Whew. Christmas came and went, didn’t it? I really felt the busyness of it this year- the school parties, the teacher gifts, the shopping…
I’m exhausted.
I did my fair share of sewing this December. If you missed it, you can check out the Christmasey duds I made for my kiddos earlier this month over at Craftstorming. Besides all that, I kept myself busy at the machine this month making DOLL CLOTHES. But more on that in a future post.
For now, I’d like to show you a little non-Christmas outfit I made for a little friend.
Coco got her first real invitation to a birthday party this month for her pal, Elliot- known to most as “Elles”. Her mom Jenny and I have been buddies for a while, and Jenny has always been so complimentary of the clothes I make my kids- she is truly one who appreciates all the time it takes to make something special! In fact, this post is all about her. This past Summer, I met up with Jenny and Elles at a park, and Jenny handed me one of her favorite old dresses that had seen some better days and asked if I could use it to make something for Elliot.
Here is a horrible picture of the old dress:
I’ve been hanging onto it ever since. Elles’ birthday was the perfect push I needed to transform Jenny’s dress into something new.
This is the Oliver + S popover dress pattern (tunic-fied) in a 2T, and some (mostly) self-drafted bloomers.
I wanted this to be nice and flowy like the old dress, so I cut the front and back pieces several inches wider than the pattern, and gathered them at the center where they meet the yoke. I used the lining from the original dress to add a lining to this one.
The yoke is my beloved AMH square dance voile– y’all know I’m a fan of that fabric! I love the little pops of color it adds.
I had intended for this to be a dress, and had it all finished (and photographed for the blog) and ready to go when I noticed a small stain a couple of inches from the hem. So, I grabbed a wet washcloth and gently started to clean it and rrrrrrrriiiiippppppp!! This fabric is incredibly thin and it tore as soon as I started dabbing. SO… I had to cut off the hem and shorten it a bit into a top.
But mistakes can often be a good thing- because without the rip, I wouldn’t have thought to make the cute bloomers!
I started with the bloomer pattern from Heather Ross’s Weekend Sewing, but had to modify it since they were HUGE at first. So, I ended up cutting off a couple inches at the bottom, gathering just the outer sides, and adding a 3/4″ cuff. They are still a bit big on my model, 21 month old Coco… but they’ll be perfect on 2 year old Elles this Spring/Summer.
I used Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Gold, same fabric for the popover straps.
I love this last picture of Corinne… just as she was starting to melt.
Happy New Year to you all! Tomorrow I turn 34 and get to start a new year at a new age, it always feels like a fresh start. I have no resolutions yet. Any ideas?
-Erin
HUNGIE GUNGIE 
wow, erin, this outfit is a ma z i n g! those bloomers- the cuteness is too much! i love the grey stripes with the AMH voile. perfection. all of it. and happy happy birthday too!
thanks so much, Rachel! -E
Happy birthday, and many thanks for the great posts during 2013! I don’t even have children, and I love reading what you’re doing.
Louise, you are always so nice to “like” our posts! Hope you are well… and please keep stopping by! -E
When I read about the fabric tearing I nearly cried, excellent save.
I love the bloomers with the bound legs.
thanks Nicole! I’m pretty into those bloomers myself… hoping to sew more of those for summer! -e
Great repurposing! That grey fabric is so beautiful and it’s perfect with bloomers. My new year resolution is “not buy new fabric, bust fabric stash”! Happy birthday, Erin!
Shino! I’ve been thinking that will be my resolution too… I’ve done pretty good in the last 6 months, so I’m going to try and keep it up! -E
The grey & gold look so great together! Such a beautiful little outfit. Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday! Resolutions? Well there is that Fabric Fast going on but hey, why not do something like make a new pattern every quarter? I dunno, it’s all fun 🙂
thanks Jeifner! I like your new pattern every quarter idea. Maybe a new adult sewing pattern would be a fun little challenge… -E
I love the bloomers! I love the kiddo!
LOVE. IT. And that last photo kills me too. I can practically see the lip quiver. Happy belated birthday, Erin! I hope you celebrated in style, New Year’s Eve babe that you are!
Happy Birthday! A day late. I love this. A lot. A lot a lot. Resolutions are tough…I like to keep them small and vague 😉
I have this same exact dress! It has been in my to-refashion pile for years now. I always meant to make it into something for me, but now I think I’m going to have to steal your idea and make something for my daughter. I love, love the AMH bit on the top!
Oh, funny! Yeah- you gotta whip something up with it! I love how the stripes meet in the middle. :). E
I’ve been meaning to ask you for a while – what kind of doll clothes do you make? My household has a new Blythe obsession (okay, so it’s really only the kinds of dolls you can get cheap(er) on aliexpress but still). It seems to be rather labor-intensive: my two daughters constantly demand new stuff for them and it’s hard for them to understand that I have no magic wand to wave, just a sewing machine and cutting table. Which is boringly time-consuming, and makes mommy stay up late to hand her daughters clothes for their dolls in the morning. (I think I maybe shouldn’t be admitting to this in public. Except it’s kind of fun. And I wanted to know what kind of doll you sew for…)