I use to do a lot of garment sewing. When my daughter started kindergarten I sewed her entire school wardrobe for the start of school. It was a lot of work but a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing it and she was so excited to have a school wardrobe made by mom. That was until the first day of school when she discovered that the other little girls and boys went to the store and bought their school clothes. After that it was just the occasional dress or summer shorts.
Over the years I made her several of the Daisy Kingdom dresses sprinkled in with pajamas and even a few things for myself. If you’re not familiar with Daisy Kingdom they were patterns mostly of dresses for little girls with lots of frills and layers. The patterns usually included a dress for an 18″doll so your little girl and her dolly could have matching outfits. They even printed fabrics made to go with each pattern.
I even made a few things for my son. I once made him a little short and shirt set in John Deere fabric and entered it into the fair. I won 2nd place. Although sewing for him was a little harder. Other than summer shorts or pajamas he didn’t really want to wear the things I sewed. But that’s a boy for ya, right?
I use to think when my children were grown I would make all kinds of things for myself. I had a whole pattern list of things I was going to sew for me. I would have a totally handmade wardrobe. Yeah, right…who was I kidding?
As the years passed and I started designing and sewing bags garment sewing seemed to fall to the wayside. And that long list of patterns I was going to make for me? Well…they never got made.
But now that I have a beautiful little granddaughter it’s time to start flipping through the pattern books again. And she’s at the perfect age right now to get started.
Back in June I made a plan that I would sew one garment each month. It could be something for myself or for someone else but in reality I knew that the majority of the projects would probably be for my granddaughter. I was looking for a pattern and I knew I wanted to sew a dress for my little grandbaby. I thought I had decided on one and even picked out fabric from my stash when I came across a post on Instagram from Violette Field Threads. They were sponsoring a Sew ALong for their new pattern: The June Dress. It was so cute and the perfect little summer dress. I just couldn’t resist. I had to make that dress.
So I threw all my ideas out the window, put the fabric back in my stash and purchased the June Dress pattern. Then, once again, I began to go through the fabrics in my stash trying to select just the right one.
I made a trip to the fabric store, not to buy fabric, but to pick up some bag making essentials. I was really trying to use some of the fabrics in my stash for this dress. (And let’s be honest, I have a lot of fabrics.) But there on the shelf was the fabric I knew I had to use for this project.
You see, my little granddaughter is not yet 2 and her favorite TV show is Sofia The First. She LOVES Sofia. And lo and behold, what was there on the shelf in the fabric store but Sofia The First fabric. I wasn’t looking for fabric. I was just casually walking by, minding my own business, on my way back to the zipper section of the store. And this Sofia The First fabric practically jumped out at me. It was like it was calling my name, beckoning me to it. I knew my granddaughter would love a dress made in this fabric. So…I had to get it. Forget the stash. It would be there for another project.
So, I now had my pattern and my fabric and my notions. I was ready to sew. I eagerly awaited for the first day of the sew along – July 11th.
I got up early that Monday morning so I could start my project before going off to work that day. (Because I work a full time job early mornings before work is my only time to sew other than weekends.) Violette Field Threads would be posting the sew along instructions on their Facebook group page and their blog. So at 5:15 AM I jumped on Facebook and went straight to their group page. But no instructions were posted. 😦 Darn…I would have to wait until later. After work I again checked out the Facebook group and a schedule had been posted with what we would be working on each day. At first I was worried that I would be behind because I didn’t get to start on Monday morning. But when I saw the schedule, the first day we were to purchase the pattern and pick our fabrics, which I had already done. So I was happy to know that I wouldn’t be behind and could get started putting my pattern pieces together and cutting them out the next morning.
On day three we were to start the bodice construction.
Day four we finished up the bodice and made the pockets adding them to the skirt side panels.
Day five we were to create the skirt and finish the dress.
Days six and seven were for catching up if you were behind and I have to admit because of the day job I needed those catching up days.
And here’s the finished dress. Doesn’t my little granddaughter look adorable in her Sofia the First June dress? This just makes me so happy.
I made a size 4 for my granddaughter. I did have to make an adjustment in the tie section of the back. When I tried the dress on my granddaughter the bow in the back kind of hung out away from her body. So I just trimmed about an inch off the tab where you attached the ribbon on each side and then it fit perfectly and I didn’t need to make any other adjustments.
This was my first Violette Field Threads sewing pattern and I really enjoyed making it. And it’s one I would consider making again. I also like that the pattern is digital (you can purchase a printed pattern if you don’t like digital patterns) so if I do want to make this dress again in a different size all I have to do is print out the pattern and cut the size I need. This was my first time using a digital sewing pattern and I admit I was a little skeptical about how it was all going to work out. But the pattern pieces were easy to put together and everything lined up perfectly.
If you’re looking for a sweet little summer dress to sew for a little girl in your life I suggest the June Dress by Violette Field Threads. I enjoyed this sew along and making this pattern so much I’ve already purchased several of their other patterns and plan on making them for my granddaughter in the future. So watch this space if you want to know more about those projects.
Until then…
Create Joy Everyday
Katherine
The Handmaker's Bag Co. 
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