Sewing update

So last Monday, I sent Mei Li upstairs to get dressed after breakfast.  She called to me from upstairs, and I went up to meet her.

She stood at the top of the stairs, still not dressed, and said, "Mom, all of my shirts are too short and I don't have anything to wear.  I guess I'm going to have to wear that red and white checked dress again!"

I felt horrible because it really was true.  She's growing like a weed so it's hard to keep her in clothes that are long enough for her.

Knowing that taking her shopping that very day was not in the cards, I decided to make her a dress.  It came together very quickly.

I had been meaning to try out this project, so I took a 3T t-shirt that fit her except in length and let Mei Li pick the fabric from my fabric stash for the bottom.  I followed steps for the Lazy Days skirt, and then just gathered the top of the skirt to fit the shirt and sewed the two pieces together.

 

I actually gathered the back of the t-shirt too to give it more of a cinched waist.  For the first time since taking Beginning Clothing Construction at BYU, I heeded the advice of my sewing instructor and used three rows of basting instead of two when gathering the skirt.  I love how it turned out.  More importantly, Mei Li loves it.

After I finished the dress and gave it to Mei that very same day, she asked for me to teach her how to sew.  Stephen and Mi Na were still sleeping so I gave Mei Li her first sewing lesson.  I am grateful that I have something like sewing to share with her.

 I've already posted a little peek of Mei Li's Easter dress, but thought I would go into a little more detail about what I did.  I fell in love with this pattern when I saw Mei Li's cousins wearing them on Made on Maple.

It's Simplicity Pattern #2825, with a few adjustments.  I made the sleeves elbow length and added a ribbon like Annee did, and then added belt loops so the ribbon could stay put.  The most challenging part of any project that has a zipper, is the zipper.  I consulted my old sewing textbook so I could figure out how to do a lapped zipper instead of a centered zipper.  It's not perfect, but I'm pleased with it.

 

I have also made a couple of the Lazy Days skirts, and they took me about 45 minutes each.  If you are a beginner seamstress, the Lazy Days skirt is the perfect project to start with.

Slowly but surely, I am making my way through my fabric stash.