NewLook 6974 - Red, white & navy stars and polkadots dress

I made this dress for Rachel to wear for July 4th. Why I always pick this holiday to make her a new dress and not her birthday or Easter I don't know. I'll have to remedy that from now on.

I purchased these two fabrics from Fabric.com earlier this spring. They are both the good quality cottons I like to use for childrens' clothing. The red star fabric is by Michael Miller and the navy w/ white dots is a Riley Blake fabric.

Originally I was planning to use the navy for the straps, bow, and peeking out of the bottom as seen on the example dress on the pattern envelope. However, I quickly realized all the work of those godets would be lost in the business of the fabric, and so used most of the navy for flat bias piping sewn into the godet seams. I could have ordered more navy for the second layer under the dress, but by then was tossing around the idea of not even lining it because the star fabric is pretty thick.

I cut a size 1/2 for the width and a size 3 for the length. This tiny girl continues to slowly grow upwards but hasn't put on much girth, and I'm always so happy Simplicity and NewLook offer patterns in the 1/2 size.

Hanger pictures:

I used bias strips of star fabric to finish off the armholes because I didn't have the lining to do that job. (No picture of them, though - I completely forgot.) Since the star fabric is somewhat thick and the piping added some bulk, I couldn't put in a 5/8" double folded hem per the instructions. Instead I cut a curved hem facing and invisibly machine stitched it to the inside. All seams were finished with the overlocking stitch from my regular sewing machine.

I always enjoy working with cotton fabrics and had fun making this cute little dress. I don't know if I'll make it again since I actually cut into the pattern pieces instead of tracing them like I usually do for girls patterns. There were too many pieces and I just didn't have the will to do it.