David's Dress

At long last these little gowns are coming together. I wish I had not procrastinated so much with them. Since I had a slow start I had slow progress and today finished David's dress with a very slow finale. WHY did it take me two and a half hours to sew on the little bit of bodice and sleeve trim? I wanted to put a band on the skirt but I don't think I will do that now. Once I have everything else finished and done I might go back to add it. We'll see.

I tried the gown on him this morning and it is a bit big. I draped the bodice pattern on him but forgot to take into account I draped it over his overalls/shirt and so it is a bit large. Not terribly so, but he definitely has growth room and the skirt is a bit long. That is fine, since if it still fits him next spring I can shorten it (if it needs it) and combine it with some short pants for a cute outfit - but oh, the pain of putting my baby boy into trousers! How can he have grown up so fast?

The trim placement was inspired by a little dress from the Wisconsin Museum of History digital collection of childrens dresses. The original dress had the trim at the front farther apart, to accomodate buttons for a front opening and it had two rows of trim on the diagnal line of sleeve trim and two rows on the skirt.

I used bias strips of a red and navy plaid wool for the trim. I think that was one reason why I had some difficulty getting the trim on. That wool wanted to stretch every which way and would not stay pressed, not matter what I did! I thought the red plaid would look cheery and boyish combined with the gray-green wool flannel.

Judah's trim will be a bit different and will be of a blue and white plaid cotton. The cotton should be easier to stitch on than the wool was!

Hopefully I'll get his done tomorrow!

Love,

Sarah