Think Crafts Blog - Craft Ideas and Projects - CreateForLess

Returning Guest Blogger Gillian from the Blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

As soon as the first hint of warm weather comes my way, I find myself pulling out sundresses and sun hats and scarves and sandals for my daughter that have languished at the bottom of dresser drawers all winter long.  At two and a half, she’s already a serious dress diva, which is good, because I love to make dresses. And with the arrival of spring comes the arrival of spring fabrics. I go into the fabric store for buttons and I come out with yards and yards of “it was just so cute!” fabric for summer projects.

My all time favorite dress to make is the Sew Baby Dress. This pattern has a lot going for it, first of all, it’s just so darn cute on little girls of all sizes. It’s reversible, which means that when my daughter spills something down her front I can just turn it around and poof! Clean dress. It takes a minimal amount of fabric and it’s one of the easiest patterns I’ve come across. I’ve used it several times when teaching friends to sew because as long as you can cut out a pattern and sew a straight line, you can make this dress. This summer will be my fourth go round with Sew Baby and I’m in no way bored with it.

For my first dress of the spring I chose to pair a dark green print (hides the dirt) with a nice cheery orange floral and found some fabulous buttons to match each. With my last few versions of this dress I’ve been using snaps rather than buttons and then sewing oversized or funky buttons on either side of the straps for decoration. It makes the project faster, easier and cuter since I’m not limited on my button choice by the width of the straps.

The pattern, by the way, also has a great and very simple pattern for bloomers. And if you’ve never made them before, are WAY easier than you think and can absolutely make an outfit. This time around I tried shirring (well, faux shirring I suppose, with elastic string in the bobbin of my sewing machine) on the waist and legs rather than using regular elastic. The effect was very charming giving the bloomers a nice ruffled edge without being too frilly. My daughter also seems to like them better for the lightless of touch that sheering gives over elastic bands.

Of course, none of that really matters, what matters is that my twirling, tutu wearing, dress loving girl spins and smiles whenever I make her a new outfit. And that is why I sew.

So, what projects does the coming of spring inspire YOU to start?

For more of Gillian blog posts, read them here.