The Playhouse Dress (and some news!)

The Christmas season is upon us, and I'm in full blown Christmas sewing mode...I've just been really terrible at sharing my progress!

In my defense, things have been a little hectic around here. I know I said awhile back I'd be able to share some exciting news soon...and the time has come!

In January 2014 we are moving! We are relocating from South Dakota to Nevada! It's going to be quite a change, but we are so excited! This season has been a little more stressful because of the impending move, but we are making do, and very excited about the future. Christmas is going to be a little crazy this year, as we will literally be packing up right after Christmas--we have the u-haul reserved for Dec 31--and plan on pulling out of SD on January 2nd.

Which brings me to this little dress. I love making my girls' Christmas dresses...but I also hate spending time on something that only gets worn a couple of times.  The last couple years I've tried to make things that were more wintery in spirit, instead of just Christmas, so that items can be worn a full season. This year was a bit more 'challenging', only because our 'season' will be changing much sooner--Winter in Nevada is not quite the same as winter in South Dakota! :)

Enter The Playhouse Dress from Fishsticks Designs.  If you've read my blog for any length of time, you should know I love Bonnie's patterns. They are just my kind of sewing--easy, fun, and practical. I love making things my kiddos can wear again and again.  I love making the frilly, ruffly, special occasion outfits too, by my real passion is in creating things that are meant for everyday wear.  And this pattern fits the bill perfectly.  

  

  My little Cecelia is now 15 months, and never sits still, so she's pretty much impossible to photograph! But we tried our best. She is such a busy-body, and this dress is perfect for this age. It's comfortable, but looks adorable. I love the curved bodice and full skirt--it makes it look dressy without sacrificing comfort.  The puff sleeves are also the perfect touch.  With this pattern you can use a combo of knits and woven fabrics, or all knits, as I did for this dress.  I used cotton interlocks in pink and blue, and added a cute lil' snowman with heat transfer vinyl and my Silhouette cutting machine.  I also added a glittery snowflake to one sleeve.  Cecelia is wearing a 2T in ready-to-wear clothing, so for this dress I cut out the 24 months/2T size, and as you can see, the fit is great. It has just enough growing room without looking huge on her.  The pattern was easy to sew and only took a couple of hours. Bonnie's instructions are always very good, and include many pictures. My favorite part about Fishsticks Designs Patterns are the patterns themselves. I really like how the PDF patterns print and are assembled. I know some sewists aren't a fan of nested patterns as the initial printing and taping can be daunting, but I find it so much easier to make changes to a set of nested patterns than just single sized pieces.

This dress will be perfect for our low-key family Christmases, but can also be worn all winter long--and because I did short sleeves, it should work in the desert just fine! :)

I'm working a cute little American Girl Doll tutorial that should be up later this week, so I hope you'll stop by!  

Happy Sewing!