The Girl in Red (A Valentine’s Dress)

Good morning! It’s mid-winter break right now, so K and I are hanging out and relaxing today and tomorrow. Since we’re in vacation mode, the pace is slower around here and I’m posting a little later than usual…

I made K this little red number for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know why, but I tend to avoid the color red — maybe it’s because it’s my mom’s favorite color and I OD’d on it growing up. It’s a great hue on K, though, and I should make more outfits in this color. I’m not sure how the red is coming across on your screen, but this is a deep crimson with blue undertones.

In lieu of sugary treats, I told her I would make her a dress, so K and I browsed through my out-of-control Mini Fashion Pinterest board for ideas, and she liked this one:

She also selected the fabric, but sadly, I didn’t have quite enough to replicate the dress though I did my best to accommodate. Thank goodness she gave it a thumb’s up. Although my version isn’t quite as poufy and is more business-y than party girl, I’m quite pleased that I didn’t shell out anywhere near $200 to make the frock — I was trying to wrap my head around the type of person that would buy a $200 dress for his or her child, and then realized that if I added up the hours I spend on making each item of clothing, it suddenly didn’t seem so outrageous.

I started with An’s awesome Tinny Dress pattern, but completely hacked it so I’m not sure if I should even reference it. I used the size 7 bodice — which shows you how petite my almost 10-year-old is —  but didn’t bother with a zipper since I made the dress out of a ponte knit that was moderately stretchy.

Changes I made:

• No zipper
• Added a waistband
• Made it a two-tiered skirt
• Added a humongo bow

 

It’s a cute little dress and I’m proud that the inside of the dress looks clean and tidy:

 

You can see that I hand stitched the waistband facing. I’m starting to enjoy hand sewing more and more. Maybe I’m building my patience muscle?

 

She looks so grown up to me, especially in those new-to-her wedges (K is so much smaller than most of her friends, we end up with quite a bit of hand-me-downs). I wanted to shorten it a bit to balance out the proportions, but K liked the longer length so I kept it. Let’s call this one a success! It’s actually comfy, totally customized and the Valentine girl feels fancy. Win, win, win!

P.S. Confirmed! Ana, my Secret Valentine received her gift and I opened my spectacular gift from Sonja yesterday. So much happiness! I will post more about them later this week!