Dressed to the Nines

Earlier in the week I posted about some rainy day projects I had in store now that the munchkin has started school. I said I would come back and update on their progress, and I am happy to say that I finished each and every one! I'm proud of myself not only for sticking to it, but also for completing some things I have never done before (like make a dress). I also took a ton of pictures (warning: photo overload) of my handiwork.

I made this cute 2-tier skirt for Claire to wear on her first day of school. You can find the tutorial for it here. I strayed a little from the tutorial when it came to making the waistband. Instead of sewing on a new band, I just made my skirt lengths longer, and inserted the elastic into a partially sewn top hem. It sounds complicated, but was actually much easier that way. There are lots of tutorials on pinterest for easy elastic waistband that employ the same method.

She was cute as a button in it. Thankfully, daddy was able to come home from work to take her to school on her very first day. It was a struggle for me not to tear up that day, but I am overjoyed at how much she really loves it. I adore the owl fabric. It's colorful without being in your face. I love that I can pair this skirt with many different tops to match!

I also finished the potholder set that I was making for my sister as a gift. It's her birthday next week, so I thought she could use something special for her apartment kitchen. We also plan to take her out for dinner and drinks while we visit this weekend. I decided not to take pictures of this one since it's, well, potholders. But if you're curious, you're welcome to see the original post from earlier this week here. It has a photo of one complete potholder.

The final project I finished was making a dress for my Claire-bear. I found the cutest fabric at Joann's the other week, and knew it would make the prettiest dress. I didn't have any patterns on hand to use (I've never used a pattern for making clothes before), so I gladly snagged one for 60% off while I was picking up some extra fabric to finish the potholders.

Let me just say that I absolutely LOVE how this dress turned out! It was also extremely easy to make! I started it at 6 am this morning (nothing motivates better than leaving it to the last minute, right?), and completed it in time to head off to school at 11:30. Not bad for someone who's never used a pattern to make a dress or even made a dress before!

There were a few challenges in making this dress. I'd never used the button hole stitch on my machine before. That's okay, though, because apparently it doesn't work anyway. I managed to get a small zigzag stitch to work, though, and made small, skinny rectangles to cut the button hole from. I went over it several times to ensure that it was nice and secure. Worked like a charm! I also had to figure out how to line the inside of the dress. The directions weren't very clear on how this was to be done, but I managed to figure it out. I decided to leave the dress plain rather than sewing in an apron like the picture and instructions have outlined. The dress still looks very cute without it. I am glad it is so versatile, and I can't wait to make different versions of this same dress.

And of course, here is my adorable little model. :)

If you've got a little one and like to sew, I highly suggest this pattern! It's easy for beginners, and you can embellish it nine ways from Sunday!

Thanks for stopping by! :)