Valentine's Day Dresses

This year for Valentine’s Day I decided to make something special for the EG and TM — matching dresses.

But not just any matching dresses. These dresses match each other and their American Girl dolls.

For the record, I made the American Girl doll dresses first because I needed to learn how to make a lined bodice and gathered skirt. I kind of knew how to do the skirt, but definitely did not know the rest. Starting with the AG dolls was the right thing to do.

AG doll clothes = way less fabric and easier to scrap if/when you make a major mistake

I tossed 2 bodices away while learning on the AG dolls. Yes, two full bodices got dumped in the trash. There might have been tears. Ok, there were tears. I was super frustrated. Truth.

That’s when I decided to wise up and call my mom who knows a metric ton more about sewing than I do. 

#GrandmaJudyToTheRescue

Once I worked out the kinks with the AG doll dresses, I was ready to move on to the dresses for the girls. It was 100% the right decision. The dresses for the girls, once the bodice was resized, came together super quick. Like 4-6 hours of total effort (versus the 12+ hours on that first awful AG dress).

The pattern I used is Butterick 3351. I meant to get another Simplicity pattern, but those weren’t on sale, so I picked up 2 similar styles in Butterick. (Not brand loyal.)

I had to size down the bodice for EG from a size 8 to a size 6 in circumference while maintaining the length of the size 8. EG is quite slender. For TM, I needed just narrower than a size 6 for the circumference but way less on the length. TM is a good few inches shorter that her sister. (Nearly 4 years between them, so that’s to be expected.)

Both dresses turned out wonderful. The girls are thrilled and wear them to play in around the house. It can’t be Valentine’s Day every day!

Fabric and pattern from Joann Fabrics. Fabric was in the clearance section when I purchased it. It’s not a cotton blend (and I really would rather it was, but little girls pick what they like).