First Communion Dress

Louisa celebrated her First Communion on Saturday, and somehow or another I managed to make her dress.

I used the Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress, view B, size 7 bodice, size 8 skirt. I added some pintucks to the bodice and lace to the arm binding.

Brooklyn Bridge Fairy Tale Dress

As most of you know by now,  I love New York. We lived in Brooklyn for a few years and I have a lot of attachment to the bridge, as a symbol of Brooklyn, a beautiful national landmark, and because of my fond memories of crossing it in my old Volvo 240 while in labor with Louisa to get to the hospital in Manhattan.

So, I had picked out this Leah Duncan fabric for something special long ago, and I finally completed this dress for Louisa in October. She actually wore it for school picture day, although it hadn't yet been hemmed, because I just had to go to bed at some point (circle skirts—phew!).

I used the Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress, again with a slightly lengthened bodice. This time I included the sleeves and collar, which I kind of regretted leaving off her Easter dress.

I modified the skirt to make it a circle skirt, using measurements of the bottom edge of the completed bodice to determine the circumference. Even though I tried to compensate for the stretch of the bias, it still ended up a little too big, so I pleated it with small box pleats at each of the bodice darts so that everything lined up.

Fairy Tale Dress and Matching Bow Tie

As I mentioned before, the "big kids" were also dressed in Palos Verdes voile for Easter. I made Louisa an Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress.

This was my first time at the pattern, and I really didn't find it too difficult, but I left off the collar and sleeves. I was trying to make it looks a little more modern/grown-up, but afterwards I really wished that I'd kept both. I thought about adding at least the collar towards the end, but decided it was too much trouble. Next time!