The Blue Holiday Dress That Made Me Blue Too.

The Blue Dress

My ball of sunshine saw this dress online and liked it. Gasp! Girl who protests all dresses actually LIKES one. On sale for $50 from Boden, I thought, "That's far too expensive for a dress which she might not actually like once it arrives. Far better," I continued to think, "For me to try and recreate the dress since my time is absolutely infinite and I LOVE to make little girl party dresses. La-la-la-la-la". 

For anyone who is wondering, it isn't exactly easy to find sequined polka dots. For some reason, it's not a natural combination, which is the most adorable part of the dress. After two trips to the local fabric store and time trolling online, "No problem!" I thought to myself. "I'll just sew on a few polka dots and cover it with a few layers of this sparkly mesh!"

A note on fabric: I bought poly organza and lining from fabric mart for 1.99/yard and used metallic fabric left over from armor costumes two halloween's ago. The tulle mesh costed the most bought from Joann's with my little sunshine at $8/yard. I used a generic dress bodice, size 5 for the shoulder width, then altered for fit. I self-drafted the skirt and lining. 

So, I sewed on these wonderful sparkly circles I traced from the center of my iron trivet. It worked great because of the weight, the slippy fabric stayed put. Then, the fiddly part, sewing on the circles. I worried that my machine would eat the metallic fabric, but it actually went fairly smoothly.

My version of sequined polka-dots

I put on two layers of sparkly tulle, basted to the backing which I sewed to lining, difficult because the tulle stretched and distorted with multiple layers to keep together. After that tricky bit, I sewed on the sleeves, flatfelling the armpit seams because tulle is scratchy.

Here the sleeves are finished with the ribbon I used for the waist.

I attached a circle skirt to the bodice made of two layers of organza and one backing fabric. It drapes beautifully. For all the fiddling of the bodice, I did enjoy making this very elegant princess dress. The zipper went in beautifully, and honestly, with her proportions, chances are something bought wouldn't fit very well. 

All the same, next time, If I want a dress already made, I'm just buying the dress.

For my other daughter, I sewed a dress that I got to make up out of my own head. So much more fun! Have you ever tried to make something for less and ended up spending more money and time than you expected?