Violet's Easter Dress

Oh my sweet Violet, my little doll.  I love sewing for her.  I've had some material in mind to make her a dress, and it was the perfect choice for Easter.  Tiny, hexagonal violet flowers on it! So darling.

I've had bunches of ideas floating around in my mind for a while now, and I ended up meshing a few of them together to get the final design.  First, I want to stress the importance of having a good bodice pattern.  When I made Violet's Heart Dress, I purchased Burda 9752 with sizes from 1-12 months.  I've learned the hard way that pattern sizing can be WAYYY off, so I made sure to take Violet's measurements and compare them against the Burda size chart.  I ended up making a 6 month size bodice.  (So crazy, she's almost 16 months old!).

My two most favorite inspirations were a darling bubble dress and one with a heart cut out in the back.  Both of these started out as online tutorials with downloadable free patterns, but both have transitioned into selling their patterns.  Sigh.  I waited too long.   However!  I just KNEW I could figure out how to make this darn thing!

I started with the Burda bodice.  I took the back piece and drew a heart on it, and cut it out.  Sewed right sides together and flipped it around (after major clipping around the curves).  As for the bubble skirt, the outer skirt piece is a big rectangle, the width of the fabric (44") x the finished length plus 2" to wrap under and create the bubble, plus seam allowances at top and bottom.  The skirt lining is curved at the top and bottom, ensuring that the circumference of the skirt at the waist matches the bodice circumference. I also made the tiniest tulle petticoat and inserted it inside the bubble skirt, so it holds its shape really well, and is super poofy! Sorry, I didn't take pictures of everything...I was in major sewing mode and just put it all together so quickly!

For the sash, I sewed two pieces of ribbon together (I couldn't decide on the color so used both!).

 Then, I attached snaps to the underside of the ribbon at the side seams, back seam, and front under the bow so that it would stay in place.  A bigger snap closes up the sash.  I wanted the bow to just be a clean silhouette, since the flowers are so geometric.  (I wanted the sash removable for washing)

I love how it turned out!  I also found a tiny darling button shaped like a heart to close the neck...the perfect touch!

See? Doll.  Wearing her dress-up Easter hat my mom got her.  She doesn't want to take it off (or the dress, apparently, I learned soon after this try-on)

Don't you just want to plant a kiss in the middle of that heart? I do! 

Happy Easter!