Spring May Finally Be Here - Time for Spring Fashion!

Here in the Midwest we have FINALLY thawed out from this cold winter.  As of right now, we have no snow on the ground and it was 63 degrees today - hooray!!  I don't mind the beginning of winter, but after months and months, it is so nice to finally be able to play outside with my girls.

Today I had a little nap-time project that I've been wanting to accomplish and I finally got around to it and thought I would share it with all of you.  Several months back my Mom sent me this skirt that she picked up at Goodwill:


My Mom saw this skirt and loved the fabric (she and I have similar taste).  This skirt is way too big for me, but she knew that I had been really into "upcycling" things lately so she thought I could use the yardage for something.  When I got this skirt in the mail, I was in love with the fabric - gorgeous, bright, and cheery!!  I instantly new this had to be made into a dress for my oldest daughter, Savannah Rose.

So in less than 30 minutes during nap-time this is what I came up with -

A cute spring/summer dress for my sweet Savannah Rose.  I took in about 8-10 inches on each side of the skirt to make it fit my daughters chest measurement (21 inches).  No hemming was required because the hem was already in place.  I folded over the waistband about two inches on the top in order to get the desired length.  I decided to leave it longer for now so it will grow with my daughter.

The side of the skirt had a zipper closure, but I just decided to use that as the back of the dress.  How easy was that?  I didn't even have to put in a zipper!!  I did two additional tucks/darts in the back of the dress (about two inches from the zipper on either side), that way as my daughter grows, I can easily seam rip the darts out (which are just sewn at the top) and the chest size will expand.

I used two pieces of polka-dot bias tape for the straps and simply sewed them into place.

For the front detail I sewed two fabric yo-yo's in coordinating fabrics layered on top of one another and stitched them together.

I then covered a button with fabric, using additional yardage from the skirt and stitched it on top of the two yo-yo's.  I think I may be addicted to yo-yo's - they are so cute and add vintage charm to just about anything!


Cottage Mama's Note:  If you would like any further explanation on how this dress came together, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an email and I can answer any questions you may have.