McCalls 5838- Easter Dresses

 

I made my girls Easter Dresses this year using McCall's Pattern 5838.

I went with dress option B.

 

 

Instead of using a zipper I choose to do 3 buttons instead--- I made the dresses a little big so that the girls can wear the dresses all through the summer and buttons make it easy to "let the dresses out" as they get a little bigger the next couple months.

 

 

 

The pattern was easy to understand and I finished both dresses in one night. I do have to say where I have found woman McCall's patterns to run small, this girl pattern was right on. The girls are wearing size 5 right now so I made them size 6 dresses and they are true to this size.

 

 

I really like the gathered details on the top of the bodice (the lining underneath is flat), it adds a little interesting detail.

 

 

In a weird coincidence I had both an orange and blue cardigan that matched the dresses perfectly.

 

I love it when things work out like this! The girls have been able to wear these dresses several times to church because the cardigans made them weather appropriate.

 

~Jessica

 

 

KNOCK it OFF!!! Flower Girl Dresses

Hi all! I am so excited to be asked to participate in the "Knock It Off" series over at Elegance & Elephants. I have been a super fan of Heidi's since her days of partcipating in Project Run and Play!

I often "Knock Off" cute outfits for my kids that I can't afford but for this post, the outfit I copied was chosen for me. My brother-in-law is getting married in July and since the flower girls are going to be my children I offered to make the dresses and save myself a little cash. The future bride emailed me the photo of the dresses she wanted and I got to work....

 

The dress is found here at GirlsDressLine.com. The uniqueness of this dress lies in the bow-like pick-up pleats and the bubble hem.

 

 

The bodice is really basic so I found a pattern to that had a similar style. I used McCall's sewing pattern M6496, option A.

 

 

For the skirt I made a circle skirt using the measurements and portions from Dana at MADE's tutorial. I increased the length by 5 inches- 1.5" for each pleat (2 per column) and 2" extra inches for the bubble hem. I also made a lining from this pattern but 5 inches shorter.

After sewing the sides of the skirt and the lining attach them to each other by sewing around the bottom (when right sides are together) then turn it inside out, making the bubble hem.

 

 

For each of the pleats I pulled up about .25" of fabric 3 times, offsetting them by making each one slightly lower, resulting in a bow like pleat. I then hand stitched each one to the lining.

 

 

I offset the pleats in this pattern:       X          X          X

                                                                        X           X         X

                                                                   X          X          X 

 

 

I thought that the dress needed some interest on the back of the dress, to be seen as the girls walk down the aisle, so I made an over sized bow with a long tail.

 

 

But of course I didn't just make one dress.... I had to make two!

 

 

The second one came together quickly since I had already found the solutions to all the problems I had with the first one (the first skirt I made was way too short and the petticoat hung out below the dress by about 2 inches!)

 

Thanks so much for having me, Heidi.  I'm so glad I was able to join in on this series and I got two items checked off my to-do list!
~Jessica