Sophie's Toile Easter Dress

Sophie will now be able to wear her Easter finery. This is "Pretty Poppet" from Australian Smocking & Embroidery #81 with a caveat. That pattern only goes up to size 3. I used the simple sleeveless bodice of McCalls 4357 to help draft this design up to a size 5. This is an OOP pattern with just a plain, simple bodice. I needed to turn the bodice into one with a yoke. The back needed major work as the pattern used a zipper for closure. Pretty Poppet had a scalloped, piped button closure. So it took some effort but I am really pleased with the results. DD told me she wants this to be a "short" dress and it will be worn with knee socks and Mary Janes, a la retro. I like that she is going for that look. Most heirloom patterns are near ankle length and at Sophie's age I think she will be darling with her knees showing.

Bullion roses are the Holy Grail of heirloom sewing. I have been on a steep uphill climb with my efforts. These are the first bullion roses of the many I have made that I am really happy with. I tried not wrapping my "petals" so close to the two center bullions, instead letting them splay out a bit more. Result - better roses.

I absolutely love the back of this dress, the sash keeper at CB, the piped pseudo sash, the scalloped, piped closure, the MOP buttons. I just love it. The sash keeper is a big loop at CB. The sashes are piped and just simply passed thru the loop, not at all fussy like a big honkin' bow. I will definitely do this treatment again.
You can see how the sash has a little pleat stitched down and it is then inserted into the side seam. Luv it.







Then there is the "growth tuck". Really, most sewists of this type of clothing don't need a growth tuck. They are already on to the next dress as their little princess gets taller. But they look good. The big advantage of growth tucks, in my opinion, is that they make a killer speedy hem. You just tuck the raw edge of the hem inside the tuck and stitch away. Hem done in minutes! I also like the way it makes the skirt stand away. This may look a little wonky in the photo, but trust me, it's perfectly straight and even.
This fabric is "Tulip Toile" from Waverly. I picked it up in clearance at Joanns. Hey, sometimes you just hit them right. It has a linen texture but is actually 100% cotton. I used FusiKnit in the bodice for interfacing the yoke as well as the backclosure. The piping was made with a poly cotton blend, not something I will do again. I threw away more piping than I installed. I have made tons of piping and rarely use a synthetic. This time I did because of color matching. It gave me more ripples than you can imagine so there was a lot of chucking.

This will go out in the mail Monday morning along with Jack's "Magic Treehouse" books for Easter. He loves reading those books and Grandma loves to encourage reading. Am I being sexist here? Pretty dresses for Sophie, books for Jack? Let their mother worry about it..................Bunny