A Birthday Girl Dress

My youngest child turned two in June and it was a great excuse to make this dress for her.  Its the Oliver and S Birthday Party Dress.  

 I used Kona cottons for the solid colors and a vintage baby blanket I thrifted for the side panels.  I have been holding onto that blanket for a long while just waiting for the right occasion to cut it up.  It just seemed to shout "Two year old birthday party."  Since it was so delicate and gauze like I thought it best to highlight it in a pattern rather than make it the main body of the dress.  I found the buttons at an antique store some years ago.  

 This is the second Oliver and S dress I have ever constructed.  The first one was this dress, which was the Fairytale Dress.  I loved the instructions for the Fairytale dress but found the instructions on the Birthday Party Dress a little less thorough.  For example there was one place on the construction of the back contrasting panels that made me think it wasn't finished enough, meaning that some of the seams weren't enclosed like I thought they would be.  I really appreciate it when patterns tell me exactly when its time to finish a seam and move on to the next step.  I made sure to serge all the edges of the insides in the hopes that it would reinforce the material and keep it nice and neat inside.  Any of you who make clothes for your kids know just how much wear they get and how they can look pretty thready on the inside after so many washes.  Also trying to get the pieces to line up perfectly around the center, pleated front panel was a bit of a challenge and then trying to get the pleats just perfect was kind of hard.  I finally just picked a pretty good placement and went with it.  As far as the bow in the front goes, if you make this dress for a young child you might want to tack it down since it will be repeatedly untied.

 In all it turned out to be an adorable dress and by the end of the party little girl had on a hat and glasses and was plunking away on her tiny piano like Elton John.  I'd say it was a big hit for a two year old party and she knows its a special dress, often requesting to hold it and snuggle with it.  When she sees it hanging up she points and says "birthday dress birthday dress."  I'm always so glad when they know that Mama made something special especially for them.