Well, here it is! The Easter dress! When I decided to Make this dress, I had no idea that purple was the color for little girls this spring. I just picked it because I couldn't find yellow ribbon to match the yellow bias tape.

Surprise! Every little girl under the age of ten was wearing purple at church today. Ah well. Not all of them were in white eyelet.

I think it is safe to say that she loves it! She twirled and talked about being a princess the whole time I was taking pictures (which was every bit of 5 minutes.) She didn't have fits about putting it on and she didn't have fits about the bow. I was expecting fights. Lots of fighting.

I am so glad I didn't get it!

This dress cost me less than $5. Yep. Less than $5. Here's the rundown:

Pattern: Butterick 4112, size 2. FREE as trade
Outer: Edged Eyelet. FREE as destash
Lining: $.69 a yard bolt-end from Sir's Fabrics. $.91
Ribbon and Bias: Joann's. $3.41 after coupons

I won't be able to make another of these - the pattern came to me cut for a size 2 and with some parts missing, so making another one isn't really feasible. I fill like it is too short in the front, but my mom assures me that it isn't (and that I dress her in Pentecostal-length dresses anyway. *eyeroll*)

I was initially not sure where to put the bow. In the on-the-hanger pics I put on Instagram, I have the bow on the front, but she wanted it on the back. So on the back it went.

I have to admit that on the hanger, it was NOT awesome. And I had a moment of intense pride when we got i ton her this morning and it was perfect. I felt horribly guilty for feeling proud, so it didn't last long.

The only thing I'm not wild about is the sleeves. They look like huge wings. Sort of annoying, but she doesn't seem to mind.

 And I have to tell you. I love that I dind't have to hem anything but the lining. This edged eyelet is super-thin and sort of stretchy, so working with it was tricky. But it really gathered great and got nice and full. And I love that it is pointed instead of scalloped. That seems to make it a little more unique than what I've usually seen.

And seriously. Who still puts a child in white eyelet, even for Easter? Judging by what I saw today, nobody does!

We still are not out of the woods yet health-wise. Elizabeth seems to be having a rough time of it now - she just got past a really bad upper respiratory thing, now she's got a raging ear infection in her left ear. Poor kid! It got so bad that her *eyes* hurt her.

Lots of ibuprofen and antibiotics seem to be helping, but she will miss the egg hunt that's supposed to be tomorrow. I can't let her be out in the cold wind with a gunky ear.

But I've been quite busy. Last weekend while she was at my mom's I guilt-sewed up several pairs of shorts (!!??) for her. It was so warn and wonderful outside! 70 degree weather, sunny, wonderful! NOW it is 34 and cloudy-rainy, but then.... Well, so are the wonders of living in Tennessee!

Aren't they cute? I was really worried about them being too big - I used my 4t pattern from late last summer. But my skills are much better this year and these fit great! The green plaid and the Pooh Bear ones are a touch long, but this is Tennessee and Summer lasts until October. I'll make a dress or something to go with the rainbow striped ones - I didn't even try to match the stripes and they don't look great. They were worse before I made them bloomers, tho! WHEW. Some things just don't need to be striped in rainbows!

The Sprinkle print is a cotton from Joann - I only got a remnant and it shrank so much when I washed it that I didn't know if I could get a pair of shorts out of it. But I did and they are adorable. And yes, we've made all the right jokes about carrying sprinkles on one's booty. The rainbow stripes are that wal-mart sheet from last summer. I have another whole sheet left so I'm thinking about making some sundresses to sell out of it. The green and the Pooh's are both recycled from old pants. The denim on Pooh is so soft! Elizabeth really likes these, but alas, hasn't gotten to wear them yet.

I also finishedup the Mickey Dress for the fundraiser auction! It turned out really cute - I used Rae's Geranium Dress pattern and added a collar to it.


You can tell that I don't really know much about adding collars. This was the first one I've ever drafted myself and if I'd been thinking, it would meet at the center. As it is, there's a little gap. I'm going with 'it's a vintage look' instead of the 'I'm kinda dumb and don't plan stuff very well' explanation. They have gotten it now and seem quite happy with it. I hope it will bring a nice high bid!

I've got a lot more stuff I've been working on - like Elizabeth's Easter dress and about four thousand Skater Dresses, but all the skaters are dirty and the Easter dress is not quite done (it needs buttons and my Boy Scout is at work.)

I worked on this dress off and on for weeks. Then, on the last day of my Plague, I got it out and finished it. And now two weeks later, Elizabeth finally got to wear it!

I took these pictures today as we were leaving for church. It was so windy! Elizabeth is not a big fan of wind (tho if she were more a fan of headbands, her dislike of the wind could be decreased) but she was a trooper about having her picture done. Once she was bribed with some weedy flowers, she romped and played and I snapped pictures.

This dress is really a cobbled-together thing. I started with the Go-To Dress from Go-To Patterns. I used the cap sleeve with rib option and hacked off about three inches from the hem. Then, after seeing several patterns with the top shirred and showing, I decided that I would use that at the high waist mark. And I've been wanting to do a bubble skirt for a while, so the skirt is gathered and 'bubbled up.' I even eyeballed the button placement. While doped up on Nyquil, no less. Someone give the girl a cookie!

I will confess that I was TOTALLY winging it with this one! Why did it take weeks? Well, first the knit I had on hand is Evil Knit that stretches when you look at it. Next, I had just enough white rib, but I had to seam it together instead of folding it over because I'd cut it for something else initially. Somehow, I guessed perfectly on how much to cut off the hem, because this dress's finished length is 22 inches from the back neck - just what I want for her warmer weather stuff. Then there is the shirring - which itself is NOT hard for me. (I have a cheap machine therefore I get best results with cheap elastic thread.) But attaching the skirt at the waist after I had put the hemline together with the bubble proved both nerve-wracking and curse-inducing. Silly Evil Knit!

I was really happy with this little dress and was really looking forward to her wearing it after she got home. Then she got the Plague from her daddy, so she didn't get to wear it right away. It hung in our dining room the whole time, and several times I caught her admiring it. She LOVES the buttons and will tell anyone around that there are two yellow buttons on her dress.
The back isn't much to look at, but you can see the effect of the shirring a little better and the white rib on the sleeves.

I posted a crappy picture of this dress to my facebook account and something unexpected happened. A week before the Boy Scout interviewed for the job that moved us closer to my family, two things happened - one, an AWESOME couple got married and two, there was a fundraiser auction for Elizabeth's playschool. I had made a black and lime green Popover Sundress and donated it to their auction. Folks were very complimentary and I offered to do another dress this year. Good to my word, I contacted them a couple of weeks ago about when the fundraiser would happen, but I never heard back.

Until I posted that awful pic to facebook. Then the playschool's head teacher asked if I would do another of these dresses for the auction.

Of course I said yes. But, what they don't know is that they will get a very different version. No knits, no sleeves, and I'm adding a collar. I haven't decided whether to bubble it or not. This Mickey fabric (Hobby Lobby, by the way) is 100% cotton and just after going to church and lunch, it looks like she slept in it for three nights. I'm taking input from anyone who wants to give it! Bubble, no bubble?

And yes. She's wearing the crazy shoes. They don't match or blend well at all, but she's going to wear them!

It has been pretty bad health-wise for our little family the past two weeks. I've had the flu and an upper respiratory thing, Elizabeth had an upper respiratory thing, and the Boy Scout let his upper respiratory thing go so long that an excess of boogers has caused him to get pinkeye.

Due to the pinkeye, Elizabeth and I ran away from home yesterday. Every errand that I have been putting off and every errand I was planning for the next month got accomplished yesterday. We burned half a tank of gas, ate everything that was bad for us, and had a great time! I think my girl was just happy to have her mommy all to herself without any of the silly at-home stuff (chores, sewing) distracting her and I had a great time with her cause she's just awesome.

In our ramblings, we first went to our local Hobby Lobby. I've agreed to make another Mickey Mouse dress (post coming soon)  for the fundraiser auction that Elizabeth's previous playschool has every spring. I needed the Mickey fabric for that. Then, while my girl ran around and around the racks, I looked at the bolts on the wall and found the other two. The tiny hearts print is what I tried to talk Elizabeth in to picking out, but she clearly has a better eye than I do - she picked the adorable vintage looking one with the animals and babies on it.

I have a couple of patterns in mind for that one! SO stinking cute! The hearts I'll save for August - That's the next time the color of the month at playschool is red. And I'll make that one a Geranium dress. We also got her some Angry Birds stickers which she loved.

Our next stop was for milkshakes, then a 45 minute drive to the closest Stride Rite for some summer shoes for Elizabeth. Now, everyone knows that I DO NOT spend much money on her wardrobe. Clearance racks, thrift stores, and buying a size too big abound. So how do I justify spending $30+ on shoes for her? She has my feet - long, narrow, flat as pancakes. Until she outgrows them, we will get her main shoes from there. Usually, we just get sneakers and other everyday shoes - like this time, we were gunning for summer sandals and fall sneakers. What we walked out with was a tiny bit different!
Sandals for everyday this summer, nice and sturdy and cute.


Then there's THESE! She found them, sat on the floor, put them on and would only take the display ones off after the sales-gal brought her some in her size! I don't do dress shoes from there as a rule, but she's going to wear these every chance we get until she outgrows them. They go with nearly everything, so we will make it happen!

I'm such a pushover.

Next we had pizza for lunch and I got Birded on my leg.She must have out half of her new stickers on my leg. I must eat very slowly, but when I have to cut hers first and make sure she doesn't dump water down her front, it kind of slows my own progress.

Next up was a quick trip home and to the grocery to get a balloon and some juice for the Boy Scout (which we left on the front porch.) Then we were sort of at loose ends. I asked her if she wanted to go on a loooong car ride and she was peppy and glad to go. So we traveled to Fayetteville, TN to this place that I really love, Sir's Fabrics. It is right downtown in this pretty small town, but OH MY! They are celebrating this month - 65 years of business! WHOOO! So there were some things on sale and I was pretty happy just going in. They were not busy and ALL the employees we saw were thrilled with my little bug. I'm sort of outside of their target demographic, so I don't think many toddlers come in. Certainly not many who are as chatty and content as Elizabeth was.

But the best part? On the first table that I came to, just inside the door, was the biggest pile of adorable knit fabric I've seen! And every bit of it was $4.99 a yard! 60 inches wide, $4.99 a yard! I decided we could pick two of the kid prints (most were spring pastels and kid prints, but there were some grown-up ones too.) Lizzie picked the first one and I found the dogs. She was excited about both! So I let her pick which one was a dress and which was a top.

Dogs for a top (or maybe two!) Flowers for a dress. Now, to just decide what top and what dress patterns to use. I may do another Skater dress (we already have two, and one tee made from the same pattern) and I just don't know for the top. Maybe another Banyan? Or wing it for a strappy tank and make two? Who knows!

I just know that I really waffled about driving the hour and a bit down there, because we'd been in the car ALL DAY. but I am SO GLAD we went! And on the way back, Elizabeth caught a little nap. Short and unsatisfying, but she managed.

And she was really amazing all day. I was concerned about attempting this, but she proved that my worries were for nothing. She only fussed a small bit when she was tired and really enjoyed herself everywhere we went. When we pulled in at home, she cried and asked to "Go on AVENTURR again!"

That is my best girl.

And as of this writing, the Boy Scout is crust-face free, and slathering himself in hand sanitizer every time he touches his face. And without a minute to lose, too. Elizabeth woke from her nap today crying for him.