A Special Valentine's Day Project

I have been looking around for a cute outfit that Lillian could wear for Valentine's Day, but didn't want to spend a ton of money for something that was obviously for V-Day.  In the meantime, I was looking for toddler dress patterns for Lillian and found a cute jumper/dress...New Look 6016...follow the link to see the pattern envelope. 

I decided with the right fabric (red with white polka dots) it would be a cute V-Day dress that can be worn any other day as well :) 

Away I went with (most of) my supplies.  At home, I measured a squirming Lillian...chest, waist, and height.  According to the package, she was a little bit smaller than the smallest size for chest and waist, and the second size for height.  Deciding that it would be ok to have the dress a little big on her, I chose to use the smallest size and lengthen it a bit for her. 

Here's what I learned in this project:

1) You can trace a multi-size pattern onto other paper so that the same pattern can be used to make various sizes...very exciting to discover but takes a bit more time.

2) When the book says to practice a new technique before doing it on your project, do so!  Buttonholes are not as easy as you might think and should be practiced. 

3) Bias tape should be of the same color as the fabric because it will peek through on the final garment. 

4) Always try on the garment before hemming because the sizing could be way off.  I hemmed this outfit to the normal 1.25", tried it on Lillian...then removed ~ 3" and hemmed again.

5) It's easy to make this outfit "your own" by adding or removing the accent pieces such as ribbon, pockets, flowers, etc.

I had a great time making this outfit and it took less than a week to complete (with lots of daddy babysitting on the weekend). 

I made the dress...the shirt and tights were purchased separately.  Of course, Lillian would rather eat her shoes than wear them.

The back of the dress as Lillian runs down the hall.