Mission Accomplished

This post is about sewing so if you're not interested in reading about the Easter outfits I sewed for the girls, feel free to skip to another more interesting post.  This year I really wanted to sew all the girls something to wear for Easter.  That was my goal last year as well, but I didn't end up finding the time to make something for Madison. I had two weeks to make five outfits but I still didn't even start the last two until Easter weekend.  This year I was determined to meet my goal and amazingly enough I actually did it, with literally hours to spare.

I started with Natalie's dress because I wanted to work my way through from youngest to oldest; it's probably good that I did because her dress was the most complicated.  I used the Oliver + S Jump Rope Dress pattern, which I've had for a while but had never attempted because of the three scissors difficulty rating.  The fabric came from a duvet cover I bought at the thrift store, so I would love it if everyone could comment and tell me she doesn't look like a bedspread.  Natalie did not want to wear this dress when I first finished sewing it.  She told me that she had already chosen a dress for Easter and wouldn't wear this one.  Obviously, I persuaded her to put it on this morning and I learned an important lesson - involve Natalie in choosing patterns and fabrics and she'll be much more likely to happily wear the finished product.

Samantha's outfit was sewn for Abigail, but it ended up being way too short for Abby.  That's not the kind of thing you want to find out at 9:30 the night before Easter, but everything worked out in the end.  This is another Oliver + S pattern, the Music Class Blouse and Skirt.  I'd made the skirt a couple of times before - once for Natalie's first day of school this year and once for a friend of Natalie.  It's a great skirt with some cute details (pockets and pleated panels!) and it comes together pretty quickly.  I kind of love this shirt because of all little things that make it special: pin tucks on the front and back, box pleats on the sleeves, and a banded collar.  The shirt was a bit trickier than the skirt, but I'm glad I decided to make it because it helped me to learn some new sewing skills.

Abigail ended up wearing the skirt I made for Samantha because it had the length she needed.  I had fiddled with the pattern a little when I was sewing and ended up tracing the pattern along the size 8 lines for the waist and the size 12 lines for the length and I'm so glad I did because otherwise Abigail wouldn't have had anything to wear.  Even the sweater was bought for Sammy and ended up going to Abby.  This skirt is fully reversible - the darker yellow polka dot that you can just see peeking out at the skirt front is the fabric on the opposite side.  I used another Oliver + S pattern, the Hula Hoop Skirt, and I really liked how it turned out.  I think this would make an excellent every day skirt for school and can see making lots more of these for the girls.  So, obviously I like Oliver + S patterns.  The finished products have fun details and the directions are very thorough.  I feel as if I learn a new sewing technique every time I complete one of these patterns.

For Emily's skirt I didn't have a pattern, but I knew I loved this fabric and that the thick blue line would make a great skirt border. I wanted it to be pretty full so I cut the fabric to be two times her waist measurement.  I also wanted it to be something a little more special than a basic simple skirt, so I added an underskirt and attached some bias trimmed tulle to make the skirt even fuller.  I didn't start this skirt until Friday so I'm glad it came together so quickly.  I couldn't find a shirt or sweater to really go with the skirt, but Emily is always good at putting cute outfits together and grabbed a sweater out of Abigail's closet to complete the look.

Madison's skirt didn't get finished until the very last minute.  I started it Saturday evening around 10 and finished it up Sunday morning before church.  My initial plan was to make her a Washi Dress because I've been dying to sew one, but I knew that there just wasn't time.  Plus, she was out babysitting so I couldn't even take her measurements to make sure I was sewing her a dress in the right size.  I decided my best bet would be to sew a simple skirt like Emily's but even that's tricky without a waist measurement.  In the end I grabbed a skirt out of my closet and used it as a pattern piece to cut out the two pieces for this dress.  I knew it would be the right length and maybe just a little too big around.  Instead of an elastic waistband, I used elastic thread to shirr around the top of the dress (I did about thirteen lines of stitching, each about 1/4 inch apart).  I liked it, Madison liked it, and I realized that this is the first thing I've sewn for her since I sewed all the girls Easter dresses in 2005! 

I'm really pleased with myself and with how they all turned out.  It feels good to accomplish a goal.  Happy Easter!