Easter Dress!

Well, I finished Cate's Easter dress and didn't even have to stay up until 3AM to do it (unlike last year)!  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.  There are a few things I'd do differently if I was making the dress again, but overall, it's just what I envisioned for her Easter dress.

I used a vintage repro pattern from Simplicity and the fabric is quilting cotton from the Robert Kaufman Mingle line called Spring Pebble.  I like to think of the print as Jelly Beans.  :)  I also used some pink grosgrain ribbon and a flower button from Joann's for the waistline detail and a tiny pink bow, also from Joann's, at the neckline.

 

It was so beautiful outside on Easter Sunday!  It was exactly the kind of weather you want for Easter--sunny, warmish, and springlike.  It's also the kind of weather I rarely saw on Easter, growing up.  You can't really count on spring arriving in Iowa until late April, long past Easter-time.  This did not stop my mother from dressing me in cute spring dresses anyway.  There was one memorable Easter where it snowed and I wore my short-sleeved dress and sandles anyway.  We always spent the weekend of Easter at my grandparent's house so there wasn't the possibility of last minute wardrobe changes.

 

I took these pictures of Cate while we walked around our apartment complex.  Taking posed pictures of toddlers is...challenging.  I have enormous respect for people who do it professionally.  Getting Cate to sit still at all is a minor miracle, let alone convincing her to smile and look at the camera.  Candids are equally challenging because as soon as she sees me with the camera, she either stares at me with a, "What are you doing?" look on her face or she tries to grab the camera.  Pleas of, "No, no, keep playing," go unheeded.  It's easiest to take a picture when she's not looking, such as when she's walking away from me.

I had envisioned making a coordinating skirt for myself and a tie from the jelly bean fabric for my husband, but I would have had to have started several weeks earlier to accomplish that.  I still like the idea for getting family pictures taken, so maybe I'll still do it.

I hope all of you had a lovely Easter Sunday (or just a lovely Sunday if you don't celebrate Easter)!