Matching Dresses for the Girls

So here's the real reason my kids didn't have cute matching outfits for Easter. I've been working on these for a few weeks and finally got them finished yesterday. I picked up several yards of these coordinating fabrics on clearance a while back at Jo-Ann's and had just enough to make these three dresses. I think they turned out pretty cute. The girl's just love them and couldn't wait to wear them to church today.

For Penny's, I used McCall's M4427 pattern. I bought it about seven years ago, so I don't even know if it's still around. The pattern just has the plain bodice and the coordinating band at the bottom. I thought that was a little too plain, and I needed a way to bring in the blue fabric, so using some ideas from this blog, I added the ruffle to the top part of the dress. I love how this dress turned out!

For Peanut's dress, the pattern I used was Simplicity 5695. I love this pattern because it was so easy to use, and it's really basic, so with a few changes you could use it over and over again and have a completely different looking dress each time. I'll definitely be using this one again. I do think her's turned out a little big and for some reason it reminds me of a muumuu, but I like it anyway. I think the big bold print was definitely the right pick for Peanut's dress, and her personality.

And finally, for Patty's dress the pattern I used was Simplicity 2677. Her dress was slightly more challenging than Peanut's, but overall not bad. This was the first time I had ever used bias tape, and only the second time I've ever had to put in a zipper. Zipper's still aren't my favorite things to sew, but I'm always surprised at how much easier it is than I think it's going to be. I think with a little more practice I won't think twice about adding one to a garment. The only thing I had trouble with was the sleeves. I still don't know what I was doing wrong, but I eventually just decided to leave them off and do the sleeveless version of the dress. She loves it, and I think it turned out pretty cute.