the First dress

Last season I discovered Launch my Line on Bravo and was so excited to watch each week as designers worked with talented sewers to develop their own line. While the idea of this is fun to think about I'm not there and don't know when I'll get to that point. What I did love was the concept of making clothing using a dress form. I got this idea in my head that since Gabriella is small and wiggly I definitely needed a dress form, especially since I like to make things with out a pattern and saw a dress form as the missing link between sewing and success for a perfectionist. My search for a toddler dress form ended on eBay. I debated and waited, thought about it, prayed about it a little and then bid anxiously waiting for the mail to arrive. The boys actually took it out of the box and dressed it with some of Gabby's clothes, totally not matching but they got the concept and it was cute that they tried to surprise me with a dressed mannequin

so the dress I'm posting a picture of is the first one I made for Gabby just about a month ago. I learned a lot making it and would of course do things differently. for example, the sash I made with no visible edges and it was doubled in thickness, my friend Katie who pointed out French seams as a help in the pink lining (since it shows below but my seams are turned towards the outside which you can see if you pull the white layer up) also pointed out that the sash could be finished off with simply the edges turned under. the fabric is heavy and doing this allowed my bow to really come to life and not be weighted down in the knot.

My dress form is a bit larger than Gabriella is now so I do try to factor that in when I sew for her using it.
The other thing that I really wanted was a layer underneath (i.e. bloomers). I made the dress length end just above her knees to aid in her crawling so her cotton white bloomers are a perfect compliment, in my opinion.

Auntie Carol said the white eyelet fabric is very Indian, to me the sash keeps this looking quite Kimono-esque I came up with the idea for this when I saw the fabric. I was actually at Jo Ann's looking for something, maybe trim, I don't love the fabric there and will not buy it for quilting but for this dress it turned out. I'm afraid that other than driving to Berkeley or San Francisco my fabric store options out here are nice quilt shops which specialize in quilter weight cottons or Jo Ann fabrics. If anyone could suggest other stores in the Bay Area or San Joaquin Valley I'd be so happy for your suggestions.