a little chibi easter. 2014

So I had a crazy week last week. So crazy that, in fact, I didn't think I'd have anything special for the girls to wear for Easter!!! We're not a church going family as I have mentioned before, but we really love holidays and celebrate them thoroughly!  We do a big Easter egg hunt in the backyard (heck I was surprised that the Easter Bunny hid eggs in the front yard as well this year ;-)  And we have a tradition of hubby making authentic Italian Easter foods!  Unfortunately I am off eggs for the duration until little miss Akira can handle them in my breastmilk which made the holiday a little heartbreaking for me!  We had a lovely holiday otherwise!

The dresses.  I had much more grandiose plans for everything originally, but who would have thought it, having a newborn makes things really hard to get things done!  It's especially hard since we are an anti-pacifier family who hadn't even brought up the swing until a week ago!  We had a good run at not needing contraptions for the first month; never lasted this long before with the others!  But sweet little thing that she is, needed to be in just the right conditions for me to get some sewing done so promises could be fulfilled.

My secret to surviving that week:  swing, tucked with blankets, lights off, and Blossom Dearie on constant rotation.  Hey, you do what ya gotta do sometimes, am I right?!

So let's dissect these outfits:

Alas, the headbands and other accessories I was hoping to make proved to be impossible to finish in time.  My love of sewing occupies a vast amount of my time and mental capacities, but I allow myself to completely unwind and enjoy what's around me, which is why I am such an infrequent blogger.  Heck, I'm embarrassed to check when the last time I did a post that was not obligatory!  But I am a perfectionist about content so, blogging is an event for me every time. So no accessories :-(

Let's start with Akira

I wanted a fuzzy romper of the animal persuasion and allowed my husband carte blanche on the color scheme.  I wanted the gold, and since the colors he chose were on the more masculine side, I added pink fuzzy dots.

I also drafted this romper from scratch, having hoped to share a pattern for it but it needs to be tweaked so perhaps someday. No promises, but I really would like to.  

I wish you all could have held her in person in this thing!  It was on the snug side (fits but not gonna get a ton of wears out of it) and when you held her, it felt like you were passing around a doll or stuffed animal!  Soft, compact, and tiny...it was so amusing!

For Azriella's outfit, I started with a very basic bodice that I highly modified from A Sunny Spot.  Then I decided I wanted all the other elements:

• concealed button placket

• peekaboo bunny feature

• Easter egg pockets

• simple but outstanding colors

• full, layered twirly circle skirt with swoops

• drawstring open back bodice

The peekaboo bunny feature was a necessity because if it's not fun to wear then I feel a failure.  I basically did this: 

• made a buttonhole through the bodice main and lining

• sewed on the pocket

• fusible webbed a bunny together and stitched a ribbon 18" long to the bottom of the bunny

• sewed a buttonhole through the skirt layers

• sewed the pocket on. finished the dress

• threaded the ribbon through the buttonholes and tied a knot at the end once it was threaded into the skirt pocket.

This was the first time I had done a concealed button placket!  I feel like a ninja!

The flutter sleeves make me so happy... The yellow was a last minute decision because I had realized I cut out sleeves from two colors... looks amazing to me now!  

In fact, I have declared my new favorite color combo mint and aqua!  Don't be surprised when you see it again in a bigger arena here!

As much as I don't like to play in to the princess mentality, she was so pleased to "feel like a princess" and that makes a maker mamma's heart happy.

Finally Sephira.

In a word: piecing.

I wanted a mosaic look that utilized scraps from Azriella's cut outs and pockets that could be disguised as just part of the design.  This was mostly self drafted again, but also, once again, I used a pattern from A Sunny Spot as a platform for my vision.  For hers I also didn't want a full twirly skirt,  I wanted a more playful look.  I went with a layered half circle skirt look with a shorter length to give it a younger feel.

As always, the buttons are handmade.

I have another tradition:  Easter Egg Hunt dresses.  Time to pass the torch to Sephira!  There are a total of six pockets on her dress.  Have you find them all?

So that's that!  

  I can't believe how fast my girls are growing up these days!!!  

Only other thing I want to talk about is SEW GEEKY!!!  

Max and I are working hard to make our May Sew Geeky an Extravaganza to remember!!  And we are eager to get you all in to join the fun!!!  Email us if you would like to be a part of it in some way!  We are beside ourselves with bringing back our series!  We will keep you all posted with the goings on as soon as they happen!  But MARK YOUR CALENDERS FOR MAY THE FORCE, err, 4TH and check back here then!  

Until then!