"i princess!"

In an attempt to combine my need to economize and my tendency toward nostalgia, I decided to make Princess J's easter dress this year. I remembered seeing a little dress in an infant boutique years ago where the top was knit and the skirt was fabric sewed on. I remember my mother saying I could make that easily.

So I snooped around for a while and found some patterns that weren't exactly what I was looking for, but I combined a few and came up with a cropped tank top sort of thing.

(these are the pieces before assembly.)

Sidenote, I don't actually know what kind of yarn this is, but I think it may be cotton. I'd knit an embossed leaf scarf out of this yarn with ruffles on the ends - which is totally not my style - a long time ago, and it's been hanging on my belt rack for years, unblocked, unworn, and unloved. I decided to rip it out and reuse the yarn. Hey, it's a pretty color.

So in my cleaning frenzies over the last few weeks, I found a dress that I wore for easter about 5 years ago. The dress never fit me properly, but the fabric is so beautiful I attempted to wear it that one time, then stashed it away for some future use. Like if I dropped a good 50 lbs and grew three inches.

Lucky, I still love the fabric's pattern, so I decided to use it for this dress I was making. I learned a lot about pleating as I began to pin it out.

I also became reacquainted with my old friend, the sewing machine. Gotta love winding bobbins.

Finally, it was done, and J tried it on. As soon as she swished side to side, she yelled "I princess!"

So next I'm going to knit up a matching kimono-style jacket for her to wear over it, as easter is still in April and it'll be chilly. I decided to do a wrap style as to smooth out some of the flounciness of my inexpert pleating. But, all in all, I made a dress - out of materials I already had. I'm almost glowing with pride.

You can clap now, I'll wait

Turns out my camera cable was in my camera bag (go figure!), the absolute last place I would look. Unlocking my pictures from the camera prison was a liberating feeling, though I realized far too late that when a knitter takes pictures near a window at night, that knitter should wear pants.

My blocking system for the noro scarf was pretty cool, thanks.

For a knitter who usually just steam-presses stuff, this is pretty involved for me. Again, I wasn't terribly impressed by the way it didn't soften up completely, but I worry I'm being picky.

Don't forget the requisite blogger-in-the-bathroom-mirror pic.