A tale of two dresses

Happy Easter! I hope yours was as full as sunshine and good food and family and love as ours was. 

Easter is, of course, a perfect occasion for a new dress for a little girl. One little girl in this house got not one, but two new dresses. Well, one was made a little early and it was worn because the official Easter dress wasn't quite done. But still. Two dresses!

Exhibit A: The long sleeve version of the Oliver + S Hopscotch dress 

This was made a couple of weeks ago, along with another one that I'm sure will make an appearance here sometime. This is my go-to knit dress pattern. I made one in a bright pink polka dot a while back, another one in an aqua tiny polka dot in the fall, and had two more cut out and ready to go. They then sat for months because I admitted that I genuinely don't like sewing knits on my sewing machine. Then, last month, a serger fell into my lap for a super good price and I was off to the races on these long neglected dresses. I love the serger, but I still feel a little reckless with it. The speed of it and the blade kind of freak me out, but I'm getting there. Plus, each dress took less than 30 minutes to sew up on that thing which is awesomesauce. I still need to figure out how to do a nice sleeve hem on it because it's a 4 spool machine, not 5 spool, and I'm not confident enought to try and run that small a circle through that thing. The sleeves are still unhemmed as of right now - I think I'll use the sewing machine to finish them off. Or keep folding them under because I am lazy. I did do a rolled hem on the bottom which is super cute. Maybe I could do a roll hem on the sleeves before sewing up the side seams. Hmm... food for thought. 

Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this pattern. I need to buy the bigger size before it goes out of print. I'm going to make a few shirts and dresses with short sleeves for the summer and experiment with just banding the armhole for a sleeveless version. She's always happy to wear these so I'll keep making them. This one is made in an Oliver + S knit fabric that I love. 

Exhibit B: the Sunny Scallop dress by Jona G in view B

(pardon the crease down the center)

This is the official Easter dress. I have some really good things to say about this pattern (and Jona's patterns in general). I am going to hold off on the official run down until tomorrow so it doesn't get lost at the bottom of the post. It's a fantastic dress pattern that I want to give some full attention. So, I'll see you in the morning. Now I need to get that little girl into bed because she did not nap today and she is TIRED. 

Comments

[Patricia]

Just want to let you know that I enjoy your blog so very much! Thanks for brightening my day;-). Isn't blogging just such a wonderful way to keep a pictorial journal of our everyday lives!

[ohjennymae]

i picked up both of those pink prints at s.a.s. on two occasions. totally adorable and i bet it looks super on her.

[Kelly]

both are so pretty. I wish I could sew knits. The cotton doesn't go over well with my girls anymore. And what a big girl!

[Heather]

Love it. I say finish it with the rolled hem. I love this fabric line. Aine's quilt was made from it

[amy h]

I love them both, but especially that knit one! If I hadn't sworn off garment sewing for the moment, that would be so up my alley. I love the neckline. We like our knits here (or, rather, we hate our ironing, but let's keep it positive).

[Sarah Jackson]

We hate our ironing too! However, I washed the other one and it needs surprisingly little ironing. As in, it may not get ironed.