Strawberry Shortcake Popover Sundress

A couple days ago, Raina pulled a piece of fabric out of my stash and asked with the bluntness that is only adorable coming from a tiny person's mouth, "Mumma!  Is this for my strawberry shortcake dress?!" What else could I say but, "Of course it is!"  (She likes to go through my fabric from time to time and drag pieces out as "blankets" for meow.  This is the first time she's envisioned fabric as a finished sewing project.  Yay!)

The pattern I used is a free download on the Oliver & S website... the popover sundress.  It was incredibly simple and a quick sew.  I rarely finish a project in one day these days, but I managed this one pretty easily.  Of course, it helped that Raina was really into it and wanted to help.  :)  Here we are cutting and taping our patterns while Lucca napped.  I can't wait to see what Raina makes from her pattern!

And here, the finished dress!  That there under the arms?  That stuff that goes all the way up into those amazing straps?  That's bias tape.  That I made.  Yup.  Another fear, conquered.  And way easier than I had imagined.  I can't wait to try it out on future projects now.  Also, the pattern gives "hints" like a for realsies Oliver & S pattern. and one is to add piping or lace under the yoke edge.  It sounded like a marvelous idea to me, so I made a ruffle... and decided that while I was at it, I might as well add a ruffle to the bottom as well!  Adding the ruffles definitely added time onto the project... it makes me a little excited to think about how quick this would have been without my added details!  I think more of these easy peasy dresses will be part of the summer ensemble!

p.s. - it also includes a pattern for a coordinating doll dress!  I haven't made one yet, but Raina insists that it is the next thing "we" sew!

p.p.s. - the Snow White Raglan fit!  It is snug going over her head.  SO glad I cute the neckband a size up... but next time I would go even larger, or maybe figure out a way to adapt it a bit and give it a "v" or do some buttons down the shoulder...  I tried to get a picture of her in it, but this was the best I could do :).  "Raina, can you stand still so I can take your picture in your new shirt?"  "Nope!  Sowwy!  Too busy!"  (Too busy until I turned on Super Why, which is where the zoned out look in the last one comes in to play!)

Snow White Raglan Tee

So normally the way I resize a grown up t-shirt into a toddler t-shirt is to fold the big one and a tiny one that fits in half, lay them on top of each other, cut, sew, and hope it is still wearble.  :)  Usually it is, but I thought it might be nice to try something a little more "for real" and refashion using a pattern.  I used the raw-edged raglan tee pattern from the book "Sewing for Boys."  (See my previous post about treasure pocket pants for more info on this!)

Raina is totally into princesses ("princies") right now, so when I cam eacross this Snow White shirt in my "do something new with this" pile, I knew it would be the perfect starting point for the raw edged raglan.  Based on the advice of another blogger who's made this shirt a few times, I made just one change: cutting the neck band one size up to accomodate Rain's cantelope noggin.

This pattern and the resulting new shirt came together so quickly and easily that I didn't even stop between steps to take pictures!  Here's how it looked mostly done, when I stopped to go to bed one night:

And here it is, all done and with a neckband:

I was a little worried about the neckband.  In the past, when I've sewn with knits and attempted to add a neckband, it's ruined the whole thing.  It ends up all stretched out and wacky looking.  Fortunately, this time I must be working with some new knowledge, because it came out a-okay!  Here's to hoping it *actually* fits over Raina's head in the morning!  She knows it's waiting for her, so if it's too small... mama's in big trouble...

I was initially unsure about the "raw-edged" part of this raglan.  Would I regret it?  Would I wish all the edges were neatly inside?  Nope!  I'm happy to say I like the finished product, though I do think I'll try an "inside out" raw edge and see how that looks, too!  I have saved quite a few of Jason's shirts from the big t-shirt party in the sky, and they would be perfect for this.