A new dress for my special girl!

My daughter turned 5 today.

My first successful garment was the dress (new look 6613) I made for her fourth birthday. It inspired me to try more and challenge myself.

She actually looks happy to wear it!

So..this year I decided to challenge myself with McCalls 6690
The pattern itself is a good one and the instructions were clear enough. But,

What was I thinking #5? The dress has a huge ruffle at the bottom of the skirt. Trying to get that looong strip ruffled and pinned to the dress, was in short, painful.

What was I thinking #4? The pattern calls for a rolled hem on the sleeves ( which was ok) and on the interminably long ruffle.

What was I thinking #3? Each step had to be done twice, well, because the body of the dress is lined.

What was I thinking #2? Buying a chiffon for the main dress that kept moving around. I had the worst time trying to cut the pattern pieces.

What was I thinking #1? My daughter doesn't even like it!! She thinks I made it from some old sari! It would have been a good idea, so I have to give her points for that :-). I like to think of myself as a refashionista, after all!  I *did* buy the fabric, making sure it was ( in your face) pink.

She consented to model it for me, after I said it was for my blog. I like the result, but I wish I have more patience with the finishing details.

 

Simplicity 1916

This pattern was one of the 'best patterns of 2012' over at pattern review. I thought it would be perfect for the abstract black and ivory and grey fabric I had.
Notice anything about the pattern pic and my version? That's right, left side- right side, right side- wrong side confusion struck again!! To be honest, I was the one who made it strike because I flipped the pattern ( I think) and cut the fabric on the right side..
Anyway I realized quickly enough that I had made this mistake and decided to go ahead with it. I would just to flip the instructions too! As they say..easier said/ imagined/ whatever, than done. But I stayed with it and many ( oh so many!) dates with the seam ripper later, I am actually pleased with this top. I did wear a tank top inside and I also made the wrap into a faux wrap by sewing it down. I thought it was worth it.

A pre-tween book bag!

A book bag for my friend's daughters.. Luckily they thought the bag was cool :-)
I automatically picked up the blue circles fabric.. It was calling my name from across the store! Ofcourse, I had overlooked the alternating big circles- small circles in an overall stripe that would have to match across pockets, sides and back! I really have to stop with the stripes: :-)
The lining is a batik corduroy, a gold with a blue print that reminded me of a rangoli/ muggu/ kolam called a 'mamidi aaku' or mango leaf.

I also ventured into the world of polypropylene strapping for this one .. I wanted to make the strap adjustable.