I have decided to sew Easter dresses. I found a cute chocolate bunny applique HERE that I just loved.
I then found some Easter fabric that repeated the chocolate bunny theme. I was lucky to find coordinating fabric in three different colorways, so that the dresses would all be different, but still “the same”. The photo shows a lemon-yellow fabric, but I later found a lime-green fabric that I thought matched the Easter fabric better. I went with the lime-green.
Next, the hardest part for me… is making a dress pattern. I didn’t want to buy a pattern so I looked at MANY dresses online, and some tutorial links (the most helpful tutorials for me are HERE and HERE). I finally created my own pattern. Pattern making is difficult when the girls are not nearby to measure them or to test the pattern on them. I had to step-out and just take the risk and hope that the dresses will fit them.
Fabric washed, ironed, and ready to cut. Here, I stalled… scared to cut… but alas, I cut all the fabrics. I was able to apply the bunny applique without calling my daughter, Kira, for advice. J I finished the first “sample dress”. I did not intend to make a “sample dress”, but after I saw the placement of the bunny applique, I renamed the dress “sample” and moved forward. My husband, Jim, made another run to the fabric store to buy replacement fabric for me. *Thank you, Jim!
I finally finished the three dresses, with lots of missteps. I was happier with my second attempt at the applique placement, but it was still not quite what I wanted. I discovered my blunder and I’ll do the applique differently next time. I made mistakes on my dress pattern too; I figured out the miscalculation and I made adjustments to the pattern. I am hopeful that these mistakes won’t be too noticeable when the girls wear the dresses. The dresses do not look like I had envisioned them. Luckily, the girls are only 18 months old so they won’t notice.
I am reluctant to send the dresses because I am disappointed in them, but I am sending them anyway. I am trying to set aside my pride and perfectionism. This is difficult for me because I have a fear of getting my feelings hurt if anyone should make fun of the dresses (which I would take personally as making fun of me, which it is not, but sometimes I can be shallow). But, I guess that fear is vanity on my part, and something that I will have to learn to deal with. After all, it is not about me. It is about me taking my time and effort to try and make a gift for the girls. The main focus is the gift, and the girls, and not me. So, into the mail the dresses will go. I will use this as a learning experience. As I have stated to in the past, I hope they see the love and not the stitches!
I am learning, teaching myself as I go, on many different levels. I am getting better at setting a goal and finishing a project. In the past I would have just quit. I am trying to teach myself to continue to muddle through to completion. I’m not where I want to be, but I am moving in the right direction. Happy Easter!
