view in the middle. But for Audrey's dress I went with a straight hem, thinking that would be better with the plaid skirt. Maybe I'll make the other view for her another time. I don't often go back to the same pattern--there are so many others to make--but this pattern is at least a full size too big for her right now so I'll have time. Which brings me to one of the ways I made this difficult for myself: I used a too large pattern, which of course could be adjusted, but I rushed to cut and then realized I hadn't adjusted and tried to do it after, which worked o.k., but hindsight is everything. Oh well. That's what I get for trying to squeeze in too many things!

I love this pink and cream plaid! It is a silk dupioni I believe (very practical for little girls, don't you think?) and I can't remember where I purchased the fabric but I think it was a designer/home fabric store of one kind or another and I think it was not much after Audrey was born. I thought it would be fun to make three dresses with this plaid, and some pink and cream linens. I bought a pretty light pink linen but decided to go with the darker pink for Audrey. It's a great color on her! I only had a yard of the silk but luckily it was 60" wide and I've managed to lay out all the pieces I need with a bit left over. At least I had that going for me!

This skirt is a great design. I love the less common combination of a gathered waist and pleated skirt. I especially like the box pleats, which I didn't iron all the way down because the fabric doesn't lend itself that well to strict pleats. Easier to wear I think. The pattern indicates suspenders for the skirt. I thought, "cute, but why the trouble when they don't show?" As soon as I had Audrey try on the skirt I realized suspenders were a brilliant idea--they keep the skirt at the waist, which is a feat on little girls. So I made some button holes in the waistband and maybe I'll add the suspenders. Or, sew buttons on the blouse she's wearing underneath the jacket to help keep up the skirt that way. With the cropped jacket having the skirt hang a bit low will not be such a good thing. Suspenders. Who knew? They obviously were on to something a few decades ago. I think some of that practicality and attention to detail has been lost.

So one of three Easter outfits. And on I go...