I adore this dress. Way back when - you know before she won Season 8 of Project Run & Play and became famous - Karly sent me this pattern to review and I immediately made two dress for friends of ours that we were visiting for Labor Day Weekend 2013. Yeah, I told you it was a while ago. Anyway, I made the two dresses and the girls loved them so much that they could barely stand still for a picture. I decided I needed to make another one for Bean, but since we were heading into colder days I asked Karly if it was okay to post for her Easter dress this spring instead and she agreed. At the time we had no idea it would be part of Sew Fab, but it all worked out so well.
Using this Sarah Jane Wee Wander fabric that I've been hoarding for the skirt, I jumped right into making an Easter dress. I sewed a size 3 and it fits Bean like a glove. Absolutely a perfect fit.
To complement the skirt fabric, I used a bright pink sateen and some neon pink stretch twill for the bodice. The sateen is directly on the bodice and the twill was used for the straps and across the back.
I love the shape of the back. The cut-outs that the back strap leaves are really trendy this spring/summer so Karly was definitely onto something when she designed it last year. I used a blue button as a nod to the blue of the little girl riding the horse's dress in the skirt.
One change I made was to make the skirt double layered. All I did was add a second skirt panel under the main skirt and then treat them as one, but gather them separately. The Wee Wander fabric is light and airy, but in this white colorway it was more sheer than I would like a skirt to be. Adding more of the neon pink stretch twill as an underskirt worked perfectly.
And while we're talking about gathering I should mention that this pattern's instructions are so good. This dress is so well constructed and Paisley Roots didn't leave anything out in the tutorial. The pattern says to make three basting lines around the skirt to do the gathering which sounds SO CRAZY and time consuming. I mean seriously, who has time for that? But, I love Karly so I listened to her and wow it actually made the gathering SO EASY that I always use three lines now. I swear the extra time I spend basting is way less than the time I used to struggle with pulling those basting stitches just right. With the three lines pulled together the fabric just sort of cinches up. She's a smart cookie, that Karly.
By now you're probably wondering why I'm posting about an Easter dress in May. Well, when I found out that the weather was going to be on the chilly side for Easter I made the executive decision (I can do that, cause I'm the mother) to switch the Saffron Twirl dress to Bean's Birthday Party dress instead. Her birthday is coming up next week so I figured it should be decently warm by then here in Maryland. I posted about a different birthday dress a few weeks ago, and don't worry, she'll wear that one that weekend too. We're fully into the frilly dress phase so no dress will go unworn, hehe.
Since it was going to be a birthday party dress I added tulle to make the skirt shape balloon out even more. Tulle is never fun to work with, but I swear this time it was so easy. I should probably buy a lottery ticket cause I'm sure it'll never go so smoothly again.
I know I already said it, but I just adore this dress. The slightly long bodice paired with the extra tulle made the shape even more ballerina-esque and it is so lovely. If you would like to purchase the Saffron Twirl dress you can do so here. Or better yet you could purchase the Sew Fab bundle and get a ton of other great patterns as well at a huge discount!
