A Special Dress for Wendy

A few weeks ago we were able to celebrate my oldest daughter’s baptism. It seemed like a really great opportunity to get her something special to wear. It was no surprise that she had very exact specifications for her dress and, after a brief search online, we knew it was something best made myself, to ensure it had all the features she wanted. Thankfully, her style is moving away from the poufy, extravagant dresses she loved a few years ago. She wanted something a little more sleek and I think I can say that both she and I are pretty happy with how this dress turned out.

Probably my very favorite thing about making this dress was that she wanted its silhouette to be the exact same as the dress I made her for Halloween. That meant I got to use the same pattern while altering a few things for fit. It was awesome! No wonder people make muslins!

The pattern I used (as with the Halloween costume) was the Galena Dress from Little Lizard King, which is a free pattern that I’ve used before. I always hesitate to recommend patterns that I believe aren’t drafted correctly and that’s what I’m running into here. The pattern isn’t drafted with best practice methods, in my opinion, but it is free and the finished product is pretty good, no doubt because knit fabrics make fit so forgiving. Anyway, just keep that and your own pattern requirements in mind when considering this pattern (I will note that my requirements for patterns for me are different than those for my children).

And for the fabric we went to Hobby Lobby both for speed and affordability but you get what you pay for as some spots are already pilling after only 2 wears and 1 wash. Oh well, Wendy is historically very hard on her clothes so I suppose this was never something that was going to be kept for decades.

We lucked out with fabrics. Wendy wanted a lace with roses and Hobby Lobby had exactly that! It’s a stretch lace that had a nice border as well. She also picked a scuba knit which is thinner than other scuba knits I’ve worked with but still thick enough to be nice and opaque. I got 1 1/2 yards of each and used all but the smallest of scraps.

I did have to change a few main things from the muslin (i.e. her Halloween costume). First, the broken wrist came after I made the Halloween costume but before I made this dress so I had to alter the sleeve a bit in order to better accommodate her cast. I widened the sleeve by about one inch where the bell is connected, which gave just enough extra room to make getting the cast through less of a production.

Second, I lengthened the skirt. I had already lengthened it for the costume and I lengthened it another 3-4 inches. And I have to say that I think that’s one of Wendy’s very favorite parts of her dress-it was the first thing she commented on when she tried on the finished dress.

And, finally, I had to figure out how to keep the border of lace when the pattern was a circle skirt. I had completely forgotten that the skirt’s hem was curved, which wouldn’t work for a border. My google search on this matter confirmed that there is no right way to handle this issue and that any of the tactics you choose will involve a certain level of tedium. The method I picked seemed like the least tedious to me.

I cut the border off and then reattached it to the cut out skirt. This seemed to work pretty well. I usually use French seams when dealing with any see-through fabrics and that’s what I did here. I attached the border at the hem and sleeve using a French seam and only then did I take out a swatch to compare what sewing and serging would look like. Aaaaaand wouldn’t you know, the effects from the outside are indistinguishable from one another. Oh well. Worse things have happened to better people. But I did use the sew ‘n’ serge for the side seams and for attaching skirt and sleeves to the bodice.

When Wendy tried the dress on, she was mostly happy with it. Her only complaint was that the bodice seemed rather plain. Unfortunately, we were short on time (I still had flower crowns to make!) and on supplies (no more lace or scuba knit to finagle some bow or another). Thankfully, we had the valued opinion of some other family members who assured her the dress was elegant and not plain at all. So in the end we did have a happy Wendy and that’s all that mattered anyway.

Pattern: Galena Dress by Little Lizard King
Size: 6
Adjustments: Added 1 1/2 inches to bodice; added length to skirt; altered sleeve to make bell sleeve (I altered the peplum pattern piece to make the bell portion of the sleeve)
Fabric: scuba knit and lace from Hobby Lobby
Cost: I didn’t track this exactly but I think fabric cost less than $20; pattern free; and thread from stash
Would I make this pattern again?: Yes (but see above for more info on the pattern)