10th Birthday Dress

Following the tradition I started on my daughter's first birthday, here is birthday dress #10:

The dress is from Patrones #265, model #59:

I have modified it a bit from the original, most notably, the decoration, zipper and sleeves. The original version has a back neck slit with button and loop closure and a side zipper. To simplify the dress, I added a back seam, moved the zipper to center back and inserted an invisible zipper. I omitted sleeves altogether because once they were inserted and my daughter tried on the dress there were a couple of issues. First, they were too tight, second my daughter didn't like them.

You can see from the photo below a few details including the center back zipper, and the neck and armholes finishes. Both the neck and armholes are finished with self bias stripes. The fabric didn't behave so well in either case, notice I tried both fabrics! I'm not 100% happy with the bindings, but they will work. There is definitely something to be said for working with natural fabrics, but that's another post!

In the photo below you can see the front detail. There are 3 layers of chiffon bodice cut diagonally at different lengths. I hemmed with the rolled hem feature of my serger while pulling tightly to get that rippled edge. The finishing touch was the flower appliqué that I found to match.
It is hard for me to believe that my daughter will be ten years old tomorrow. In some ways it seems like it was a long time ago that I was in the hospital giving birth to a 6 week premature baby, but in other ways it seems like yesterday. Looking at her, almost as tall as I am, it is hard to remember that she was so little and so helpless! Now she's starting to sew and cook on her own and really growing up.

Parting Shot: Still Painting. It will look better soon. I hope.