Roses and polka dots - Butterick 5980 spiced up with Vogue 1542

When polka dots and stripes contest was getting close I was looking for some fun fabric to work with and I found this really fun polka dots fabric:

The black and white always looks good and just a little fun with those roses and color reverse border. The fabric was 100% cotton with zero stretch and not the best drape so it was a bit challenging deciding on a pattern to go with. But then I remembered Butterick 5980. I think this pattern will work with any fabric and it looks so so cute in all versions I made before:

I was a bit worried about how those roses will break in so many seams but I think I managed to do OK.

I remembered that for my sister in law wedding I compared this dress straps with the ones from the wedding dress : Vogue 1542:

I found out that the 2 straps are pretty close in length and width so I thought it might me fun to use the Vogue ones this time and maybe the neckline embellishment idea as well. I played around with petals and vines variants and I am not sure I found the perfect one in the end but is still so cute:

 I decided the lighter version looks better but I could not resist mixing 2 black vines as well:

 Did I picked well? Should I have made them shorter and mabe leave some open ends on the flower side as well. Maybe... I might try this again and hopefully do better :).

  On previous versions of this dress I put lining and tulle underskirt under this dress and I was ready to do that again as it gives a nice fullness to the dress but this fabric was so light and breathable that I just added a self drafted facings to the neckline and let it simple.
  I added a ruffle trim to the hem that I think it goes great with this dress.
  As was expected Eva looked really good in it and was happy with it:

After looking at the photos and  reading reviews of the vogue pattern a few more times I redid the vines positioning shortening them to one side and making them curl on the flower side as well:

I am still in shopping frenzy - 6 new fabrics since yesterday ... Sewing 108 - Shopping 93.

Kids outfits for their aunt wedding

Making kids outfits for special events is something I enjoy a lot so even with all the commitments I took for my sister in law wedding I could not forget the kids. I absolutely loved their matching outfits for the wedding last fall when we were godparents. Andrei's outfit was the last one to be made and this part of me regretted I didn't got around to make him a jacket so this time I made sure I had my patern pieces prepped and I didn't let myself slack on him account. I picked Vogue 9248:

It was not an easy task. From tracing and cutting all the pattern pieces to actually making it ... nothing was easy or fast. there are countless pattern pieces and I could not have done it without the instructions close by and all the labeling and markings. This me working on the paper pattern on Easter day outside:

I made countless small mistakes along the way but the soft fabric and discreet print on it were forgiving and even if it was not perfect his suit was very special and he was the most handsome little guy.

The day dress I made for Eva last fall was such a success that I wanted to use that pattern again - so here is a new version of Butterick 5980:

    As I was making the bride wedding dress as well I asked her if she wants Eva's dress to be from the same fabric to compliment her. My sister in law is Eva's godmother and she loved to have a mini her so Eva's got a white dress for the event. The strap from view C didn't looked that well in multiple layers so this time I did a sleeved version. The front ruffle also didn't seemed right in this multiple layers of lace and tulle so I opted for her to have the same hand sewn beads all over the dress same as the wedding dress bodice.
   I didn't had enough of lace edge left to use for Eva's dress so I bought a different one that I think it went perfectly with the design of the lace. The bride liked it as well and decided to use that from for her veil as well.

I miscalculated the sleeves length and I already embellished the sleeves hem when Eva tried it on and decided it was to long and it bothered her. I was running behind and I really liked my hand sewn beads in the sleeves so cutting them down and doing them again or let them go both seemed like bad options so instead or that I added a small soft tulle ruffle to the sleeves. Eva liked it like that.

The yoke and the sleeves are doubled with pink silk voile that create a nude illusion but is very pleasant on the skin.

   I hated the little buttons on the back my sister in law wanted. I was really afraid of them but they were really cute so after mastering the installation of the elastic buttonhole band decided to use a small piece for Eva's dress as well and did 10 buttons with 2 layers of fabric : the pink silk and the white tulle that were a perfect match to that section of the dress.

   I used embroidered cotton and tulle for some cute ruffles on the inside:

 They both were cute but run around the all evening and were really hard to keep in check. They had a lot of fun though. My son told me the day after it all that it was the best day and night of his life. He was so sweet..

No shopping since the last blog post so counting the kids items my score is now Sewing 86 - Shopping 62. I really hope to get down the story of the wedding dress next week so here is a little teaser: