Birthday Dress for Kate

I decided a few months ago that I wanted to make the girls their outfits for their birthdays this year. For Mady (and technically for Kate too) I made her poodle skirt. Kate's birthday theme (don't worry, Christina, I'll announce it soon!) didn't really lend itself to a particular outfit. So instead I went in search of a cute dress pattern that would be simple enough for me to make and be super cute.

Be still my heart! There are WAY too many cute dresses for little girls out there. Where does a person start?? I turned to Etsy. Mostly because I like the idea of a PDF pattern (easy to store and reuse) and I could browse for hours after my kids were in bed (I have vivid memories of my childhood standing with my mom as she poured over what felt like hundreds of pattern books bored out of my mind). I didn't want to be rushed while I was looking.

I'm not sure how I found this Etsy shop (I'm going to assume through something I searched), but I came across Pink Poodle Bows.  Let's take a minute to talk about this shop and why I love it. First of all, her stuff is CUTE (in my head, I'm saying that more as CA-YOOT, so just think it that way, okay?). And that's what I was looking for. There's interesting elements in all her dresses that make it seem like they were more work than they are. I like that. I have plans to order more.

Second, her patterns are cheap. A lot of etsy patterns run for about $8. Hers are only about $5 (depending on the exchange rate with Canada. When I bought my pattern, it was cheaper. *wink*)

Her instructions are good for people like me who are new(er) to sewing. The pattern that you print is done in such a way that you can't mess it up (and neither can your computer's margins, which other patterns I've used have). I liked that. She has colour pictures throughout the patterns and the instructions are literally step by step and VERY clear. And as a side note, she sets up the instructions so that you do all the ironing together and all the basting together etc. so you're less likely to miss something, or forget to set your machine back (which she also reminds you). Basically she's fabulous!

I know I sound like I'm getting some kind of paid endorsement, but I'm not.  Really, I just had a fabulous experience and I wanted to share it with you all. So, if you're looking for cute dresses for little girls (she has other stuff too!), you need to check out Pink Poodle Bows.

Apron laid on top

Now onto the dress. My sister and I are doing a joint first birthday for our girls since they're really close in age. We picked the pattern together (another nice thing about on-line shopping when you live in different provinces). We decided to do the same dress, same fabrics, but in different locations on the dress. The dress we picked is called the Madison (if you want to make one too). It's a dress and an apron. It took me about 3 hours to make the dress (I had some fabric folded under and had to rip stuff out (grr!) so it took me a bit longer than I had hoped. The apron only added another 30 minutes or so to the whole pattern.

I'm going to make a matching diaper cover and hair bow as well (eeek, when will I have time??).

Of course it will be MUCH cuter when it's on my little mini-model, but some things (such as blogging and picture taking) are easier to do when she's not awake, so you'll need to wait until the party!

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