Verona dress and an oops

R needed new clothes for spring and summer. I would like to be able to make her entire wardrobe, however I realise that is not realistic at present. Having a baby got me out of my sewing routine. I am now embracing sewing a few seams at a time.

In a bid to get more organised I made a mental 'To sew this summer' list. As I was not sure what to make first I showed R a few fabrics I matched with patterns and asked what fabric she wanted me to use first. She picked Japanese cotton with birds and flowers printed on it. I thought that the Verona dress pattern was the perfect match for this fabric.

R calls this her princess dress. Because I made her a princess dress R promoted me to the rank of a princess mummy. Thanks sweetheart :)

I like the shape of the dress and options the pattern offers. I made a sleeveless dress. Pattern also has pieces for long, short and two options for cap sleeves. The dress can be sewn for a special occasion or for everyday wear and play. Or walking a dog :) depending on fabric used.

I love this sweet fold over collar.

One of the features that attracted me to this pattern was the fact it did not require any closures for larger sizes. The dress can just be pulled over a child's head. The elastic cleverly inserted between two skirts keeps the dress beautifully fitted at the back. Beauty! My big girlie can dress herself while I am being a willing slave to my little one, I thought.

However when I half made the bodice and tried to put it over R's head the opening was too small. Actually Jenn suggests to check the fit of the head opening before sewing the side seams on the bodice in her instructions. If your child's head does not fit through, like R's, a notch can be made to help with this. Easy peasy. Mine is longer than the pattern suggest, but that was due to me feeling a little paranoid.

I enjoyed sewing this dress and did not have any hiccups in the process. Well, apart from sewing the skirt to the bodice up side down. Oops! You see, I am not a start-stop type of a sewist. Before baby L was born I could stay up until some ungodly hour sewing because I was in the zone. The most I got to sew in one sitting while working on this dress was six seams. Six seams! So on some stage between sewing the side seams on the skirts and sewing the skirts to the bodice I completely forgot my fabric had directional print. When the dress is finished the bodice ends up being 'sandwiched' between two skirts so there is no need to finish that seam. I thought I would overlock it. Just in case, you know. When I finished the dress, I looked at it and was not sure if I wanted to laugh or cry, so I did a bit of both. Have I not overlocked that final seam I would have fixed the skirts, but there was no way I was going to unpick an overlocked stitch!

Good thing my girlie does not care the birds on the skirt of her dress hang up side down! She just feels like a princess in her Verona dress. That's enough to help me get over my sewing OCD in this case and enjoy my new status of a princess mummy.