A Shirred Summer Dress

Our good friends, Jeff and Michelle, had a baby girl, Alyana, just over a year ago.

She's a darling little girl who is smiley and sweet. When she was about 6 months old, I made a little dress for her based on some online tutorials I found. I used my teddy bear to figure out how big to make it.  I figured they were about the same size.

When I went to try it on Alyana, it didn't fit around her diapered booty. And those britches definitely wouldn't fit. Dang. I didn't ever get around to making it bigger, although I promised her mom I would. So my goal was to get a new dress done in time for her first birthday at the end of May.

I used this tutorial on the Prudent Baby blog to make a shirred summer dress for her. The secret to making something look smocked without actually smocking is elastic thread. You wind it in the bobbin on your sewing machine and sew and the fabric wrinkles up. I woke up early on the day of Alyana's party and spent much of the morning working on it.

Hopefully she'll be able to wear it this summer. The bonus about this kind of dress is that it can be used as a shirt as she gets older.

 If you've never sewed clothes before, it's worth trying out. I also made her a matching hair bow and a little stuffed animal based on this tutorial from Ruffles and Stuff. It's crinkly inside. I hope she liked it! She was a little overwhelmed with all of the gifts and wrapping paper at the party.