Some of you will be very surprised by the picture below because you'll think "That is NOT the pattern I saw her working on last!" LOL! Well, you are correct. I have not had a chance to get the other fabric washed and lined out and then sewn since I was working on the pattern at Mom's Group a few weeks ago!
However, Abi has the dress that is a home made Raggedy Ann (RA) dress that she absolutely LOVES, but it is getting too small. I don't know what came over me yesterday but I decided I was making a new one cuz I liked the pattern as well. So, I started by taking her RA dress and measuring it all and sketching a pattern from it on newspaper! Then, I added 1-2 inches on various sides so that she would have 'growing room'.
THEN, I had to find some fabric. Well, my Aunt Patti had given me a HUGE bag of fabrics that were left over from her sewing days and so I went to the wealth there and found a beautiful purple and a fun bear pattern that matched. (I thought it would be a bit much to do the whole thing in a pattern!)
Anyway, I cut out the pattern and the fun started! Honestly, I have NEVER had to rip out a project more...LOL! However, considering that I had no instructions, I don't feel that I did too bad...I mean, I DID get it assembled...eventually! It is slightly complicated because the dress top is like a casing. So the first thing I had to rip out was the sides. In trying to attached the side ties, I inadvertently put the two wrong sides together...lesson #1! When I figured that all out, I started on the skirt, got the basting in and other than ripping it in a few places, manged to get the gathering all approximately the right size. THEN came the hard part. Trying to figure out how to match up the fabrics so that the skirt fit INSIDE the case starting the with back inside panel! I think I ripped that out two times before I figured it out! After the skirt was secured to the inside panel, the outside panel was easy...just tuck the edge under, place it below the seam of the skirt/inside and pin it! WALA! (oh, then there was the hem, put that was a piece of cake.)
So, without further ado...here is Abi's new RA Dress:
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| Absolutely LOVE the length...glad I added that extra few inches! |
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| You can see it 'gathers' alot in the back...I wanted it to be big enough she could grow into it. The fabric is a very WARM fabric with a 'fuzzy' inside...I'm hoping maybe it will last for next winter too! |
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| Here is a closer look at the tie...the inside is the purple and the outside is the pattern. It makes a HUGE bow (at least for now) and she LOVES that! |
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| We put a simple white turtleneck under it with some purple little flowers. But I think there are many colors that would go with this! |
Oh...and Nathan came marching up to me this morning and asked, "Mom, why don't you ever make anything for Jonny or me?" I said, "Because you don't wear dresses which are easy." His response, "Well, I could wear a dress if you made me one!" ROFL! We had a serious talk about that and I told him I'd try to make him some jammies soon! (I don't have much confidence in making pants...yet.)
