Thursday, August 8, 2013

It's a Twirler!

Many of you know we have a wedding in our family that is quickly approaching, and I'd been given the task of making a flower girl dress for grandgirl. When I made the prototype a few week's ago, it was in a crash-course 6-hour sewing session. Whew. For the real thing, I approached it much more slowly. Like 1 step at a time, 1 session at a time, over the course of a week.

First up was pre-washing the fabric - I washed the ivory batiste, but not the "coral reef" dupiani silk. First time I'd pre-washed in a looong time.
Next was cutting out the pieces. Pattern pieces were provided in the tutorial for the bodice. The skirt and sash were cut by measurements only.
 Another night, I made the button loops; the next was the bodice.
I covered buttons for the prototype right along with the ones for the flower girl dress. I had forgotten how easy this is! The dotted ones are single layer fabric, but the batiste ones are double layer, which seemed perfect.
The skirt was another session. I forgot to take a photo, but I will say I really liked the method used to apply the bottom band to the skirt. In my case, since the skirt wasn't lined, and the batiste was fairly thin, I actually double layered the fabric - made two identical skirt pieces and then placed them wrong-sides together, treating them as one as I added the band. Worked like a charm, and really was no problem as I gathered the skirt later.

The step of inserting the gathered skirt top into the open bottom of the bodice was the trickiest part, at least for me (both times). This time, I marked the 1/2" seam allowance of the skirt top with a removable marking pen, and that really helped as I inserted and pinned liberally. Sewing it wasn't really as tricky as getting it ready to sew, which was a relief. And from there - adding the sash, and sewing on the buttons - it was a piece of {wedding} cake. Or wedding cheesecake as the case may be!

Ok, so ready for the photos? (Wasn't it handy that I had my latest FAITH Circle quilt hanging on the design wall between quilting sessions?)



Sweet huh? I give "The Party Dress" a thumb's up - lots of photos and clear instructions. Though I was a tad stressed making it since it was for such a special occasion, and I haven't done much garment sewing in recent times, it really did go together smoothly.

I''ll let you in on a little secret. While you're going about your business today, reading blogs, hopefully sewing, and in general doing what you need to do, I'll be busy . . . decorating pews, dressing up, and celebrating the marriage of our son to our lovely daughter-in-law-to-be. And precious grandgirl? Well I'm fairly certain there will be twirling involved. And then there's those flower girl duties. Good times.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday.

41 comments:

  1. It came together beautifully. You will have to share a photo of her wearing it on the big day :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your grand daughter will love her dress and have a wonderful time! I hope everyone enjoys this special day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow!! Such a beautiful dress! Have a wonderful time and congratulations to the bride and groom!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a beautiful dress! I wish you all a wonderful day! Just enjoy and laugh and love!

    ReplyDelete
  5. That looks amazing Debbie! Enjoy the wedding :o)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fabulous dress, Debbie! Today is going to be so wonderful for your family! And don't forget, we need a picture of you all dressed up, too!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love those big buttons and bow. Have a beautiful day, Debbie!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So fun! Hope you guys have a lovely time and can't wait to see pictures of all the cuteness in that dress :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. oh she's going to be so beautiful! you did a great job, the dress is darling, and I know the weekend will be perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's a gorgeous dress, I'm sure grandgirl will love it! I hope you have a wonderful weekend :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful little dress! Enjoy the special day :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Debbie it's beautiful! She is going to be a little heart breaker at your sons wedding! What a gem. Have an amazing time celebrating!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Bless your day Debbie. The dress is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love the dress, love the quilt you used in the photo shoot too. Enjoy this day -- I'm praying that all goes smoothly. Can't wait to see pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Just beautiful! Enjoy the day Debbie.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh! It's so lovely! I want to pet it - or I want to be the little girl twirling in it. What a lucky girl! You did a great job. Happy wedding to your son!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wishing you and your family the most wonderful of days and a blessed, blessed marriage! The flower girl dress is lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  18. The dress is adorable! The button loops with the buttons to the side is a nice, modern touch. The colors and fabrics are perfect. I have a question - you pre-washed the main fabric but not the silk, how will it be cleaned? Dry cleaned? Are you concerned at all that the red might bleed? Pre-washing is such should I/shouldn't I conversation (in my head!) Also, my son just got engaged last Saturday and we'll be having our own wedding next summer! :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's beautiful! Enjoy your day(s)!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh so pretty! Hope you all have a wonderful day :o)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Beautiful little dress. You should be very pleased on how it turned out. Sure hope to see pictures of the little one wearing it :) Makes me want to sew some clothes, well, ok, maybe not really.

    ReplyDelete
  22. WooHoo Deb! I know it's been an absolutely super day for your family :o) Can't wait to see a few pictures! This little dress is sooo cute and you did a wonderful job making it. Congratulations to everyone :o)

    ReplyDelete
  23. how gorgeous! Beautiful work Debbie, a family heirloom in the making for sure. Enjoy today and congratulations to your son and daughter-in-law!! xo

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh Debbie I do so hope you had a wonderful day and that your son and daughter-in-law have a beautiful wedding and even more important a beautiful marriage! That little dress sure did turn out perfect and I bet grand-girl will look so pretty in it! Congrats!

    ReplyDelete
  25. The dress is gorgeous....all the best with the wedding!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. The dress is absolutely beautiful! I love the big buttons on the back. Congratulations to your son and daughter-in-law!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I hope you have a wonderful time, weddings are so beautiful and happy.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh Debbie you did a wonderful job! That little dress is just beautiful.
    Enjoy the happy day with your family. Congratulations to your son and his new bride.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Oh, so exciting! Have a great day, everybody! The little flower girl dress is super sweet, and I'm sure she'll remember the day in her twirly dress always, and love you extra!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Very Pretty! I love the buttons and bow!

    ReplyDelete
  31. It turned out so beautiful! Cute of her wearing it too...saw it on Facebook. Wish we could have been there! Looks like God had other plans for that day.
    Once again...blessings on the Bride & Groom--and all the family!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Beautiful dress! Well done. Have a great time at the wedding and I look forward to seeing grand girl in the dress.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Love the big bow! I'm sure they loved it!

    ReplyDelete
  34. You did such a great job! It's such a lovely dress and I know Grandgirl looked just precious in it!!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oh, What a beautiful dress, and what a perfect dress for twirling. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Absolutely gorgeous, congrats to you all and hope there was lots and lots of twirling! :)

    ReplyDelete
  37. That dress is adorable!!! Sure to be a favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  38. What a beautiful little dress! I'm sure the wedding was a wonderful occasion as well.

    ReplyDelete
  39. I agree that the dress is a winner, but I'm in love with the quilt behind it. Can you tell me the name of the block or even better point me in the direction for a tutorial for the block? Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  40. It's beautiful, Debbie! Well done!

    ReplyDelete