Hopscotch 2.0: The Dress

Getting ready for church in her new dress. Since it is still only  40 degrees here in Michigan the sweater was not optional. 

It is funny to me that up until I started to sew, the only dresses my daughter owned were either ones someone bought her or ones I bought for holidays. I love dresses, but they are not always practical for toddlers for how much they cost. I am just frugal like that. But now, a whole new world has opened up for my girly girl, and we both are loving every second of it.

I am absolutely in love with my latest dress for Maisie. From the covered buttons
to the pleated bodice accent to the fabric colors and print, everything about this
makes me happy. 

My first attempt at sewing clothing for Maisie was The Hopscotch tunic from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop. It was the piece that gave me the confidence to make more items for her and Calan. I loved it, but I know that I could do better now.

This was the first piece of clothing I made for Maisie. It
is adorable on her, but I knew that I could do better. 

So, for Nap Time Crafters' (Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's blog) last week of the Sew Off, I decided to make The Hopscotch again and see what else I could do with the pattern.

I debated doing a tunic again because I love the length on Maisie, who has a long torso and a plump belly. I swear it is the only shirt that I don't worry about her diaper or belly ever being shown. However, when I picked out my fabrics, I thought it would work better as a dress. I think I was right.

I kept most of the skirt gathering to the front of the dress. I think that keeping
the back rather straight kept the focus on the fun covered buttons down the back. 

I am pretty sure this won't be the last time I use The Hopscotch pattern. To me it is just a perfect girly girl pattern that you could do a lot with.

For example for the bodice accent, I used a pleated detail that I saw on a dress Jessica from Craftiness is not Optional made for her daughter. I think adding the covered buttons helped tie the bodice all together. By the way, I think covered buttons might be a new obsession for me. They were so easy to do and I think they were pop on this dress.

My new obsession might be covered buttons. I hate hand stitching, but
covered buttons might be worth it for me. 

For this dress I used Blue Japanese Dolls and White on White Dots from Jo-Ann.

I made the skirt of the dress a little different than the pattern partly because I didn't buy enough fabric and secondly to make sure the girls were all going the right direction. I cut a front and back skirt piece and sewed them together along the sides. Doing this, also kept most of the gathering to the front, which I thought worked better with this dress.

I was a little concerned with how the girls on the skirt would match up to the girls on the bodice. I think for the most part it worked out fine. There is one spot on the back that is a bit repetitive, but overall it worked.

Post linked to Trendy Tot Tuesday.