A Little Springtime Dress for Sweet Little Birdie

The grass is green, the sky is blue, and the trees are blooming… It’s the perfect time to make a little springtime dress for sweet little Birdie – my youngest granddaughter 🙂

A pattern to fit the Birdie vibe

At age 18 months, our Birdie is developing an inherent fashion style that does not lend toward anything overly fussy. She likes practical clothes that feel as good to wear as they look.

I had something in mind – something simple, loose and comfy, and easy to sew up. The Carousel Dress from Oliver & S with its raglan sleeves and angular seaming had the cool, Scandinavian country-kid vibe I was aiming for. Birdie measured up to be a size 2. (I can’t believe she’s a size 2 already! Don’t they grow so fast?)

Time to delve into the ol’ fabric stash

Birdie-size clothes require only a little bit of yardage. I own so many smaller chunks I’ve been trying not to stray from the stash when choosing fabric for her makes. This yarn-dyed plaid woven came from the sale table at Joanne’s a while back.

I was drawn to the pastel color combo accented by black. Washed and dried in a hot temperatures, the cotton had shrunk to a super-soft texture. The piece was a little less than two yards long now, and only 42″ wide. View A of the Carousel Dress in a size 2 required one and a quarter yards of 44″ wide fabric, so I should be okay, no?

Fabric choice regrets, I had a few.

As soon as I unfurled the fabric for cutting I began to regret my fabric choice. Sure, the fabric was soft, but the weave was a little loosey-goosey, causing the striping to wriggle and wave all over the place. I struggled to get the fabric on grain with the striping laying straight on the perpendicular.

When it came to laying out the pattern pieces I noticed that the plaid pattern was irregular. Ugh! Probably not the best choice for a dress with raglan sleeves and angular seaming, but in for a penny, in for a pound.

Matching up the plaid at the angled seams was not just a challenge, it was gobbling up fabric. I spent more time figuring out how to cut out the pieces then I spent on sewing them together. I ended up having to piece together the back bottom section, wishing I had just a tiny bit more of that fabric. Cut, the fabric curled at the edges and was very prone to raveling. Oh well! Sometimes, you just have to “make it work”.

A quick sew

The pattern directions from Oliver & S are super clear with good illustrations, and a little springtime dress for sweet little Birdie came together very quickly. After stay taping the neck edges, I used mock flat felled seams though out for a neat interior finish. The closure at the back neck is made simple with a hand stitched button loop and a matte black plastic button from my button stash.

The dress turned out lovely – light and soft, very comfortable for an active little girl to run around in. The raglan bell sleeves and inseam pockets are cute design touches. I wouldn’t hesitate to make another dress using the Carousel dress pattern… I’ll just be sure to stay away from gauzy plaids next time. 😉

Though the fabric gave me some conniptions, the plaid inspired me to make a pair of hand embroidered Converse high tops to complete Birdie’s outfit. Maybe the dress is a little longer than it needed to be, but hey, she has some room to grow into it for now. At the rate she is growing, it won’t be long before Mimi will need to make Birdie a size 3.