When Easter Dresses are done early!

What do you do when your Easter dresses are done early?  You stuff a bunch of plastic eggs with marshmallows, drag your children out into the cold drizzly rain, plop them down in the middle of a wildflower nature preserve (aka your unmown lawn) and do a photo shoot of course!

For the five year old...
I used the Oliver and S Fairy Tale Dress Pattern in a size 5.  It fit perfectly and she loved it...two wins! I used a cream colored cotton eyelet and a hot pink voile for the lining.  The eyelet I bought at Joann's ages ago and the hot pink voile I picked up at Hancock fabrics.  They worked perfectly together with little flashes of hot pink under the tulip sleeves and peeking out of the eyelet pattern.  The instructions for the dress were impeccable.  I don't think I've ever worked with a set of pattern instructions that incredible.  I did not have to reference any other sources when making this dress and it had an invisible zipper (which I'd never previously done) and I had no invisible zipper foot.  I can't say enough about how wonderful the instructions were, so thorough.  This was my first Oliver and S pattern and I highly recommend them! I did fudge the pink piping on the back a bit but I'm sure it was because it was cut on the bias and stretched as I applied it to the dress.  you can see the uneveness on the back at the zipper line but no where else.

For the 21 month old...
I used McCalls 6015 and it worked great.  I used the option with tulip sleeves and added yellow grosgrain ribbon around the bodice.  I used a yellow seersucker from Hancock fabrics and for the lining I used cotton in the bodice and some leftover lining for the skirt.  I had originally planned on using cotton for the skirt lining but that would have been way too bulky.  I'm not sure about the specifics of the lining, just that its lining fabric, meaning its thinner and it gave a floaty quality to the skirt.  The pattern was super simple to work with and it was interesting to contrast the methods used to construct this garment versus the construction of the Oliver and S dress.  The O and S dress tulip sleeves were cut from one pattern piece while the McCalls pattern had two pattern pieces...(are you thinking boring sewer detail?- it fascinates me!).  I used the size XL and it was kind of roomy around the chest.  My daughter is tall and trim so a little hard to get the fit just right.

A small detail I did for this dress was to finish the hemline with lace hem tape.  I got the idea from a hand-me-down Lilly Pulitzer dress we have on hand.  Here's the Lilly Pulitzer version:

And here's my version:

And since you asked about the details...oh what you don't want the details?  Well anyway, I'm telling and guess what, you're still reading...The hem is first ironed up the desired finished length. next the edge is serged. Then the hem tape is sewn on top of the serged edge (this would be the right side of the turned up fabric)- the top of the tape being even with the serged edge and sewn at the top and bottom of the tape.  Finally you slipstitch the hem down to the dress hiding the stitching in the lace hem tape.  I love picking up fussy details like this from ready-to-wear garments.  If anyone ever wants a tutorial (please no on inundate me with messages ha ha) on this method I'd be happy to do a picture tutorial.  It provides a beautiful finish.  So what do you sew or do when your Easter dresses get done early?      

Linking up to Sew Much Ado, Frontier Dreams, and Peekaboo Pattern Shop.