Navy Snowflake Georgia Vintage Dress

I'm finally writing about the last Christmas 2014 gift I made! Finally! =)
This one was for Beckers.

  I used the same gorgeous snowflake fabric as I used in Booper's shirt and Gaiw's dress, and sewed up the Georgia Vintage Dress Pattern, with a few modifications.

  First, I added elbow-length puff sleeves, which Beckers immediately pushed up to short length once the dress was put on. ;-) As usual, I used this method to sew them in so all raw edges were enclosed. The lower portion is gathered with elastic thread.

  I also enclosed the bodice/skirt seam in the lining... the pattern has all of the layers sewn together and pressed toward the bodice. Due to the opening in the back of the bodice, and none in the skirt, this entailed another change.

  I added a small and simple slit opening to the back of the skirt by placing the interior skirt right side up on top of the exterior skirt, which was also right side up. I drew line perpendicular to the waist, stitched 1/8" from the line on 3 sides, and cut down the line and into the corners of the rectangle. I flipped the interior skirt to the interior, pressed it, and top-stitched 1/4" from the opening on all sides. This left me with a neatly finished opening. (Although apparently I could have clipped and pressed the bottom edge a bit better.)

  This is what it looks like between the skirt layers- no raw edges:

  Another change I made was to hem the upper layer of the skirt with bias tape rather than a double fold, but that was for aesthetic purposes only.

  I really loved the way this pattern turned out, but there were a few moments that had me scratching my head. The bib is only top-stitched to the bodice, and so is the front of the sash, after which the bodice under the sash is trimmed away. I opted to fold the front of the sash up and stitch in the fold instead of top-stitching, because to me it looks more like a separate piece that way.

  The pattern has notches, but they appear to have been added later, as they are not referenced in the pattern instructions. Also, the notches on the collar do not match the notches on the neckline. Had I matched the notches, there would have been a 1" gap at the front neckline. As it is, there is a 1" gap at the back bodice, but to me that works better with the buttons than the collar meeting there. The notches on the sash don't match the notches on the sides of the bodice. Instead, they match the top of the front sash.

  Other than the useless notches, everything fit together the way it should.

  Beckers is a size 12 months in the chest, but a size 18 months in the waist and height, so I made a straight 18 months. It's a bit looser than I expected in the waist... I could have gone with 12 months width and 18 months length.

  I wouldn't recommend the pattern if you are new to sewing, but I liked the results enough that I'm working on another one right now.

  I mean, who could resist that cuteness? =) The back is closed with silver heart KAM snaps.

  And now, some pictures of all three girls together in their coordinating outfits. =)

  And we are done with Christmas posts for at least 9 months! =)

Thanks for stopping by,