Today is Violet's first day of First grade! It's funny how much hand holding there is for both kids and their parents the first days of Kindergarten, but for First grade it's nearly already old hat! On Friday we visited the school to find her new teacher and to see her new classroom, she walked out of school after our visit with chest held high and a great big smile on her face! Partly because her teacher seems great, partly because there are many familiar faces in her class this year, and partly because I know that she is excited about learning new things! Suddenly, on our walk home from school Friday afternoon, she looked so much older to me. Maybe it was her "I'm ready to conquer the world!" grin? But really, I think, it's that she is ready to move some mountains and explore more on her own. I am so excited to see her eagerness to learn and grow.
Of course, despite her excitement, I knew that she still had a bit of butterflies. I also know that those butterflies are helped (for now at least) a bit by having something mama made...
Violet picked out this fabulous mushroom fabric by Sarah Watson when we were at Finch the other week. The original plan was to use it as a skirt, but then I thought finding the time for a skirt and a shirt might be challenging. Recently I fell in love with the Fawn Lily and she did too so we settled on a dress.
One with Essex sleeves, a polka dot double gauze skirt (from Imagine Gnats)...
And, secret stories (for my little storyteller) in the pockets!
She put the dress on an immediately said "It's beautiful!", so yay she likes it!
The Fawn Lily is such a pretty dress! I love that the design works well for little girls and older girls as well. I sewed up a size 6 for Violet and it'll fit her for a while (which I love). We decided on the longer length because that means it'll last longer, plus she likes her dresses on the longer side.
Putting the dress together was pretty straight forward and easy, until...I was pulling my dress through for the first sleeve and it ripped! Oops! Fortunately it was on the back side of the dress and to fix it I simply sewed the tear together and made a back "dart" out of my mistake. I was more careful on the other side and didn't have another tear but obviously added the dart to match.
Typically, if there is a chance to add piping in somewhere I will do it, I love piping! I did use piping for the waistline but opted out for the crossover because I didn't want to break up the mushrooms! Aren't they great!
I also love the crossover option for this dress because it means easy on and off for kiddos. The button option is pretty too, but yay for the crossover no buttonholes for me!
So, off she went to school today in a new comfy mama made dress.
Excited to learn!
And on the way, she held hands with her partner in crime...