Aloha!
Nothing makes me feel older than to now have to say, “I am the mother of an 8-year-old.” EEK! But here we are.
As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe the age at which children can start to make the decision to be baptized is 8. So this birthday is an extra special one in our family and one that we have been anticipating for quite some time. We threw a big birthday party (details on that to come), and I allowed our daughter to choose a dress she wanted me to make for her to wear after the baptism.
We browsed Pinterest together, and here were some of our favorites:
All of them are lovely, but my daughter was immediately drawn to the Brown Paper Packages dress but wanted “aquamarine instead of hot pink”. She’s not a pink girl…
I read through that post and all 60+ comments and went through the “tutorials” pages but could not find a tutorial on the dress for the life of me. ((sigh))
So I was off to make it without a pattern. No biggie, right? Ack!! I procrastinated it way too long because I was skeered. 😉 Finally the Thursday prior to the weekend of her baptism, I kicked myself in the butt and decided to just give the top of it a shot. I wanted it to be professional-looking and not one of my usual “winging it” projects, so I did the top fully lined.
I used THIS tutorial to give me an idea of how to do the sleeves, so they would also be lined. They were actually much easier than I anticipated, and I just sandwiched them in between the two layers of the bodice, so there are no unfinished edges on the inside! I was SO proud of myself when I got to that point. I was actually doing it!
So I was off to Joann’s to find some “aquamarine” fabric for the sash and tulle along with some kind of hair flare materials and a 20″ zipper. While I LOVE the details in the buttons that were on the original, I knew that much work would probably put me over the edge. Not the mention the comfort and convenience factors for a kid who wants to wear this dress more than once. I also bought a tiny hook for the top where the zipper ends.
I’ve made countless skirts for my girls, so the bottom part was a cinch. I happened to have my friend’s serger on hand as well, so that made the work on my edges nice and clean!
I’m not going to take the time to give a full tutorial and pattern because…
Once I was all finished, I went back to try to find the original dress, and I had lost the link. I looked on Pinterest again, and what did I find??? A link to the follow-up post where she actually has a tutorial AND pattern for a size 8. Ha! Murphy’s Law, right? Oh well. I seem to work better without a pattern anyway. But if you’re looking for one, HERE’S the link. So go give her some love and thank her profusely for putting the time into making a pattern for ya’ll. 😉
I’m going to have to invest in a slip for her since I wasn’t paying attention and sewed the tulle to the INSIDE of the bottom layer on the skirt instead of the outside, and it’s a little itchy on her legs. Oops!
And yes, I realize the blue dots covering her face are annoying. Trust me, she’s a beautiful girl. 😉 But my husband is uber paranoid, so in order to keep the peace in our house but still be able to share these kid projects with you, this is how it has to be.
What do you think? Can I call myself a sewist now? I think it’s my most ambitious sewing project so far!
Aloha,
Charlie
Beautiful dress. I can remember making my first dress when I was 8 for Easter Sunday. You did a great job!
Wow! 8?? You must be a pro now! What a good mama you must have had to take the time to teach you to sew. What a valuable skill!
Aloha,
Charlie
it turned out beautifully! thanks for sharing! and i am sorry you didn't find the tutorial– i really do need to fix that. . .
happy sewing,
leisel
brown paper packages
No worries! It ended up working out just fine since I'm a "wing it" kinda seamstress anyway. lol But I definitely needed the pics and inspiration. I don't have great vision to just come up with clothing designs. And I am in awe that you were able to make it fit without having your little model there with you. My poor daughter was so sick of trying it on over and over while I pinned. Ha!
Aloha,
Charlie
Absolutely beautiful! love the pop of color in the sash!
Thanks, Kari! That's definitely our favorite feature, too. So fun to have that little splash of color added to the all-white.
Aloha,
Charlie
Thanks for featuring my dress. I love the pattern you used and your dress turned out FAB. I actually wanted to make that dress, but my daughter has a thing about tulle touching her skin. Congrats on having an 8 year old. 🙂
Agreed on the tulle! We're going to have to invest in a nice slip, so her legs aren't itchy. I can't believe the detail you put into yours! Truly amazing!
Aloha,
Charlie
Thanks for the feature! I love how your dress turned out. So adorable. Congrats.
Thanks, Jen!
Aloha,
Charlie
That's so adorable & you did an awesome job! So fun to see that she liked my dress too. 🙂
Thank you! It's always fun for me to watch my girls pick out big things like this. 🙂
Aloha,
Charlie
I am very impressed. I'm sure she absolutely loves it!
Thanks! She does love it. And I love overhearing her brag that "my mom and I made it". Just melts me that my kids are proud of handmade. 🙂
Aloha,
Charlie
it turned out awesome! i love the pops of blue! sooo pretty! even the blue oval!
Ha! I had to match the dress, right? 😉 Thanks, Kimbo!
Aloha,
Charlie
I love, LOVE, the pops of blue!
Thanks, Nike! I truly loved the original pink one and really wanted to do it the exact same, but my girly does NOT like pink. It HAD to be "aquamarine"…lol I was so happy it turned out how she wanted it. I was pleasantly surprised that I like the blue as much as I do!
Aloha,
Charlie
Beautiful baptism dress!
Thank you, Saundra!
Aloha,
Charlie
WOW! this is awesome.This blog is really interesting ninja avengers boys costume
I looove this. I'm doing a version of it for my 20 month old daughter. The only problem is, I'm confused about how to make the skirt. And the pictures on the pattern won't show up.
So pretty…great job! I like the aquamarine too.