May Flowers Dress 2.0

I really loved how my daughter's May Flowers Dress turned out when I sewed it up last month. It has gotten a lot of use, and every time she wears it, I can't help feeling proud. My friend, who doesn't live locally anymore (sad!) saw it on my blog and decided she wanted one for her daughter, who is 6 1/2. Could I sew one for her? Absolutely! Only problem was that my version of the pattern, which is Shwin&Shwin's Maggie Mae Dress, only went up to a size 5*. And so I needed to test my resizing skills in order to make a size 7 for Clara. I may have overshot a little for this sweet, skinny girl, but Clara's mom didn't seem too bothered. And it was thrilling for me when Clara tried on the dress and broke out in a huge grin. Success!

I used some pretty flower buttons from Joann's for the back.

In order to resize this pattern, I printed out the largest size (a 5) and traced the bodice pieces on paper. Then, I looked at the lines from a size 3 to a 4, and then from a 4 to a 5 and estimated how big a size 6 would be and then a 7. I then measured what ended up being about .5 inches around the size 5 bodice pattern pieces and cut them out. I did a similar thing for the skirt and band pieces, looking at the sizing on the pattern and adding the necessary inches and cut them out too. Voila, size 7! 

Oh and Miss Clara was very fun and easy to photograph. No treats in the pockets needed. Seriously, it was like - Look right (Ok!), hands in pockets (Ok!), twirl (Ok!). The quickest photo shoot ever.

Over the course of the two days that I saw Clara (in town visiting), she wore this and this skirt that I made her last summer (they still fit!). And they looked sufficiently worn (yet still holding up) after a year. Made me very happy to see she that still liked (and wore) them.

And just a final note, if you've never tried Shwin&Shwin's Maggie Mae pattern, I think you'd really love it. It's a very satisfying pattern with very polished results. Quite simply, I love it.

Hope everyone is enjoying the month of May. We are so happy here to finally see May flowers.

I'll be linking up with some of these fun parties!

*Note: (Shwin&Shwin has recently re-released this pattern and now it goes up to a size 10. No guess-work needed!)