Upcycled Hummingbird Dress

My mom recently offered me a dress from another era of her wardrobe to be used "for fabric." Wanting something simple I could make for Louisa while keeping the skirt intact, I immediately thought of the Hummingbird Dress by Rabbit Rabbit Creations (which I had seen Erin make before).

Here is the before, as seen on my dining room floor:

Not adequately pictured: legit shoulder pads. And how 'bout those poofy sleeves?

And here is the after:

Since the bodice uses barely any fabric, (I used Kona Cotton in candy pink, leftover from other projects), it only cost me the price of the PDF. Which is nice, because often my sewing projects tend away from "budget friendly"... whoops. Yay for fabric shopping!

I suggest using the RTW sizes for this pattern, because going by measurements, I started out making a much-too-small bodice for Louisa, who is an average sized 7 year old. In the end, I cut a 6 and it is actually still a little snug I think.

Also, I overcompensated on the strap length, thinking I was adjusting for Louisa's above-average height, and unfortunately the bodice ended up a little too low-cut as a result.

I used this popular technique for encasing the waist seam and finishing the elastic. A+ tutorial.

I kept the original dress skirt whole--hand-picked it from its bodice, preserving side-seam pockets and hem--and re-gathered it. Since the original dress buttoned up the front, and I flipped it around for Louisa's, the pockets are now angled the wrong way, which makes them even harder to find in all that fullness. I don't think she minds though. Pockets are very, very important to her, as is twirl.

It was so nice not to have to hem it when I was done. She wanted it to be longer, but oh well. Maybe I'll make her a proper maxi-length version next summer.

I made this back in July, and had wanted to photograph it at the beach, but this is how far we got off the beach house steps...

Happily, however, she is still rocking it in October with this sweet cardigan my mom knit for her.

Thanks for reading!