I have been sorely remiss in blogging as of late.  Sometimes, life just gets in the way.  I’m in a new position at work, not more money of course, just more aggravation and responsibility (of course).  But I love what I do so that’s something I suppose.  Don’t think for a minute that the new business of my work day will stop me from sewing daily.  I have to keep my sanity somehow!

Before Hancock’s announced they were going out of business, a friend’s daughter had asked me to make some custom baby burp cloths for her sister’s upcoming baby shower.  My go-to shower gift is to stitch some cute fabric down the center of a couple of Gerber cloth diapers and call it good.  Too simple.  I had made some for the first of her two daughters and she said she loved them because they didn’t allow spit-up to soak through to her shoulder, they held up in the wash, they were cute, and they were custom from a friend.  That was enough to say I’d make some for her to give to her sister.  So she and I were in Hancock’s looking for baby boy fabric and she came across some adorable Frozen pre-shirred dress fabric.  The girls were scheduled for a Frozen birthday party so she asked me if I’d make dresses for the girls – now ages 5 and 3.  Of course “Aunt Becky” will make them!

Suffice it to say, I didn’t get enough fabric for one of them – it was light pink.   I have no idea how I managed to screw that one up but I did.  It required another trip to the store – now Joann’s (45 miles away) since Hancock’s is a madhouse and looks like a tornado went through it in their “Going out of Business” sale.  These things are too simple to make.  Just fold the fabric in half wrong sides together being sure to match the shirring in the middle so it’s not wonky, sew a single seam and boom.  Done.  They even come hemmed already so you don’t have to do a thing to it.  In truth, I’m kind of glad the first one didn’t work out because it had a border print across the bottom that would have made the dress too long for the youngest, Miss Madeline.  First of all, thank Goodness Joann’s carries the same type of Frozen shirred fabric!  Could you imagine if they didn’t??  Tears! ACK!  For the 2nd attempt, the fabric I chose allowed me to shorten it by cutting off the bottom using a narrow 3-thread serge stitch.  I did this so it would match her sister’s…’cause, you know…  Without a border print, the dress retained the complete look and didn’t lose any of its Frozen-ness. 😃  Here is Miss Madeline and Miss Peyton fresh from gymnastics.  Aren’t they adorable?

I added 12” straps that crisscross in the back with 3 sets of button holes and small buttons on the inside of the back near the shoulder blades to adjust for growth.  Construction of the straps was a 4″ x 12 1/2″ wide matching cotton, creased with an iron to fold in half lengthwise.  Fold in 1/4″ on each short end.  Fold the side edges inward toward the crease, and fold along the crease to enclose all the raw edges.  I fused a 1″ wide strip of lightweight interfacing internally for body, then stitched the long edges 1/8″ from the sides and across each end.

How could I say no to making dresses for these two sweethearts?  When I was asked how much I was owed, I said hugs and kisses would be payment enough.  Don’t you think?