Kids Clothes Week - almost done!

Been plugging away at getting these dresses finished for the girls to wear to a wedding next week. And finally they're (almost) finished! Thank you KCW for giving me the push to get them finished - otherwise they'd have been going to the wedding in shorts and t-shirt or a princess dress-up - possibly not appropriate.

Here is S's dress....

The spots were inspired by this beautiful dress which I pinned literally years ago. The colour of the spots doesn't come out quite right on the photos, they are a lovely bronze colour. I used a dylon metallic fabric paint to paint them.

The dress itself is based on the geranium pattern from Made by Rae. But I wanted a added length to the bodice to make the dress a little more sophisticated for a five and half year old (who hates dresses!)I also modified the neckline a little by making it wider.

I was super duper pleased with myself with the seams. I couldn't get my head around how you would do french seams with in-seam pockets - so was on the cusp of losing one of them. The fabric is extremely prone to fraying, so french seams were called for, and I love in-seam pockets for little girls, so didn't want to lose them. So in came my goole-in-shining-armour! I found this tutorial and it was easy pips!

And here is H's dress

This time with gold spots which I thought looked better with the pink. I did the dame sort of modifications to the bodice as I did for the blue dress, and was inspired by the Caroline Party Dress for a full skirt with tulle.

It's the first time I've sewn a garment with a zip, and it was pretty easy and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome (I won't show you the bottom of the zip where the seams don't meet - shhhhh!) I used this tutorial from Groovy Baby and Mama for the zip

And this time I used the lining fabric for nice soft pockets.

The fabrics which I used for both were a complete bargain. I think I paid about £4 for each colour. I think they are curtain fabric. They look a bit like silk, but I'm not 100% convinced that it is!

It doesn't wash well, so these are one wear only dresses. Writing that down makes these dresses seem silly - a lot of work for one wear - but I think my girls will look so lovely in them, and at least no-one else will be wearing the same thing! 

Right - now I need to paint spots on the back, and sew some tulle onto the lining to make them princessy and hold their shape a bit better!