Birthday Dresses

Way back in March, this girl turned 5.



And even though it was quite a messy time in our lives, I still managed to continue my tradition of making her birthday dress. (See previous birthday dresses here: Two, Three, and Four)



I had originally planned to use the Oliver + S Ice Cream Dress pattern, but I decided I was too pressed for time and needed to make something more simple. Thanks to Pinterest, this Striped Relay Dress from iCandy-Handmade was floating around in my mind and was just the quick sew I needed.



This was the first time I made her a dress out of knit fabric and she absolutely LOVED it! Every time she wears it she talks about how comfy it is. My fear of knits is slowly fading. I've made her a couple of Recess Raglan t-shirts in knit fabrics too. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to showing those off here too. :)



I paired it with a navy blue cardigan from Target. Coral + Navy = Love.

And, like every other little girl in the world, she loves the movie Frozen. Back at the time of her birthday, we were deep in Frozen obsession mode and she was asking to watch the movie every day. So I made her a Queen Elsa dress as a gift.



I made it very similarly to how I made her princess Halloween costume a couple years ago. The girl loves to play dress-up and that costume is still in heavy dress-up rotation. Even though it's getting a bit small, and to be honest, a bit shabby looking. But, oh, does it make my heart happy that she loves to wear something I made for her so much that it's getting worn out.



I really should make her a princess dress in every color. She's just so darn cute when she's in dress-up mode.

Doc McStuffins Costume

After listing off at least 20 different things she wanted to be for Halloween over the past month, K finally settled on Doc McStuffins. I wasn't about to pay $30+ for the poorly-made version available in stores. K loves to play dress-up (her princess and mermaid costumes are still worn quite frequently), and I know those cheap, paper-thin costumes won't hold up to her wear and tear.

Plus, the best part of Halloween is getting to make the costumes, right?!



I was able to pull this together for less than $5! Here are the materials I used: two t-shirts I found for $1 each, an old button-down shirt from my closet, and a long-sleeve shirt K already had.



I used the pink t-shirt to make a simple skirt. Just cut it to length, made an elastic casing, and used the existing hem. Doesn't get much easier than that!



I cut strips from the purple t-shirt and used a zig-zag stitch to sew them onto the long-sleeve shirt.



For the doctor's coat, I hemmed up the sleeves and bottom, and added pockets to the front. I attempted to take up the shoulders so it didn't look so droopy on her, but after some fussing with it I decided it wasn't worth the trouble. It is just a Halloween costume, after all. ;)



She already had the "official" Doc McStuffins bag and accessories (birthday gifts!), so she's all set!





And since I finished this costume with time to spare before Halloween, I can concentrate on Kids Clothes Week! I'm hoping to make 2-3 new garments this week-- wish me luck!