Happy 3rd Birthday, Isabelle!

My sweet baby (not so baby anymore!) turned three in June and I wanted to make her a really special dress. I wanted to do something that was fun and had a lot of colors in it.

I found this McCalls pattern and it just sung to me in the store. Isn't it cute???

I asked Isabelle what she wanted to have on her birthday and all she would say is CUPCAKES. I found some cute cupcake/birthday fabric at JoAnns for the main fabric and used fabric I already had for the straps, trunk, belt, and hem.

I embroidered a "3" on the trunk because I knew Isabelle would love it. I am not thrilled with how the 3 turned out but it works!

The back was a bit of a challenge. Threading the 7 strips elastic through the casings was time consuming but definitely worth the effort. Next time, I will use a bigger safety pin to thread the elastic through the casing. This pinched look has given me a desire to learn how to smock. The look is just so adorable especially when you have a large print in regular intervals like polka dots on the fabric.
The only quirks about this pattern are:

• the belt rides up since it is not attached. I might scrap it the next time I make it or maybe I will attach it somehow.
• the button hole guide placed the buttonholes waaaaaaay to wide for Isabelle. Of course, I did not try the dress on Isabelle before making the button holes (a danger of sewing late at night and not focusing on details!). When I put the finished dress on her, the straps were cutting into her armpits so I wound up making new button holes. You can't really see the old holes when she is wearing the dress because her arms cover them but I can tell! Note to self - wait and try the dress on before you attach the straps or make button holes!

Check out info on this other adorable dress that uses 2 of the same fabrics as the birthday dress!