This past weekend my sister got married and if you follow me on Instagram (@youandmie), you’ve probably seen some sneak peeks of the fun and beautiful weekend. The entire week before the wedding was pretty much devoted to wedding prep – I had wedding projects piled up all over the place. Menus, table numbers, escort cards, signs, and of course, the flower girl dress. But it all got done and everything went so smoothly – I really don’t think it could have been any more perfect. The lovely bride and groom put together a really amazing wedding weekend and was surrounded by all of the people who love and support them – it was a really awesome thing to see.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures, so I can’t show you all of the little projects that I worked on, but as I collect pictures from friends and family members, and of course, the professional photographer, I may be sharing some of those with you. My only big sewing project for the wedding was Yuki’s flower girl dress. Since I didn’t get any pictures of her during the wedding, I made her put the dress back on yesterday and quickly snapped some new ones. Amazingly enough – she really likes the dress! She wore it for 9 hours straight on Saturday and never once complained or asked to take it off! And the truth is, I like it too!
The pattern is the Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress. The dress is simple in it’s design (which is great for special occasions or for adding embellishments), though it is not necessarily a simple dress to construct, BUT the result is pretty stunning! The pattern comes with two views: sleeveless and sleeved, with two different kinds of collars, an optional sash or waist tie. For my version, I made it sleeveless, but omitted the collar and added a ribbon sash instead of the one included in the pattern. I did, however add a lace overlay and my fabric choices, though they ended up looking exactly how I envisioned, made construction a bit tricky.
I made the dress in size 2T and it fits Yuki perfectly. The bodice (for sizes 2T and up) have darts in both the front and back, which make for that perfect fit and professional look. It has an invisible zipper in the back and is fully lined. It also has an optional layer of tulle for skirt volume. As you can imagine, there are a lot of steps to constructing this dress and I did quite a bit of hand sewing to give it a truly professional finish. It takes time, but really, I think it was worth it!
All the materials besides the lace, I bought at Britex Fabrics. I decided splurge on something high quality for this special occasion dress. The main fabric is a synthetic satin in eggshell and is pretty thick. I think this also made construction a bit trickier in places (the pattern calls for light to mid-weight fabrics) but I really love how well the fabric holds it shape because of the heavier weight. I used a polyester lining that was a pain in the butt to work with – it was soooo thin and slippery and shifty. Probably the right choice for this project, but still no fun to work with. The ribbon is a double sided satin ribbon that was chosen to match the color scheme/bridesmaids dresses. The lace was a last minute decision and I picked that up at my local Joann’s.
The flowers in these pics are not her actual bouquet from the wedding, but rather those from a table at the wedding. The flowers for the wedding were done by my sister’s friend, Jaclyn K. Nesbitt Designs, and they were all soooo gorgeous! I wrapped these up in some ribbon so Yuki could have another bouquet. I think the flowers were the most exciting part of the flower girl job for Yuki!
And she was such a trooper the entire wedding. She didn’t have any meltdowns, she kept her dress on (and UNSTAINED) the entire time and escorted me down the aisle during the ceremony. She had to leave the ceremony towards the end because she was starting to get bored and when she watched the wedding party walk back down the aisle at the end she started getting really upset saying she “didn’t get married” because she was “too loud.” Omigosh, it was too cute. She thinks that all of us who walked back down the aisle got married and she didn’t get to because she was making too much noise. Poor sweet thing.
Anyways, this dress was definitely a labor of love and I don’t even know if she’ll ever wear it again, but I think it was worth it. She was the cutest flower girl I’VE ever seen and I think she felt pretty darn special. I think I will use this pattern again, though in more casual and lighter weight fabrics. I’d definitely recommend this pattern for a special occasion dress! Like all Oliver + S patterns, it is a high quality pattern with clear instructions and great diagrams. You know the techniques are legit and you always end up with a professional looking garment. I feel like I give this same shpeal every time I talk about O+S patterns, but it’s always true – you really can’t go wrong with them!
So it’s been pretty busy around here and just when you think things might settle down, KIDS CLOTHING WEEK rolls around! 🙂 Can you believe it’s already next week? I honestly haven’t given much thought about what I’ll be making and I probably won’t be quite as involved as I have been the last 2 rounds, but I am looking forward to getting some good ol’ kids clothes sewn. If you don’t know what KCW is, check out all the important info here and know that it is a TON of fun. And it’s not too late to get in on the action! Coming up later this week, I’ll be posting on the KCW blog about one of my favorite patterns, so be sure to check that out 🙂
you and mie 
A beautiful dress and little one:) Your sewing is amazing!!!!!
Ohhh, so sweet!!!
The dress is beautiful! All the handwork was worth it 🙂
Dress is elegant chic! What a cute model! Constructing kids outfits are always tricky as it needs to be comfy as well as stylish, I can imagine your facet leaning with joy, pride and satisfaction as the little one sashayed in that dress.
Adorable!
Oh my, she is just the cutest, and you did a beautiful job with the dress. I love that pattern, too, but it took me longer than I’d expected to finish it. I made my daughter a recital dress from it, but I used voile for the lining. Still slippery, but not as bad a polyester (though voile probably isn’t as special occasion).
The dress is really beautifull but your daughter … I melt here really. What a sweetheart
Precious dress and pictures! 🙂
So cute! My neice was the flower girl at my wedding and she told someone “I am the princess and she’s (points to me) is the Queen.” The dress is darling and congrats to your sister!
what a beautiful, one-of-kind dress – it’s worth all the hard work to make something so special!
So gorgeous Cherie! Completely worth the extra touches you put into it – sure to be an heirloom piece!!
Beautiful!!
So beautiful! 🙂
such a gorgeous dress… it is obvious that you put a lot of time into it! stunning!
Soooo beautiful Cherie! Love the dress so much, it really looks super professional. Glad you popped the lace on it, makes it super special. Yuki is so adorable, that little getting married story is sooo sweet. Makes my heart ache ❤ Beautiful. I hope to have the reason to make some O+S clothes sometime. You're right, you make their patterns sound like their fail safe and the only ones to go for!
Gorgeous! What an amazing dress! And she is so beautiful.
welcome to the fairy tale dress club 🙂
so time consuming, but like you said so worth it!
bravo to her for not getting wedding cake on it!
Oh my gosh, it is perfect! She looks adorable.
Oh, sweet little thing thinking she didn’t get to get married! Children are so magical in how they see the world!
Magical. The kind of dress every little girl dreams of having. And to know that you made it for her . . . even better! It’s just stunning!
Love it!
Gorgeous!
The lace was a fantastic decision, the dress looks great! And the fact that she kept it on and stain free for that long is super impressive! I sewed a flower girl dress for my daughter and she ended up pooping ALL over it…… I threw it away. (She at least waited until the ceremony was over!)
I mean seriously….could she be any cuter?? NOPE!! GREAT JOB!
She is so beautiful! And the dress is wonderful as well. The lace overlay is beautiful….you’ve made something very special.
This is so pretty! Love the fabrics you used… and your daughter is just SO CUTE.
Argh you beat me to it! My flower girl dress is still all rumpled and pukey…ummm…..gross.
But holy geez this is perfect. I love you perfect finishing details and the lovely touch of blue. Yuki looks like such a big girl in it! And those flowers – WOW!!!
Your dress is beautiful on your little darling!
Beautiful! I recently made my first rendition of the fairy tale dress (in cotton and minus the tulle) and I can confirm it is a great casual (yet special) dress!
So gorgeous! You would have spent tons of money on something like that in a store. And way to go, Yuki, being such a trooper during the wedding. Weddings are definitely not the easiest things for little people to get through with patience. There is so much going on. Chaos. And sitting. Lots of sitting!
I love projects like this..that are special and made with such care. It really is beautiful.
liZ
I used that same pattern for my brothers wedding. My three year old wasn’t in it though but an important person either way! here it is! http://www.sweetpuddles.org/2012/10/my-little-brother-is-getting-married-its-crazy-just-writing-it-down-i-feel-like-he-was-just-three-sitting-in-his-pjs-with-h.html
I love the funny way you spelled “spiel” and I’m pretty sure your blog is the best part of my night so far. What a treasure! I’m a beginning sewer (seamstress? Sewist? I just don’t know!) and I dig the inspiration I’m finding here.
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