I wanted to make something with the shape of the Well Dressed Wolf Aunt Heart dresses for my sweet girl’s Thanksgiving dress.  I decided to use the Knot Right Now from LLK for my base and modify it as I worked.  This is a quick and easy modification to make.

I made my straps longer than the KNR pattern calls for by a few inches to be sure that I had enough length to reach all the way down the front bodice.  I lengthened the ruffle as well before I gathered it and sewed it into the straps.  I set the ruffles to go down the front bodice and stop about where I thought the straps would end.  I eyeballed the placement.

Next I pinned the long straps down the front bodice.  Looking from the inside of the bodice, I aligned the outside edges of the straps (not ruffle) with the corners of the bodice.

I sewed the straps in place from the front side, being careful to stitch evenly because these stitches will be very visible.

I wanted to cross my back straps and attach them via button with a buttonhole.  I crossed them over and placed the buttonholes a bit to the inside of the corners on the back.

This was a mistake!  =)  But a fixable one.  See how the straps pulled the back bodice and made it pucker?  Whoops.  I would need to put those buttonholes close together in the middle of the back bodice to make the look work.  But then I’d have inches of bodice fabric with nothing holding it on the edges in the back.  Not the look I’m going for, and I don’t want to take the time to try to reshape the back.

So I uncrossed those puppies.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I started, but very cute nonetheless.

I wanted my bottom ruffle to look like it was attached to a separate under layer instead of sewn directly into the skirt.  So I hemmed the skirt first and sewed the ruffle in about 1.5 inches up.  This made the hem of the fox fabric hang funny and flip up in spots, so I sewed the ruffle down around the bottom edge as well.  I think it still looks like I sewed a ruffle on the normal way, not an under skirt.  I’ll try something else next time.  =)

Then I took this cute girl out into the sunshine and we took tons of fun photos of her cute, foxy Thanksgiving dress.

I like the fun mix of patterns and colors.  My grandmother, who taught me how to sew, used the green dot fabric in a diaper bag she made for me years ago.  She died around this time last year, and I love to use her scraps in my projects.  Makes me smile to see little bits of her.

KRN is an easy, quick pattern and it was fun to change things up a little bit.

This sweet top is an upcycle from an old maternity dress.  This girl wears it better!  =)

The pattern is the newly re-released Ella by Made for Mermaids.  The binding is an interlock with some lace tucked inside.

The back bow is a quilting cotton.  The pattern calls for knit, but I thought that a woven would look sharper tied.  No modifications to the length of the ties and it has worked well for us.

This is the low back version.  There is a higher back if more modesty is desired.

I’m on the lookout for a fun blue patterned long-sleeved shirt to layer with this once cooler weather heads our way.

Sarah Jane’s Summer Ride is my most treasured fabric of all time.  A girl and her horse, my favorite love story.  I’ve had it sitting in my sewing room, in a spot of honor so I can see it any time I walk through.  It took a lot for me to cut into this gorgeous yardage, but the result was worth it.

This is the Bella Dress by SLPCo.

The straps are my favorite part.  So feminine.

I used ric rac inserted into the fold of my straps.  I like the little pop of color it adds to the bodice and the attention it draws to the straps.

Bella is a very easy sew.  I’ve made several of these and can finish one up in a little over an hour now.  Elastic is so much easier for my machine than button holes.

The fit grows with this girly a bit because of the elastic.  She’ll continue to wear this when it becomes tunic length this winter.  I also want to make a deep red maxi length Bella with a sheer overlay for this Christmas.

These were taken earlier this year when Georgia was frozen and Florida was pleasant…  Before the princess had long curls.  So tiny.

I’m so excited to be a part of the Winnie Pinnie Blog Tour from Little Lizard King!  I love Winnie Pinnie‘s bias stripe skirt, and that awesome classic-yet-modern top as well, but I needed a little more coverage for an event than the cute cutout back provides.  So I decided to mash this version up with a flat front peasant top from Foo Foo Threads Gypsy Rose.

I really like the result!  This skirt is so versatile!

I stuck to dark colors that my girly hopefully won’t stain too quickly.  She wore this rolling around on rock paths for 30 minutes for this photo shoot and so far so good.

She chose the hot pink squeaky cowgirl boots to wear this go round.  Who am I to argue if it makes her grin instead of cry?  =)

I’m looking forward to putting Abby Joy in this with a pair of funky tights and a long sleeved top underneath as the weather turns cooler.

What mash of Winnie Pinnie are you going to try next?

 Hurry and grab your copy of the Winnie Pinnie pattern for 20% off with coupon code “WPTour”!  Offer ends August 1st at midnight EST. 

Then, if you haven’t already seen them, go visit the other stops on the Winnie Pinnie Blog Tour and see the other great hacks, mashes, and inspiration this creative group of women put together!

The Winnie Pinnie Blog Tour Calendar

Monday, July 25th- Kick off post with Little Lizard King (Sale Begins)

Tuesday, July 26th- Heather | All Things Katy | and Megan | The Northern Belle |

Wednesday, July 27th- Melissa | Made by Melli | and Jane |Not Sew Plain Jane |

Thursday, July 28th- Sara | Irish Eyes are Sewing | and Kari | Little Lizard King |

Friday, July 29th- Jennifer | Jelly Lou Creations | and Cassie | Two Sweet Peas and Me |

Saturday, July 30th- Dearly Loved Photography | and Valerie | Elegantine |

Monday, August 1- Raedene | Little Lizard King | (End of Sale)

The Best Dressed Girl pattern by Little Lizard King has long been one of my top five favorite patterns.  I cannot resist the bodice ruffles.  Must sew all the bodice ruffles.  But my baby girl looks so sweet in rompers over diapers right now.  Sweet little perfectly chunky legs showing in the summer.  Another thing I just cannot resist.  So I combined the Best Dressed Girl bodice with the Shortcake Romper and came out with a fun patriotic outfit to last us through the summer.

I chose to put a double ruffle on to the Best Dressed Girl bodice, though I probably won’t do that again.  It was really hard to get the seams trimmed down enough to make the front neckline flat.  Next time, I would put bias tape on a single ruffle to get two colors going on.  Lesson learned.

I also modified the back button closure.  Janie Lou, another pattern from Little Lizard King, has fun loop closures for the buttons, and I used that idea here instead of traditional button holes.  I used stretchy elastic loops to make the button closing faster for wonder woman here.  =)

We love the end result.  So cute.  Comfy enough to throw sticks and run and swing with the big brothers while watching fireworks this summer.

Around Christmas, I was shopping at my favorite local children’s consignment shop and ran across the cutest little Ralph Lauren dress in plaid.  I looked for a similar pattern, and even described it and asked around in sewing groups on Facebook, but couldn’t find anything that wouldn’t require a lot of modifications to get it just right.  Then, The Picknick Dress by The Eli Monster entered my life!  It had the same shaped bodice with ruffles on the neck and flutter sleeves.  I just couldn’t resist.

I’d like to note, at this point in the pictures, that this lovely, sweet child spent a solid 10 minutes screaming and throwing herself on the ground in this 11 minute photo shoot.  She was not having it.  Then the clouds parted, just for a few seconds, and she posed like nobody’s business.  She quickly returned to the tantrumming and was whisked back into her stroller and off to the next activity.  =)  Little people with big feelings can be challenging to work with.

I’m such a sucker for ruffles on the bodice of a dress.  So sweet and feminine.  I cannot help myself but to make ALL of the ruffle bodice dresses.  So the Paige dress from Violette Field Threads called to me.  And I’m glad it did.  =)

My husband, Drew, is a web designer.  He’s got an artistic eye for things that is far superior to mine.  So I asked him for help finding some Matilda Jane-ish fabrics that didn’t exactly match, but went together.  He says this is his favorite dress that I’ve made for the baby girl out of all of them!  That’s a lot of dresses.

Lots of photos on this one.  We had such a pretty day going on in a field near my house.

The sweet flutter detail and square neckline.

The zipper makes this dress much easier to get on a squirmy toddler than buttons.

I think she likes it, too.  Circle skirt twirls are so fun!

Leggings are a favorite of mine. For me and for this little lady. Under dresses and tunics, not as pants! 😉 Add ruffles and they are even better!

Several expensive clothing companies for little girls sell ruffled leggings, but I just couldn’t bring myself to purchase $30 baby pants that would probably get holes in them in 30 minutes.  Enter the Baby Chloe legging pattern by Simple Life Pattern Company.

Loving ruffles the way I do, I added more fabric length to these ruffles, making them fuller.  They are made of a very stretchy cotton lycra fabric that I bought years ago from Chez Ami.

So comfy, so stretchy, and so cute!

Jilly, being in Atlanta, caught my attention.  Her patterns are a little different from the norm, perhaps a bit more boho.  I looked through them and picked my favorite, the Angelica.

I had heard of French seams before Jilly Atlanta, and had put one in a baby carrier long ago for strength, but I was pleasantly surprised at Jilly Atlanta’s use of them.  Every single seam was enclosed.  Every single one!  I don’t have kiddos with sensory issues, but before kids I was a special ed teacher and I know that a scratchy seam can ruin a little one’s day.

Angelica is a sweet little woven top with a side button in the neckline.  That side button closure splits the flutter sleeve on one side.  The directions in this pattern are more detailed than average, which makes it harder to make mistakes.

I really enjoyed making this top and look forward to putting my baby girl in it when the weather warms up!

My next sewing project is this fun little number, the Finn top by Blaverry.  Perfect for a little lady on the move.  I’ve seen so many drop-waist skirts sewn on to shirts, but the shape of this one is so unique.

Not your typical rectangle, but a curved, flirty skirt that’s a bit longer in the back.  I love it!