Okay, this is definitely a slightly crazy post. I have shared earlier that my four year old daughter Esther is in love with her American Girl doll she received for Christmas. Last week she BEGGED me to make her a dress just like her Felicity doll wears-- ie. a historical colonial dress. She is so cute and so very sweet that it didn't take me very long to relent and say, "That sounds fun honey! We'll go and pick out some fabric soon." Her entire face lit up and when she is thrilled beyond speech, her wide open mouthed smile says it all.
I took her to my favorite local quilting store and she quickly decided on this color combination for her dress. Mind you, I will also need to make her Felicity doll a matching dress. Any moms out there surprised by this? Here is the fabric:
I didn't have a pattern and I really didn't feel like making one up, so I trotted over to Joann's and found this costume pattern for this time period.
The trouble with this pattern is that it is girls sizes 7-14. Esther is a solid size 5 and for those of you who use store bought patterns, you know that they run very large. I spent way too much time sizing the pattern down so that it would actually fit her. You will also notice that the example on this pattern is pretty "frou frou." I know my Esther in that when I make this dress for her she will wear it everywhere. School, shopping, church...you name it. It will be worn. That's one of the reasons why I don't mind making it for her. Both of my girls treasure everything I sew for them, so it's worth it. So my challenge is to make this dress fancy for the time period, but not super costume-y. Those huge bows are not going to happen, I can tell you that right now.
So we had a nice leisurely family Saturday and I was able to sew while the children just played and played and played. It was one of those miracle days in the playing department. I finished the dress and I'm quite pleased. Here is my Esther in her new historical colonial dress.
I chose to make the two side panels in the same fabric as the bodice. The front and two back panels are in the solid green. To make the dress fill fancy but not too fluffy I chose a lace that has a look and feel of crochet rather than the stiff frilly lace.
Esther still insisted upon the bows down the front of the dress (she saw the pattern!) but I found these sweet pre-packaged bows and hand-sewed them down the front. They do add a nice delicate flavor to the dress.
It is also a very twirl-able dress. For those of you who have young daughters, you know this is very important.
Love, Rachel
Update: Check out some tips on sewing this dress HERE