Tie Dye Swing Dress: First Day Dress by MADE Hack

In the sewing flurry for the August wedding my family attended, I also purchased the First Day Dress pattern by MADE. I have yet to blog the sweet confection I made for Little Bug (getting her to model is getting tricky!). 

I did, however, manage to get some pictures of a dress I made using the pattern pieces, not exactly in the way that was intended!

This cute little number would have to be titled a collaboration, since the tie dye was done by Little Bug herself at her playschool. I neglected to send along toddler-sized white tees, so the mom in charge generously donated a white men's T... this one happened to be size Medium, V neck.

In my first attempt, I placed the shoulders of the bodice pattern of the A-line dress view of the First Day Dress against the shoulder seams of the T, hoping to make use of the already finished neckline. Of course I'm doing my sewing late at night, totally guessing on fit. I thought I was so clever, I even sewed on cute little cap sleeves and put a tag in the back. When I put it on her in the morning, the V neck went down halfway to her navel! Doh!

For take 2, I just moved the A-line dress pattern down a bit, and got over my laziness and finished the neckline myself. Since the fabric is stretchy, there was no need to add the back closure. It looked fine as an A-line dress, but it occurred to me that a little skirty or ruffle would kick it up a notch. In tunneling through my stash, I came across a red ponte knit that I picked up on super sale when Joanne's was moving locations. Using the pattern for the peplum, and adding a few inches to increase the circumference, I traced out a little skirt. The skirt is zig-zagged on, with a quickie zig-zag hem.

She just loves the twirliness! And it's hard to tell behind that impish 3 year old grin, but I think she's pretty proud to have had a hand in the making.

I love this dress pattern, BTW! I was looking for a little girl dress pattern that would be simple and classic. I have a couple big 4 patterns for little girl dresses, but they are so fussy-- zippers and elastic in funny places and all sorts of closures. And of course, crazy, unpredictable sizing-- I always have to muslin them when choosing a new size. This pattern by MADE is just what I wanted... it has the two silhouettes that I envisioned (A-line and a swing-y circle skirt) and a super simple closure-- one button held with an elastic loop. The size fits her right out of the envelope. It is hard to pass up those $1-$2 patterns, but I'm beginning to learn that a well thought out pattern is well worth spending money on, especially kids patterns-- I'll make it dozens of times!