Here is a very special dress! In fact, it's double-special! This dress was Eesa's Baptism dress AND her flower girl dress for her aunt's wedding. I took a lot of time in planning this dress. I looked at soooo many flower girl and baptism dresses, but really the dress I wanted was mostly in my head, although I did find one picture that closely resembled what I was picturing in my mind, but unfortunately I can't find that photo. Anyway I bought the materials for the dress in April 2019 at Joann's. I had to ask for help for finding the white satin fabric. I made sure it was the best quality I could find, which luckily wasn't too much deal since I was only using it for the bodice. For the skirt, I found the perfect lace at Joann's that was finished at the bottom. Then I bought a bolt of tulle, which was 20 yards worth. The total cost added up to only $40!
I used Violette Field Thread's Harlow pattern for the bodice, because I wanted the princess cut. I used the cap sleeve pattern option (yep, its a separate pattern). For the skirt, I would like to say I used the Penelope pattern, but I diverged from it so much that I basically used my own, though I did rely on some measurements from the pattern. The bodice came together nicely without a hitch. I used my ruffle foot attachment to sew the tulle onto some basic cotton-poly fabric that I already had in my stash. The ruffle foot made sewing the tulle so much faster and easier! I was actually surprised how quickly the skirt came together, especially with all those tulle layers! It was also nice that the lace didn't need to be hemmed. All that was left was to sew the skirt to the bodice! Oh, and sew buttons and make button holes. I used pearl shank buttons that I found at Walmart for the back enclosure (sorry I didn't take a picture of the back), which matched perfectly.
When I had Eesa put the dress on for the very first time, she looked just like a princess! To add to that effect, I had bought a hoop skirt (years prior on Amazon), pearl earrings, and I made a delicate necklace featuring glass pearls and Swarovski crystals, a $3 white rosette hairclip I found at Walmart, and last but not least, a sparkly bridal sash from Amazon, which I had to trim.
Here are the pictures, her dress sure was a hit! She still wears her dress occasionally to church. I don't plan on selling the dress, I suppose I'll keep it as an heirloom forever.
The bodice. My anxiety was pretty high when handling it--I didn't want to snag it or maim it in anyway!
You know you have a full skirt goin' on when it can "stand" on its own!
Trying it on in my messy sewing room
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