Last month we sent my niece, Milly, a box full of arty and crafty things for her fourth birthday. Paul picked out lots of stickers that he thought Milly would like (the wobbly eyes were especially popular), and we’ve just received this fantastic Thank You card. Isn’t it cute?
There was also a Birthday Dress, of course, as well as a little pile of tote bags made in Frozen fabric, for everyone at her birthday party.
This year’s dress is McCalls 6022, another one with finishing techniques far more complicated than I would have expected for an “everyday” kind of dress like this – and especially one marked “Easy”! I had one metre of fabric, and only just managed to squeeze the dress out of it by cutting the yokes, pockets, and the “contrast” band at the bottom on the cross. I think this works quite well, as it gives all of the different characters a chance to appear the right way up!
The thing I like about these dresses is that they last for quite a long time. Even though Milly’s quite tall, she can carry on wearing this as a tunic or top over jeans or leggings, long after she’s outgrown it as a dress. I have this pattern up to age 6, so I expect I’ll be making a few more versions of it over the next couple of years. I will be re-writing the instructions though, to make the finishing a bit less fiddly. (And buying a little bit more fabric next time!)