Tea Parlor Easter Dresses

I fell in love with some tie-dyed chiffon georgette at the fabric store this year and fully intended to use it in the Easter dresses. I envisioned classy, sophisticated little outfits that were a) not peasant dresses and b) without ruffles. But I was nursing the baby to sleep one right and I realized how fast my girls were growing up. I thought back to my best-loved Easter dresses and realized the ones I remembered most fondly were not sophisticated. They were huge, poofy, and ruffled. They used pastel floral prints. As a girl I felt they were magical.
My daughters had to have dresses like that at least once before they were too old to feel the same magic. And of course I decided all this barely a week before Easter.

I decided not to make an exact replica of my childhood replica but to take elements that I loved and include them in a more modern pattern. I also chose to make each of my three daughters their own special dress but keep their look unified by using the same type of colors, prints, and shapes. I went for tea-room inspired fabrics and color stories-- mint green, pinks and blues, lavender and white. After browsing Etsy for a shape that reminded me of my much-loved Easter dresses, I found this adorable pattern from FooFoo Threads. It is called the Sugarplum Princess and it features two layered skirts and eight very generous ruffles. I liked the smooth front and shirred back, combined with the easy peasant-style sleeves. My oldest, however, wanted a more moderate number of ruffles so she chose the Josephine dress. Which only had two ruffles. (Is this what Peter felt when he heard that it was Wendy's last night in the nursery?)

I found the patterns easy to follow and love the look of the bodice. One word of caution: they fit close. I would recommend sizing up if you have babies with a bit of tummy. My baby girl has a bit of a belly and she fit the size 3 pattern. My three year old was most comfortable in the size 4.

So, enough talking. Pictures are more fun. Unfortunately my battery died right at the start of my oldest daughter's photo shoot so these are just of the little girls. But there's definitely still plenty of ruffles and girliness to go around.

Ta da!

 Baby girl's dress was by far the most elaborate. It was worth all the gathering to watch her bounce around in the dress. She was clearly loving it.

 The focal print was an awesome mix of damask and large roses that looked exactly like it could have come off the dresses I wore as a girl. I didn't think I was a lavender fan until this fabric....I love the way the coral roses and the darker purple flowers contrast the delicate background color.

I was very careful in my choice of complementary prints. I wanted to stay in the purple family but didn't want the dress to be too busy (I know, strange thing to say of a dress like this that seems to have everything but the kitchen sink). I chose a lavender paisley, a purple and white stripe, and a white-on-white embossed floral fabric for the ruffles and belt. Pretty and sweet but muted enough not to compete with the main floral fabric. 

 

And the best part of the dress is that she can still run, which would have come in handy at the Easter egg hunt.....had it not been rained out. I'm so happy that I at least have one lady who is too little protest her mommy's love of ruffles. (Though after this dress, I was done with gathering. For a day or so.)

 My middle daughter's dress was the last one I made and I finished it at midnight the night before Easter. I knew when I sat down to start sewing that I didn't have time (or sanity) left to pull off a mess of ruffles so I went in a different direction. 

 

I'd been hoarding a fat quarter bundle of vintage rose themed prints for almost two years. I never found just the right use for them....until this dress. I chose all the blues, pinks, and reds and cut them into twenty eight long strips, which I sewed together to make the skirt. 

  

(Yes. It needs pressing. I do promise you though that it was ironed for Easter).

I used some lining and blue broadcloth to make a simple underskirt with a barely peekaboo ruffle. I made the bodice out of the same blue and kept it very simple so that the skirt could be the star.

Once again, I love the shape of the back and sleeves, especially with the shirring. 

She could barely keep from spinning long enough for me to take the picture. 

I bribed her by letting her pick some azaleas, which are usually off limits (lest they be stripped to bark within a day).

....but in the end I caved. A special dress must be spun. 

 

It was an absolute joy to sew these special dresses for my special girls. 

I loved the opportunity to use cotton fabrics and quilting techniques-- stripwork and mixing prints-- in a special occasion dress. This will definitely be something they can wear again to church. 

 

 I've sewed my girls special things for wedding parties, birthdays, and Christmas portraits but hands down Easter is my favorite occasion. These dresses, with their tea-parlor charm and ruffles and lovely prints, make me happy every time I look at them. Thanks again to Project Run and Play for suggesting this theme. I can't wait to see what everyone has created.

Country Summer (Project Run and Play Sewalong)

I have been mostly cheerleading for this cycle of Project Run and Play but this week's theme was too good to pass up. The challenge was to create an outfit that focused on one main detail or technique, and I knew instantly I wanted to paint. I had never attempted "real" fabric painting before, so it was a great chance to cross something off my sewing bucket list.

I was inspired by a magazine of "country prim" decorating ideas I found at Wal-mart. I have always loved country-theme stencils, both for their charm and corniness, so when I found a vintage rose stencil at Michaels I knew it was meant to be.

I decided (for once) to completely ditch prints for simple, bold solids. I chose muslin for the main fabric, to emphasize the painting, and since Kona cotton was on sale I scored a lovely apple green to give the look a kick. My first thought was to do a circle skirt with a stenciled print but Tiny Girl sabotaged that idea when I had to take a phone call and forgot she could reach the table now. Since "graffiti country" was not the look I wanted, I had to come up with a second concept. One that took into the account that a good amount of my precious fabric pens had been used up in now-useless fabric.

I was out of inspiration until the day the heat came. 

Just in case we have readers in the north, Southern heat waves are neither genteel nor refined. Here in Virginia they lay in wait and jump out, teeth bared, so that you barely have time to blink before it's 90 degrees at three p.m. In the second week of April. I still had Tiny Girl's winter clothing out. She ran around most of the day in a pair of her big sister's bloomers and a t-shirt. I wanted her to wear something light, airy, and simple. Hence my second idea.

I chose a very simple top so that nothing would distract from the painting. I even skipped out on the ruffles. (Gasp!)  I used what was left of the fabric pen to stencil three large roses on the front. The muslin was very, very soft after washing. I think I'm going to go back and buy more for the older girls.

I used the apple-green Kona to make a very billowy, airy pair of bloomers. I liked how they gave some vibrance to the outfit and also added a modern color to the nostalgia of the flowers. 

I kept the back simple and unadorned because everything on this look was about those flowers. I could just see them on a bookcase in the house in the country that we left behind.

This was Tiny Girl's "pretty pose". She liked her outfit very much and kept trying to pooch out her belly to see the flowers better.

Like so.

This was a great outfit to make, because scribbling on fabric with paint seems slightly forbidden (and therefore great fun) and because I enjoyed sewing something simple. After all the ruffling I did on the Easter dresses, this was like sitting on the porch sipping an iced tea. 

Thanks again to the lovely and talented ladies at Project Run and Play for coming up with such great themes. It's always fun to sew along.