Tags
cherry dress, cherry fabric, Ginger Dress, Indie Patterns, sew exhausted, sewing, Violette Fields
For the week of Christmas my 3 California kids came to visit. (Youngest was here in Texas.) It almost didn’t happen! Between them they have ONE safe car that would make it 1600 miles. The day before they were set to leave my eldest daughter was stopped behind a lot of traffic trying to get off the freeway at the mall. (Who goes to the mall at Christmas time?) Anyway, an SUV did not see the stopped traffic soon enough and slammed into her which pushed her into the car ahead of her. Thankfully she was ok- sore muscles and back and shocky but the hospital checked her out and said she would be ok. The car though- totaled. I was relieved she was wasn’t hurt but heartbroken because there was no way we could afford airfare the week of Christmas for three people. But my brother, who travels weekly for work, very kindly used his points and flew them out here last minute so Christmas was back on! (Without the stress of me worrying as my kidlets drove those 1600 miles!)
Christmas was GREAT and I was able to get a little sewing done for them while they were here. I have found it is much harder without their bodies for fittings but while they visited I took measurements and made a good fitting bodice for each to use. My son is easy- I just use the same shirt pattern! (Guess I should get a little more creative!)
That was a long intro! Now for the fun! I made middle daughter a cherry dress while she was here using the Violette Fields Ginger Dress. I love the vintage feel and Holly can totally carry off these styles. Plus, she wears every dress I make her! Heck, she loves every dress I make her and wants a closet full! Easy to sew for, easy to please. I am down with that! I named this dress Cherry Bomb… Yep, after the John Mellencamp song and well, it’s covered in cherries!
Violette Fields Ginger Dress
I actually got this cherry fabric at Walmart. It is a fun cotton print and fairly decent quality. Initially I was going to use solid red as the accent but found the green mini polka dot on a Joanns visit and changed my mind.
Seam in skirt
The dress was simple to make and I completed the sewing part in one day. The skirt is a circle skirt in 2 pieces. My fabric was not wide enough so I actually sewed two pieces together. I did my best to match up those cherries but it is slightly off. On a positive note I doubt very much ANYONE will notice. 🙂
The bodice is fully lined and I used my trusty serger to finish all of the inside seams. I debated on the zipper, but decided to go with a regular zip vs. invisible because I had one in my stash that would work. I have a shoe box crammed full of zippers and need to use one when I can instead of buy. Does anyone else have zipper stash?
Pockets!
I put pockets into everything now because Holly loves them. Sometimes I think she is more excited about the pockets then the dress! 😉 The pattern comes with pockets so it wasn’t any extra work really.
One of the things I love about Indie patterns is the sizing. Holly is a tiny girl and whenever I make her a Big 4 pattern I have to do quite a lot of fitting. They don’t even make her size it seems! Many of them start at an 8, some at 4. She is a 0-2. This bodice fit her PERFECT right out of the envelope.
I did change one thing on the dress. The actual pattern is halter style with the straps tied behind the neck. When she tried it on I decided to make them into straps for 2 reasons. #1- Stability- this bodice isn’t going anywhere! #2- I could place them exactly to hide her bra straps.
All in all I would say this is a highly successful dress. I can’t wait to make her another! Too bad it is rainy and cold in CA right now though. It will be a while before she can wear it!
I also made her a quick pair of PJ bottoms while she was here. And I added pockets! Holly is a girl after my own heart- we both love Dr. Who so I used Tardis flannel.
I did not tell her but I have JUST enough left to make a pair of jammie shorts too. I am going to make a knit top to go with them and mail them to her for her bday. Shhhhh….
McCalls 5791 with a few changes
I have completed 4 items in 2016 already. All baby dresses for family members. I miss making baby dresses so these were pretty fun! I used McCalls 5791 but added the ruffles and waistbands.
By the way, I have added a little “scorecard” on the left side of my blog so I can keep track of how many items I sew, how much stash I use, and how many miles I run for 2016. I am actually not sure yet if I am going to count yards or pieces on the stash count though. I started to measure my stash fabrics but got tired after 17 yards so I may just go by piece!
Hope your first week of 2016 has been good! Now I think I will get back to sewing!
~Laurie
~Listening to Big Star #1 Record- (Thanks Leila!)
Sew Exhausted 
That dress is so cute and it looks like expensive RTW. I can’t believe you found that great fabric at Walmart. What a find!
Thank you! I did! I hesitated before buying because it IS Walmart but I am glad I went with it! 😀
I would like this exact dress for myself, please and thank you. 😉
Isn’t it great? 😀
Yes I can see you have been busy sewing. 🙂 The positive side to being at home 🙂 VERY nice cherry dress. I love it and I see you are producing baby dresses like a pro!!
Good job 🙂 Kristin
Thanks Kristin! I always sewing keeps me out of trouble. 😉
Fabulous dress, and yes, I have a zipper stash… I think a scorecard would be great (I could do with one) but definitely by piece of fabric, rather than length! 🙂
Good to know I am not the only one on the zipper stash! I am tempted to count them! I am going with piece. I do not want to measure all my fabric. I have 7 tubs worth!
Oh, that is such a cute dress and even cuter daughter. Fabulous job on all the garments and I love the cute baby dresses.
Thanks Lori! I had fun making all of those baby dresses. And I am very pleased with Cherry dress AND the daughter! 😀
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Such a cute dress! I like your scorecard idea, would be fun to keep a running total of things. Also, what a scare with the car accident! Glad everyone is okay.
Thank you! I am glad everyone is ok as well. 🙂 I thought the scorecard would be a good idea. Now to just keep up with it!
What an adorable dress–it looks great on her!
Ahhh! That dress is adorable and your daughter is rockin’ it! I have to check out that pattern. Too cute.
Thank you Sophi! I think she rocks it as well. 😀 It is a great pattern. I really think I need to do a top too- it would go great with the right pair of pants!
Those pants are so great! I love that fabrics have gotten so much more fun. People may not like Walmart either but that’s a pretty awesome fabric! She looks great in it too, what a great fit!
Thanks Bethany. I debated whether to even mention where I got the fabric then decided it was ok! I totally agree on the fun fabrics! I have made Starwars and Walking Dead shirts, pacman dresses and more… I am planning to make myself a pair of cotton Tardis Closet Case Files Carolyn PJ’s this Spring… Because I want in on the fun too! 😀
I love the dress! The skirt is so full, no one would notice whether it is one piece or eight! Nice work!
Aw thanks Linda… I didn’t think so either. Especially since after I sewed it up I had the devil of a time finding the seam myself for the picture!
I have been eyeing that cherry fabric every time I pass by at my Walmart! The dress is so great! I really like how you used the red buttons on the lime fabric at the waist.
And I really love the colors and fabrics you used on the baby dresses! I want the lime green tropical floral one in my size!
I have the same problems with sizing for myself that you have with Holly – most size ranges just start bigger than I am. You might have good luck with pdf patterns and printing them at the percent scale down from the smallest like I often do. The only trick to it is remembering to resize any shrunken seam allowances (especially if the stitchlines aren’t marked on the pattern).
I totally remember you re-sizing your patterns with the printer and have considered it. I was wondering about Burda sizing for you? Still big?
The Cherry fabric actually washed up well and sewed up nicely. It isn’t a bad investment at all! The tropical lime feels SO soft. I wish I had gotten more of it. I actually don’t even remember BUYING it- just found it languishing in my stash. I have ONE yard left. I kept trying to figure out if there is anything I could make myself for one yard- that I would actually wear!! For now I guess I will hold on to it and maybe a thought will come my way. It is definitely a fun and pretty fabric.
I honestly haven’t ever tried sewing Burda for myself. Every time I’ve used a Burda pattern for someone else, I’ve been disappointed. They run big like the typical Big4 and I barely make it onto the bottom of the size chart. And like New Look, they often don’t start a lot of their patterns until one or two sizes in on the chart. I could shrink them, but none of the designs has ever been special enough that I’d want to do that much work.
Good to know- thanks Brooke!
Love your daughters dress – so pretty and she looks so happy wearing it!
Thanks QSue! She is pretty pleased! 🙂
Fabulous dress! I love the print mixing, too: it makes the dress extra cheerful. =) Glad to hear the kids made it for Xmas and that everyone is okay!
Wow! That dress is awesome. The cherry print is just perfect. I’m going to have to check out that pattern myself. I love that you made the straps to cover her bra straps-that’s always something I want in a dress. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!