More Sewing: Pirate Dress for Sophia

EVERY year our family takes a vacation to South Carolina in September. And EVERY year I sew pirate outfits for the kids. There are so many fun pirate-themed things to do there, and the pirate outfits seem to make it that much more special for the kids. (They also make for great outfits to wear to Halloween parties and things like that.)

This is Sophia's dress for this year. This was my own self-drafted design and pattern. And this dress taught me that I should leave the pattern design for the professionals. I had so many problems with this dress it is not even funny. In life (and in sewing), there are times when things come easy. Other times, things are not so easy and it feels like an uphil battle. This dress falls into the not so easy catagory.

The first time I started sewing it, I realized that it was going to be HUGE on Sophia. I was nearly finished with the dress when I came to this conclusion. So, I came close to just finishing the dress as it was and packing it away for her to wear in a few years. But, I really wanted her to have a pirate outfit for vacation, so I had to rip it apart and cut it down smaller. Then, after I remade it again, I realized that it was going to be just a bit too small. It fit Sophia, but the poor girl wasn't comfortable in it at all. So then I had to start again making it bigger. See...I told you, it was an up hill battle.

One of the reasons I didn't want to give up was because I loved the fabric so much and didn't want to "waste" it. I love Alexander Henry fabrics because they are so cheeky. This one is no exception. It is culled "snuggle skulls" and it has skulls wearing pink hair bows with ribbons going across that say "Cutie Pie", "Pookie", and things like that. (It was too funny! And perfect for a little girls pirate dress in my oppinion!) Here is a close up of the print:

Sewing: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!

Where have I been lately? Well, the reason I haven't posted in awhile is that I having been using all of my spare time to sew, sew, sew. So, what have I been making? You name it! But, here are some pictures from this morning showing Sophia and I in our handmade, matching lemon outfits.

When you are a sewing mama with a little girl you naturally tend to make lots of matching outfits because you need to find a use for all of those scraps of fabric. I nearly sewed Sophia's baby doll a matching lemon dress, but thought I better draw the line.

The skirt is my own pattern. I actually sewed quite a few of these at the beginning of summer to wear around instead of shorts.

Sophia's dress was made using Simplicity pattern 3509. (You can't beat those 99 cent pattern sales at JoAnn's!) It is a very easy pattern as long as you don't read the instructions. They are terrible. Just put the pattern pieces together the way you would guess it to go and you will be fine. (Read my full review of this pattern here.)

Here is the Front:

Side:

And Back:


I felt kind of bad that poor Marcus didn't get anything "lemon" sewn for him. I didn't want him to feel left out. But, I just couldn't think of anything I could make him out of this lemmon fabric that he would like. Maybe a lemmon cape? He could be Captain Lemon!

And to end things off, me doing my best Vanna White impersonation!


Thanks for looking!