Brought to You by the Color Pink

Sometimes I have a vision of what I want -- a project materializes in my mind, and I go on a stash hunt (or a fabric store hunt, if necessary) for the corresponding materials. Sometimes, inspiration comes later. When I found a too-long, too-small, but oh-so-cute shirt at the thrift store, I plunked down a dollar and crossed my fingers that I could come up with the right design. 

A dollar's not much of an investment if it all goes "south," but this investment turned out to be quite rewarding. Rewarding, in the sense that I got to scratch my sewing itch and Rosa got a new dress (not that she needed one... *cough*). 

The original shirt had a pink band at the bottom, raglan sleeves with pink sleeve bands, and a wide pink boatneck collar. I just love the perfectly pink-and-white stripes! The fabric is super soft and flowy, too -- which does make the dress look a little odd when it's not being worn. Trust me, in real life the fit is perfect. 

I improvised the pattern, using a size 18 mths tee that I'd also picked up at the thrift store. I added to the sleeves to make them puffed, created a yoke, and added a slightly gathered skirt. Having all of those solid pink bands was so helpful in creating my own bands! I did have a hard time squeezing the bodice out of that oversized collar, but it all turned out fine.

Apparently I need to work on my gathering skills with knits, but fortunately it's a pretty forgiving fabric. I'd show you a picture of the back of the dress, but it looks virtually identical to the front! Which reminds me, I need to start putting "direction" tags in some of my garments. 

And that's that! Much as I love the cold weather, it's nice to be doing a bit of Spring and Summer sewing for the littles (and myself).