A sweet dress for my sweetheart

Back in the fall, I vowed that I was done making Emma any more clothing for awhile.  It's not like it's hard, really, but it does take time and money.  And when I get something done and she doesn't like it or refuses to wear it more than once, it's kinda a let-down, you know.   Emma has very defined views of what she likes and doesn't.  And while they're clearly defined to her, it may not be so obvious to the rest of us.  I might pick something out I just know she'll love, and then she doesn't.  So, I decided that my efforts were better spent in quilting or other projects that didn't require her to love it in order for me to feel satisfaction in the end result.  

Then I saw this fabric...

Oh my goodness, I am done fighting blogger...pretend this is facing the right way please.  This picture will not load correctly!!!!

And I knew it had to become a Valentine's outfit.  She happened to be with me at JoAnn (which she HATES to do), so I showed it to her to make sure she liked it to.  She said yes, so we bought 2 yards.  A week or so later, I showed her my dress and skirt patterns and let her choose the dress design too.  I'm trying here...  And luckily she picked a super-easy jumper (Simplicity 2432) that I've made before and knew would go quickly.  

 

 So Tuesday morning, I cut it all out and got it sewn up to the zipper (which is the last step) because I didn't have one.  It went quickly and the only place I had to slow down was adding side pockets.  The pattern doesn't call for them, but who doesn't love having pockets?  So, I added them using this tutorial here.  Unfortunately, I decided I could remember how to do it alone...after a visit with my seam ripper, I used the tutorial and had side pockets installed.

Now this morning, my brain must be foggy because it took me like half an hour to get the zipper installed and if you look at the pictures you'll notice that I somehow managed to get one side of the back higher than the other when installing the darn zipper.  I mean, really...  But I decided not to rip it all because her hair will be down most likely, and because I'd decided to make the bolero jacket that came with the pattern. Emma picked out a Kona cotton called Bubblegum for the bolero yesterday.  I used a darker pink for the lining and pockets (you can see it in the photos--that's the dress lining, not the bolero lining).  And the bolero with it's 3 steps took me the rest of the morning.  I don't know why I couldn't wrap my head around it, but man, it was way harder than the dress.  At any rate, I've got the dress and bolero ready for her to wear to her Valentine's party tomorrow at school (if she so chooses).  And I'm happy with them.  Other than that darn zipper.

Notice a hint of blue skies (yeah, it rained here this morning AGAIN!) and the dump truck in the yard.  Nice!

I'm contemplating making something for Oren.  I don't know.  Emma can wear this dress for months and it'll still be cute, but a valentine's shirt for a boy seems wrong after February 14th, no?  If I do..I'll post it along with pictures of Em in the dress.