Saturday, November 10, 2012

A Pumpkin Dress for Anne

Back in the Spring, when I was shopping at garage sales for little girl clothes, I came across a little long sleeved shirt that had a big orange pumpkin on the front of it. It was a larger size than I thought the baby would need for the fall but I snatched it up anyway. My father's favorite color is orange and when I was little he called me "pumpkin". I had to get it! It would be perfect for his first granddaughter.

Now it is full autumn and I have been wanting to have Anne wear this shirt before Christmas is upon us and pumpkins and harvesty colors will be a thing of the past. I couldn't figure out how to incorporate it into an outfit for her, though. She doesn't have any pants that match the color scheme and I prefer to keep her in dresses, anyway.

The other day I pulled out an enormous floral shirt that my grandma gave me back when I was pregnant, thinking I could use it during my last weeks of pregnancy. Even then, it was far too large! But I liked the material so I kept it, thinking I would cut it down into a dress for the baby at some point. When I pulled it out I realized that there was indeed orange in the print so I decided I would combine the pumpkin shirt with this shirt so Anne can finally wear it.

It was an easy thing to cut off the bottom of the pumpkin shirt. There was a small yellow stain on the lower portion of the shirt anyway that would not come out with washing. Then from the front of the enormous floral blouse I cut a rectangle for a skirt.

I sewed the floral skirt piece into a tube, using a french seam to finish everything off nicely. I hemmed the tube,

gathered it to fit the waist of the pumpkin shirt,

and sewed the two together. Easy! (why hadn't I thought of this before???)

The waistline was still enormous for the baby so I sewed some elastic to the waist seam of the dress to give it a bit more shape.

All done!

Anne obligingly smiled for pictures but it was very difficult to keep her hands out of her mouth. She is in that "I must gnaw everything" stage and the other day she surprised me by swiping some mashed potatoes off my plate during dinner and stuffing them into her perpetually-open mouth. Then she cried for more.

Oh, and aren't these little knitted socks just darling?! I found them at the thrift store the other day. 25 cents was a great deal. They are a little large but that just means she can wear them for a longer period of time!
Love,
Sarah

6 comments:

  1. So adorable!

    Such a creative idea too!

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  2. Love the socks and the dress! I like orange, too, although I don't look good in it. My kids (with their perfect skin) do, though!

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  3. SO adorable!! The dress is certainly something to hold on to, to pass down to generations. :)

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  4. That's my favorite style dress for Gracie :) I sew the skirt to the shirt using elastic thread.

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Thank you for your lovely thoughts!