Whew, it sure is a hot one here in NH today! We've still got a couple
weeks left of school, so I'm not quite in summer mode like some of you
are. And boy oh boy, has it been one of those kinds of weeks.
Isabelle was pitching quite the fit earlier today (which landed her in
her room) and she kept it up for a loooong time, and all I kept thinking
was Why won't someone order me to my room? I'd gladly go!
How funny that when we're little that isolation feels like such a
punishment, and now...well, it's nothing short of a yummy, gooey slice
of heaven on earth.
Anyhoo.
I got my hands on some scrumptious hot pink and orange floral fabric
but could not for the life of me make up my mind about what to do with
it! I was really leaning towards a tiered peasant dress, but then I got
thinking about that adorable little dress I made for
Dress A Girl
last year and that cinched it. That dress came to be from a mistake,
actually -- I totally miscalculated how much fabric I had, and too late
realized that I didn't have enough for the skirt of the dress, and I
ended up loving the fix!
The original pattern called for a pleated skirt, which obviously
wouldn't work with the patchwork-type panels, so I gathered the skirt
instead. Easy peasy! Then of course, I didn't have enough yellow left to
make a gathered ruffle, so I opted to pleat that -- pleated ruffles use
much less fabric than gathered ones. I love how it turned out, and I
remember Isabelle and I prayed that the little girl who received it
would feel so special and cared for.
I folded the skirt pattern piece in half to cut the two panels for one
side of the dress. (Cut through the fold to make two pieces.)
Then, to make the center panel, I folded the pattern piece into a more
rectangular shape, and cut the same length as the other panels and
eyeballed the width. The great part about gathering is you don't need to
be so precise or perfect!
Sorry, but I don't have a picture of the three panels together because I
ended up sewing this late at night. You will have the center panel
which is pretty straight down the sides, and the two sides, which have
more of a flare on the outer edges.
Use the fabric panels as pattern pieces to cut the contrasting panels,
and sew them together as front and back, then as the whole skirt. I sew
primarily with French seams -- I wrote
a post about it here
if you'd like to take a gander at it. Gather the skirt and stitch to
the bodice, lining up side seams. Add a ruffle. Or don't. Either way,
it's super cute!
The bodice front and back are also opposites.
Instead of the bow in the center, this time I opted for bows on the bodice. (The pattern calls for this.)
You really could switch it up and do any color blocking you want!
LOVE these colors together!
I'm really thankful for blogging because there are so many creative
people out there, willing to share their thoughts and ideas, and I've
been inspired by them more times than I could ever count. That
inspiration has led me to try lots of new things on my own -- some with
better results than others, ha! This is one of those things that I might
not have attempted a few years ago, and I just love it! The
possibilities truly are endless!
Have a fantastic weekend!
**the original pattern is McCall's M5836**
