Good morning! I did something hitherto unheard of: I planned ahead. For almost all these Monday outfit posts, I usually start sewing on Saturday afternoon after thinking a few minutes about what wardrobe holes I can fill in K’s closet (this is becoming pretty challenging, as you can imagine). Although she’s growing like a rice plant amped up on Miracle-Gro, sewing for K takes a fraction of the time it takes to sew for myself, so I’m usually done by early evening. After breakfast on Sunday, we have a five-minute photo shoot and by now, these posts take me about an hour, if that, including photo editing time.

Anyway. Two weekends ago, I decided to spend a little extra time sewing up this bow dress in addition to the Giraffe print outfit, and I snapped photos and got most of the photo editing done last week. This made a huge difference! I felt so much more on top of things since I had all of Saturday and Sunday to check off items from my to-do list this past weekend  — not a feeling I’m familiar with, I’m afraid.

It was somewhat challenging to infuse enthusiasm in K for modeling this dress since she loved the giraffe print combo and wanted to start with that one instead (but I knew she’d refuse to try on the dress had I gone that route), and above she’s saying “Mamaaaaaaaa, are we done yet??”

Then she brought out the teddy bear I knitted for her about 7 years ago, and that soothed her. That bear was one of the few successful knitting projects I’ve managed in my un-illustrious knitting career.

So the dress: it’s from my current fave book, and I’m determined to sew every single thing from it. I think I only have about four or five things left that I haven’t yet tried! The fabric is from this sweet little shop and is a cotton shirting. It reads purple, but you can see that it’s actually red + white + navy, quite patriotic.

This is a deceptively simple dress to sew. I did have to fudge a little where the ties meet the neckline in a couple of spots, but otherwise, it was a snap to construct. The pleated detail at the back of the neck is a design-y touch, but I have to say, I think this dress would look a lot cuter if the bodice wasn’t just a simple A-line. If I were to make it again, I would trim the width, and make it a low-waist bodice with a gathered skirt. With a different fabric choice, it probably wouldn’t quite so matronly or flight-attendant-esque.

I like it, though. And K thought choking li’l bear with her ties was hilarious.

Sigh, I wish I had the foresight to sew this past weekend so that I could experience that remarkable sensation of being ahead of schedule, but you know how it goes. It was still a very productive weekend! I hope you had a lovely weekend, friends!