Crafting Adventures: Butterfly Dress

 

Last weekend was the Father/Daughter Dance at school, so I took the opportunity to whip up a pretty new dress for Miss Chief that would look lovely on the dance floor.  The theme was "Boots and Bows", a country music vibe, so she decided to wear what she now lovingly calls her "Anne boots" which we bought for her Anne of Green Gables photoshoot.

She picked out the butterfly fabric at JoAnn ages ago- I was originally planning to do the Simple Life Pattern Co. Blaire ruffled maxi skirt, but the season passed and then I ended up using that pattern for her Christmas look instead.  I have a bunch of summery dress patterns I've been itching to make, and these beautiful butterflies were just begging to become a sundress, so I landed on the SLP Co Mya dress.  I originally bought this pattern with the intention of making the peplum top version first, but then the dance was approaching and I needed to decide on a dress so I went for the longer length instead.

This was a very easy sew and I didn't run into any major problems.  I ended up not top stitching around the neckline/the top of the bodice but I don't think it suffers for it.  The bodice is lined and as long as you take care when clipping the curves and press it when you turn it out, it's very crisp and clean even without the top stitching.

Of course the real star of this dress is the back.  The straps are 4 separate pieces that you tie together to tighten as needed, and you can either tie them straight up-and-down or in an X pattern like I've done.  I figured criss-crossing the straps would lend added stability for her while she was jumping around on the dance floor.  The back can be made either a solid rectangle with channels for elastic which mimic shirring, or the three straps as I've chosen to do.  I made this in a size 8 which fits her like a glove, but I did end up needing to take in the elastic straps, about an inch off the top one and a half inch off the middle.  There are no traditional side seams on this bodice- the front is one piece that wraps around about a third of the way on each side of the back and connects to the elastic straps.  If I had done a fitting before putting it together, I would have just cut the elastic shorter; my solution is a little less elegant, but it's on the inside of the dress so I don't really care.  I did the gathered skirt option due to the amount of fabric I had to work with, but this would have had even more twirl factor with the circle skirt option.

I hope she gets a lot of wear out of this gorgeous dress this summer!  I can't wait to make a bunch more light and airy summer dresses.  Let's see what I've got in my stash...

Much love,

The Geeks