Another Easter Dress

I love simple, elegant clothes for children.  Sure, it's fun to sew and stitch an outfit out of a few coordinated bright, printed fabrics in the colors children like. But there's something to be said for simple elegance: it lets the child shine through the outfit, not the outfit wearing the child. Case in point: the Easter dress here that I made for my youngest grand daughter. It's made out of a wonderful cotton lawn English Import Print floral called "Laura" in pink, from Farmhouse Fabrics. It is 60" wide, so you get a lot of beautiful fabric for the money. I used the "Emily" pattern from Children's Corner patterns, just like I used for the other Easter dress, but the neckline hasn't been altered. The dress has simple ties at the back for fit and ease of wear.

 What makes this dress simple, yet elegant, is the white collar out of birds eye pique with whipped piping and the addition of bullion roses in the exact colors of the printed fabric. Just a touch of embroidery near the face adds so much without overpowering the dress or the child wearing it.  The sleeves are also finished with the whipped piping.

 Here's a close up of the collar's left side so you can see the bullion roses. The centers are small padded satin stitch squares with bullions stitched around the square. The centers are a darker shade of the bullion color, all done in stranded embroidery floss. The leaves are lazy daisy stitch in green, again a color chosen and matched to the green in the floral lawn.  See how it all blends together and complements each element?  That's uncomplicated simplicity and style all 'pulled' from the floral fabric to highlight the dress and the child who wears it.

And what about the "whipped piping'?  Well, that's another blog post.....