Bean's Birthday Dress and KCW Day 3

For Project Run and Play's final week the theme was special occasion.  I decided the night before it was due to participate.  I was really not going to sew along that week because I had WAY too many other projects going, but then I thought of a dress for Bean's birthday (in May) and I couldn't get it out of my head.  So I started, but did not have enough sewing time to be able to finish in time for the sew along.  I knew KCW was coming so I let it go and planned to finish it during one of the hours of sewing this week.

The main idea for this dress was to use a similar shape to the bodice from the Natalie Dress (affiliate link) from Peek-A-Boo Patterns (I am in LOVE with that sleeve so there will be a lot more of this shape to come), but to use some lattice smocking across the front.

I finished the lattice smocking last week and posted the pic on Instagram.

The neckline didn't stretch as much as I would have liked so I put in a button placket on the back.  I like the look it gives the back so it was a happy accident. 

For the skirt I wanted something full and a little longer than I normally like Bean's skirts to be.  Her birthday is in a month so she may grow between now and then and I wanted her to be able to run and play at her party without worrying about the wind blowing it up. 

Bean's 1st birthday dress

I thought it would be fun to use the same fabric I used for her birthday dress last year (the Ice Cream Social Dress from CINO), so that is what I used for the skirt.  I just put a band of pink around the bottom to weigh it down a bit and add a bit of color to the edge.

Whenever I use a knit for a bodice with a woven gathered skirt I find where they meet wants to pull the knit a little too much and it widens more then I'd like.  So I planned to add a band around the waist.  I thought this bright pink against the blueish green bodice would look a little cupcakey which is fun for a birthday dress.  I don't even know what cupcakey means, but it was the thought I had in my head the whole time, hehe.

This is Bean's newest "smile" face.  It makes me laugh so hard. 

I just adore this dress.  It turned out exactly how I pictured, and in spite of the number of days it took for me to finally finish it, it was a really quick dress to make. 

As for KCW Day 3, I still didn't touch the jacket pieces. 

Instead I cut out and prepped a Beachy Boatneck (affiliate link) dress. 

I have been wanting to make a dress length Beachy Boatneck since pattern testing and decided it had to move up the list above the jacket. 

And of course I finished the birthday dress.  Hopefully day 4 will be productive! 

I have added affiliate links for Blank Slate Patterns and Go To Patterns on my sidebar as well as in some of the links in this post, but I sewed using their patterns long before even considering it. These are just great patterns that I truly stand by and I am excited about being an affiliate.

As usual, linking up to: