A new dress for Anneke

Anneke's dress is done!  I was hoping to have this finished a few weeks ago but I got stuck at one point so it got put aside and then I went out of town last weekend so this week I was determined to finish it.  She was very happy to wear it to church today!

The pattern is an old Simplicity one. I made a size 10 but lengthened it about 4".  We also added a bit of crocheted lace at the empire waist to hide the seam allowances and add a bit more "prettiness".

I didn't have the complete instructions for the dress and because the fabric was quite thin I lined it.  This is where I ran stuck.  I put the invisible zipper in and it went so smoothly!  But then I realized that I couldn't attach the lining and flip it the right way any more.  So after staring at it for a while and asking the help of a friend I ended up taking the shoulder seams apart and hand-stitching them once I had the neck and arm holes put together with the lining.  Hard to explain but I'm glad I didn't have to take the whole zipper out!

My three girls.  Sophie's skirt I made 3 years ago or so for Tessa and Tessa's dress was made 4 years ago for Anneke!  Love seeing them come out of the storage bins again :)

"Ahhh...there's all kinds of bees up there!"

Anneke celebrated her 9th birthday this week!  She requested a soccer ball cake - it worked out okay and she like it :)  Two more birthday's over the next week...should be fun!