Tuesday, June 05, 2012

a little dress

...for my little girl.
 We borrowed the neighbor's dogs for the photo shoot....
 you know, to up the cuteness factor and to distract her from doing cheesy poses in front of the camera.
The ruffles were a huge pain to sew, but worth it in the end.
Apparently the dress is comfy.
The fabric is vintage gingham from my grandma's stash (yay!). I used the picture perfect dress pattern from Vanessa's book. The pattern was wonderful...and I'm not good at following patterns, usually, but this one came together pretty easily. I'm pleased that it worked so well. Thanks Vanessa, for helping to make this dress possible!
The dress is versatile...it also works for playing basketball. :)

43 comments:

Karen said...

Very, very cute dress! I have always loved gingham fabrics, especially yellow & white. Looks like using the neighbor's dogs did the trick as your daughter looks so natural, which is sometimes hard to achieve which you know!

Michelle said...

Your daughter is cute as can be!! And the dress is pure sweetness :) And how wonderful for her to be able to wear a dress made from her great grandma's stash!!

Stephanie said...

Very pretty fabric! Your daughter is adorable! Nice job on the dress!

Gramma Quilter said...

Very cute dress. Brought back memories of sewing for my little girl, who is now 28 and sews her own cloths.

Kim said...

I love that dress...what a great little model too. gingham...it is just the sweetest....doesn't it always look so crisp and clean?
Nice job Mom.
I hope to make a skirt soon from the flirty skirt book......you've inspired me.

Happy Sewing

Alison V. said...

I'm pretty sure I want one in my size. :)

Brenda said...

very cute, especially in grandma's gingham. do you have a serger with differential feed? that can make ruffles much faster and easier.

April said...

So Sweet! I love that she's playing basketball in a sweet little sundress! adorable! and yes the ruffles are so worth it! they always are. :) April @ Little Mama Hen

Kristi said...

lovely...she makes a cute little model!! *smile*

Clair said...

Fun dress. I need to get home and make a dress, too. It is a baby size.

Annie said...

Great post and a great pooch. Cute dress, but my favorite part was when you said you didn't follow patterns very well. Oh that's SO me too! No wonder I love your quilts....we must have similar brains.

Linda said...

Miss A looks lovely in her dress! Such a sweetie! Good job, Mom!

Carmen said...

Oh my goodness... I had yellow gingham in my bedroom when I was little! That dress is so sweet, and it brings back a lot of memories for me. She looks adorable in it!

Cherie said...

That's adorable! Can't go wrong with Gingham prints =D

I'm having a giveaway on my blog. Feel free to stop by and enter (if you haven't already) =D
http://ibescheraldine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/official-150th-post-giveaway.html

my happy bluebird said...

Perfect fabric choice! Adorable dress! Beautiful model! Thanks for sharing... :-)

Cristina said...

Hi Amanda
Love everything, your daughter, the dress that suits her perfectly and the pictures with the dogs, so great colors ;)

Susana Neiger said...

Awesome! It's adorable! Really nice work - I'm sure you and your daughter will both enjoy your handiwork this summer!

Anonymous said...

The dress and your daughter's haircut are just too cute! Way to go Mom!

I just saw an interview with that author today...never heard of her before. =) But went to her blog and am now following along.

Betsy said...

Definitely the cutest and best dressed basketball star in the neighborhood!! Love that you used your grandma's fabric. Nicely done!!

April (Polkadot Sparrow) said...

Love that gingham!! You didn't need dogs to up the cuteness factor: your little girl is adorable enough herself! :)

Beth said...

That dress is just the cutest. I agree about making ruffles, but they are so cute.
My girls were always doing wierd stuff in pictures and they are still like that now. Sadly a dog would have just made it worse, I know cause we had 2.

jennifer said...

How fun! I love that she is comfortable in playing in the dress already. And seriously, any girl who can walk dogs in a dress is worth pain in the rear ruffles!!

Mama Pea said...

What a cute dress. Good job. And to use up some of your grandma's fabric. How wonderful!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

Adorable dress on your adorable daugher Amanad Jean. The yellow gingham is perfect!

Okatava-Катя said...

It's very beautifuland nice!

Anonymous said...

Seeing little girls in dresses makes me smile. Very cute. I'm glad it's good for basketball too. lol.

Judi said...

What a GORGEOUS little dress! Absolutely FABULOUS!

Judi

Anonymous said...

Beautiful dress!! And beautiful little young lady. I haven't sewn a dress in ages. Yours looks wonderful.

artsycraftsyivy said...

You are so awesomely talented, Miss Amanda Jean! I can't sew a dress to save my life. You can sew a dress--with ruffles, no less! :)

Unknown said...

Very cute and are you not so lucky that she will wear ruffles! My daughter, then my granddaughter refused to wear ruffled stuff! Love it. also the 16 ton quilt is very cute. Simple designs just sometimes make quilts for all time.

Katherine said...

A very special dress! Love those ruffles and that you got to use fabric from your grandma's stash. Little A looks as pretty as a picture.

sulu-design said...

How sweet (your daughter and the dress). I love knowing about the fabric. And I can't believe how big she's gotten!

Leslie said...

this dress is adorable...i don't like working with ruffles wither but they always look so cute.

OPQuilt said...

This must be the gingham year! I found a huge stash of vintage ginghams at a yard sale, shared some and now have finished my gingham quilt, too. I decided to share some of the extras and am doing a come-play-with-me thing on my blog (along with those I shared with). It's amazing, also how much gingham I've seen out in the stores.

As far as the very cute dress--I think ruffles and gingham just go together so well. Yes, the dog did ramp up the "cuteness level" as you say, but I'd say your daughter was pretty cute already!

Very fun dress! And how fun to see gingham when it's been so much on my mind.

Elizabeth E.
opquilt.com

Ina said...

Adorable! The ruffles MAKE that dress. ;p Dogs are cute too.

Live a Colorful Life said...

Adorable dress on an adorable little girl. And yellow gingham!!

Kelleyf3 said...

Dress is cute but I'm more excited that I finally got your book today!!! Doing all Iowa Shop Hop and been watching/asking for it. Some places hadn't heard about yet but are going order it now and four were out and waiting for more. Finally got it in Forest City!!! Country Threads in Garner had it featured on their counter and said they can't.keep them in! Good job...so excited to read it!!

Thimbleanna said...

Super Cute! It does my heart good to see a mama sew for her little girl. I used to think it was so unfair that all my friends with girls never made anything for them and here I was chomping at the bit to do little girl sewing with no little girl! Good For You -- it's adorable!

Mama Urchin said...

How on earth did she get so big? The dress looks really cute. Ruffles always seem like a good idea to me until I'm on the third one wondering what I was thinking.

Diane Swett said...

a very lovley dress.

Cheerful Homemaker said...

Very cute! I've always had trouble w/ clothing patterns but recently overcame my fear and tried again. I've been sewing baby dresses for my Etsy shop :)

Suzanne said...

She needs no pups to just make me want to gush over her! What a lovely dress and the fact that the gingham is from your gramma is all the more special.

quirky granola girl said...

she looks so lovely in gingham.