Birthday dresses for birthday girls!

Today I want to show you two dresses I made for two sisters who have October birthdays. I didn’t make them matching or coordinating dresses like I have done in the past when I made their Kitty Pinafore dresses. I used different patterns and different fabrics for each dress. The first dress is made with Simplicity 2265 in a fabric which was given to me and which I find hard to identify. It has a twill weave and is a bit like sateen but not as thick. The print is ditsy floral and is reminiscent of Liberty.

The fabric also has an embellished border of white ribbon stitched down to make large flower shapes.

The first dress has some beautiful design features such as the two-part, tulip style overlapping sleeves, the pleats at the centre of the bodice and the back button closure.

This dress took quite a lot of work compared with your average kid’s dress. I am pleased with the border print fabric on this dress, but I think the bodice pleat detail gets lost in the print, which is a shame, but it is still pretty!

It’s pretty from the back too and you can see the sleeve detail a bit better from this angle.

The second dress is made with New Look pattern 6205, and is made with a pink vintage-style floral polycotton. The print reminds me of a floral sofa cover my grandma had! I know that the 5 year old who would be wearing this dress loves wearing reds and pinks so I hoped she would like the print.

The second dress is a simpler pattern, although I opted to add a skirt lining rather than only lining the bodice because the polycotton was fairly lightweight and I wanted the pale pink background to really pop. Although the pattern for this dress is more straightforward than the other dress, I still think the design is really beautiful. I used the pattern for a bridesmaid’s dress some years ago and then made my daughter a couple of other versions of it. I love the full pleats in the skirt and the neckline/sleeve design.

This one fastens at the back with a zip and I decided to use a standard dress zip as I find them kinder on the skin as well as being a more traditional style.

I had trouble deciding on whether or not to include a sash, and which colour to go for! The dark green is a good contrast.

Both girls love their dresses!