Two Dresses for Little L

My little one has the good fortune of inheriting lots of clothes from her older sister. That also means that a lot of the clothes have a good chance of being stained, er um - well-loved.

There was one nightgown that was well-loved. It had stains from hot chocolate spills, a gum incident left one arm eternally a little gray and hard in areas, and the fairy on the front was fading away from too many washings. I decided, even though it was too big for my five-year-old, that I would take apart the nightgown and make a new one for her. I hoped the sizing would be better since I didn’t plan on adding a seam allowance.

Little L was born in 2004 – the year of the Monkey according to the Chinese calendar. For Christmas I purchased some flannel fabric that featured monkeys on moons. She was very happy with the fabric choice. Taking the nightgown apart was painstakingly slow – I didn’t want to mess it up. Putting it together proved to be rather easy. The nightgown is still a tad big but she loves it and wore it all day. It was also my first time using Fold Over Elastic (FOE). I think it is my new most favorite thing.

And, since we are headed off on a cruise soon, I thought I should make her a warm weather dress. I used Easy stitch ‘n save M5370 by McCalls’. I had size 1-2-3. I wasn’t sure size three would be big enough but thought I’d give it a try. Amazingly it is too BIG for my little girl! It comes down to her feet. She picked out her fabrics and even picked a flower embroidery stitch to go around the entire hem. It went together easily (concept - twirly skirt attached to a lined bodice) and she’s happy and will actually wear it!