a cowgirl geranium

i've been on a bit of a garment sewing bender. it just might be that my kitchen table, bed, and bedroom floor are completely mostly covered with fabric, patterns, cutting mats...

there are dresses and shirts in various stages of completeness hanging all over the house as well. as i type this, there are four just in my line of sight. it was five this morning, but i let K wear a new shirt to school. before photographing it. and there may be one seam not completely finished on it, i realized as we walked out of the house. that happens to you too, right?

enough of that for now, though. let's talk about this cowgirl dress!

my pal Kelley sent me this fabric a while back, and i knew it was destined to become a dress for B. (the print is from Robert Kaufman, though i don't know the line or designer.) i've seen so many cute versions of Rae's geranium dress popping up, and i thought that the pattern would be perfect for this fabric as well. based on my experience with the washi dress pattern, i suspected the geranium would be a well-written pattern with a good fit. (spoiler alert: i was right.)

funny story... it would also seem that i was especially inspired by Kristin's version of the geranium dress (as part of the Kids' Clothes Belgian Style series from Straight Grain). seriously, these dresses are practically twinsies! which puts me in good company, of course.

miss B does like her dress, though she has noted that she would prefer long sleeves. poor thing spent all of last week on the couch with a terrible head cold, and was still in recovery mode over the weekend during this forced modeling shoot. poor child.

i decided that if i had denim piping, it would be perfection. though i don't keep denim piping on hand, lucky for me i did happen to have this aqua. i'm happy with how it turned out, though i will say that my piping skills could still use some honing. (ps. have you seen the piping that the ladies at Frances & Suzanne whip out? awesomesauce.)

i also added a zipper in the back. now, i didn't plan this ahead of time, so it was a bit of a hack. i realized after the bodice was finished that i probably should have made the size 5. the size 4 fits, but i don't think it will for very long. but by inserting a zipper instead of overlapping the back for the button closure called for in the pattern, i was able to add about an extra inch of ease around the bodice.

here's what the zipper looks like on the inside. it's simply sewn to the already finished edges of the dress. because of the piping, i decided not to topstitch the bodice, so i handstitched the lining.

i also used the aqua piping as a detail on the patch pockets. it has been noted that B would prefer in-seam pockets next time. no shortage of opinions around here ;)

as i said, this pattern is well-written and the sizing is spot on. the only thing i don't love is the way the center seam in the back of the skirt works with the overlap in the bodice. i think i would prefer to cut the back skirt as one piece and then overlap the bodice edges when attaching the skirt to the bodice. all in all, just a construction preference. this pattern really is great and i especially love how well finished the fully lined bodice looks.

and i nearly forgot! i broke out the blind hem foot for this one. yep, that's right... my first blind hem. it was easy peasy. you should try it. i might have sewn two more after this one yesterday. told you i'm on a garment sewing bender.

yay for cowgirls!