KCW Spring Day 1

Don't be fooled and think that I made this dress in an hour.  Hah.  It actually took a month to finish because of a few interruptions and quite a bit of perfectionism.  But what a better day to finish than the first day of KCW Spring 2013.

You may remember this fabric combination from this skirt.  I loved the combination so much I bought enough to make one more thing.  I just couldn't decide between this dress or a bag for myself... you can see which one won.  The main fabric is Cloud 9 Circles Metal which they appear to be reproducing in June.  I'm definitely planning to buy some Interlock Sprout when it comes out, isn't it lovely?

The pattern is from this Japanese pattern book.  It's my hands down favorite.  I've made several things from it and this dress has been begging me to make it since I got the book a couple years ago.

The only change I made to the pattern was to combine the back bodice and skirt pieces so I could cut them together and then elasticized the back waist instead of gathering it.  Lucia has a dress with an elastic waistband on the back that she has worn for more than a year.  It seems a little more comfortable and more conducive to play than the original design.

I thought I'd share a bit on how I did it.  The top picture shows the original back bodice and skirt pieces.

To modify the bodice I drew a cut a straight line from the center of the waist seem to the point between the neck and shoulder (I'm sure this has an official name, but I can't find it right now).   I then spread the two pieces out so the width at the waist matched the skirt. 

The last step is to add some paper between the gap, overlap the pieces at the waist slightly since they were originally cut on a curve, and tape it altogether.  Because I use freezer paper, I ironed them together and removed the tape.

Lucia hasn't actually tried on the dress yet, but I've held it up to her and I think it will be great.  The modification on the back was also really great because I didn't have to match the pattern there too.  I think I spent a week cutting because I was trying so hard to match the print.  I just need to get back to Joanns for the last two buttons and then I'll share some modeled shots.

three

The munchkin turned three a couple weeks ago.  And following tradition, I made her a new outfit for the occasion.  

The skirt is the Oliver + S Hopscotch skirt.  I love this little pattern, it is like the Tulip skirt pattern by Wikstenmade for little girls.  The funny thing is that what attracted me to the skirt in the first place was the cute little take-out box pockets.  But when I saw these pockets, I knew I wanted to incorporate some cat pockets into something for my girl.  

The shirt is a raglan from Ottobre XX.  I copied my good friend Layla's idea to make a birthday shirt but something a little more abstract than the number.  The funny thing is that the shirt was so big I had to tuck it in so you couldn't see the word three, and both Lucia and her teacher thought that one of the flowers was a kite.  But since they were so excited about that fact, I didn't say anything to correct them.