Fabulous Five

After finishing the Easter Weekend Birthday Top for my mom last month there was one more sewing project that I tackled before focusing on packing for the new house; that was a little dress for my friend's daughter Anna who turns five tomorrow.

I bought a small dress pattern back in the winter and had to ask a mother at Fabricland how to decipher clothing sizes for children.  She advised that the single-digit sizes matched approximately with the age of the child so I found a pattern that included pieces for sizes 5-10. 

On Queen St. I had managed to score some great fabric end pieces  to put this dress together.  The skirt was a soft micro-fiber that was a brilliant shade of blue. I loosely followed the instructions but mainly created the dress based on what I had already learned from my last few sewing projects. I chose to double-up the layers for the top portion so that there was a clean lining of the same fabric on the inside.  Then I sewed the top and matching lining together with cream-coloured piping along the neckline for some detail.

Cream coloured trim to make the skirt more interesting

After mostly finishing the construction of the dress I decided to add some more detail and pops of colour.  I chose red buttons along the front and red binding to close off the arm holes.  On the back of the dress I put in a matching red zipper and red binding to create a bow.  Normally I like using invisible zippers but didn't in this project so I could show off the lovely red colour.  Finally I added some extra cream stitching along the seams of the skirt to give the dress a more complete look.

Since finishing the dress last month I've thought to myself often, why didn't I make this a size 6 just in case it doesn't fit Anna?  Having seen her earlier this week (after a long period of not seeing her) I'm now skeptical it is too small, and unfortunately the fabric is not stretchy.  I think it would be a little heartbreaking to see her realize that she's outgrown her birthday dress before having worn it even once!  Well I guess I'll find out this weekend.  Even if it just lasts for this summer I'd be satisfied!

Cream stitching along the seams of the skirt