Easter Sewing

I don't know if it is because Spring has been so long in coming this year or what, but this year I really wanted to make Easter outfits this year for the girls. No small undertaking with 5 girls. Looking in the closets and seeing all the dresses I made for the older 3 when they were little, really made me want to make the younger two dresses. And for the older girls, I figured nothing is springier (hey - that is a real word - at least according to my spell checker) than white skirts. I have had this pattern for a couple of years - even bought fabric at one point to make skirts for Morgan and Kaylee. Yeah, that fabric is still sitting on my sewing table. We aren't even sure at this point which fabric was for who, and which version of the skirt they wanted.
Anyway, while at Joann's for another project (I never did take pictures of that one), we saw this really pretty white fabric that had trim sewn to it on the bias that I thought would make a really cute skirt at some point. When I finally decided I was going to sew for Easter, I was excited that the fabric was still there. As well as some other versions of white. So that is what I got for Morgan, Kaylee, and Lyndsey. Lyndsey got the original fabric I had seen. And hers is exactly like the pattern.

Kaylee wanted hers longer.

And Morgan wanted hers shorter.

Overall the pattern was very easy to follow - even for a beginner sewer - explaining every step in detail. Even the blind zippers were easy. The one issue I had was the sizing. I made Lyndsey the xs (a size 4 according to the pattern). Lyndsey usually wears a size 0 so I was worried it might be big on her - but it fit her just about perfect. But then I was afraid the pattern must run small, so I adjusted Morgan's and Kaylee's to make sure they wouldn't be too small. Yeah, then they were too big - Kaylee could take hers off with out unzipping it - and it probably would have just fallen off while she was walking if she hadn't held it up. I tried adding some elastic to the back, which helped, but they are both still a little too big, so I will be making some adjustments this week. I think I've figured out an easy way to do that. Maybe. Wish me luck.

On to the "little" girls. I had a pattern around here that I had once bought because I loved the look of the sleeves, and patterns were $.99. But again, I had never gotten around to making it. I used it for Kenzie's dress - which of course had to have yellow in it.

But I couldn't just follow the pattern. The pattern called for a zipper in the back and I wanted to make it button all down the back. I also wanted to line it, because the fabric I picked was sheer, and it is surprisingly difficult to find slips for little girls. I also added the ribbon to the sleeves, the sash, and the fabric flower (which Kaylee made).

For Sierra's dress I didn't have a pattern but I did have a mental image of what I wanted.

I had seen this tutorial a few months ago, and loved the look of it - especially the back with large, off-set buttons. But the tutorial only went up to a size 5.  I also wanted to add sleeves. I have a pattern for vintage looking slips, camisoles, pantaloons. I used the camisole pattern pieces for the bodice and lining. I also used the sleeve pattern pieces from an old pattern I used several years ago for Morgan (I'm surprised I still had it - I recycled a lot of my patterns a couple of years ago). It was a good starting point, but I wanted a smaller sleeve, so I cut of the bottom part that would make the underarm seam, and then cut a bias band of white to finish the bottom. Since I had added sleeves, the sewing directions in the tutorial didn't work for the bodice work, so I had to change that up some. I also had to adjust the sizing for the skirt part and she had an error in the sash directions - I thought I had increased the size for Sierra - but I had really only made it about 3 inches bigger than the one she has for size 5. Luckily I hadn't made the sash for Kenzie's dress yet, so she got that one, and I cut a new one for Sierra. Oh, and Kevin made the buttons for me. :o)
And now for my skirt.

Yeah, it didn't get done :o) Yet. But hopeful this week.