The dress that was a shirt.

I let the kids choose some fabric from Joann's a couple of weeks ago, promising them a very difficult pillowcase out of the deal. The fabric has been sitting in "Mommy's Workroom" since then. Until now. I thought I would get adventuresome and try a shirt for Sofia. I have the patterns, but have been afraid to use them. But I buckled down, ignored the layout for cutting that the pattern gave (it made no sense, after all) and started cutting after the kids hit the sack. Everything was going along swimmingly... I even got the elastic neck done right. Then it was time to hem the bottom.

Something didn't look right. I had made a size 5 for Sofia (a little large for her, given the measurements on the pattern, but I thought she could grow into it) but it didn't look right. It was wide enough, bordering on billowy, but the length wasn't even going to cover her bellybutton! I checked the picture on the package, just making sure that I didn't grab the Princess Jasmine version by mistake. But there was no mistake--the pattern was just too short for Sofia. I threw the unfinished shirt onto the guestbed, stalked out the door, and was just about to flip off the light when I stopped.

There, sitting neglected in my pile of remnants (I'm addicted), there was a little scrap of yellow. This particular scrap was all of about 12 inches, and had been passed over many times for previous projects because it was just too small. But for this, it just might work. You can't really tell in the photos, but it's yellow with little white daisies, and the ladybug material has little yellow & white daisies on it as well. What a match!

I gathered this little piece of sunshine (my first time doing a gather. Newbie sewer here) and attached it to the shirt. Looks good! But not quite finished.... so I cut a strip of the original material to put at the hem, maybe making it look like this is what I intended in the first place. And it turned out okay! It's still a little baggier than I would prefer, but Sofia likes her wiggle room.

I finally finished the darn thing around midnight, hung it on her dresser where she would see it first thing, and went, finally, to bed.

P.S. She liked it.... although you couldn't tell by the pictures. She has the strongest aversion to photos of any child I've encountered. Ever since she was an infant. Seriously. To get these pics, I had to bribe her with ice cream.... and that wasn't enough for a smile! Sigh.