Friday 4 March 2016

Birthday dress part 1: Bubble Dress

In the middle of last month, my little girl turned five. It's taken ages to share her birthday dress(es) but here's the first...

This is the one that I really wanted to make, and wasn't sure (and didn't really care) about how it would be received:


I'd bought this fabric on sale at The Fabric Store about three years ago. Probably with the intention of making another semi-sheer Fairy Tale dress like my first one.

But since size 5 is the largest size of the first release of the Oliver + S patterns I wanted to sew the Bubble Dress again before it was outgrown (itty little ones here and here).


The fabric is a silk chiffon with squiggly strips stitched onto it. Hard to describe, but here's a close up to help:


The Bubble Dress pattern was an easy fit for the fabric, as it's already a fully lined dress. The lining, which I'd purchased at the same time as the original fabric, is a kind of peacock blue acetate. Lovely to sew and work with.

The only seam finish changes I made to deal with the semi-sheer fabric was to snip off the applique strips from the seam allowances to remove bulk (talk about time consuming!). Otherwise they're invisible enough not to have needed underlining or any other special treatment.


The little rosette was an after thought as the dress, for all it's fancy squiggles, was looking a bit plain. It's a strip of chiffon with tiny birds on it that's already gathered onto a stitched central line. I'd bought it at Darn Cheap fabrics one day and the colours were just perfect for this dress.

The dress closes at the back with buttons, and I decided self fabric covered buttons were the only ones that would work.


The shape of the bodice with those curved, cap sleeves is just divine.


The dress and lining are hemmed together with some 1/4" elastic sewn into the hem to give the bubble effect. I considered creating an extra channel of lining fabric to cover the elastic but couldn't be bothered in the end. If you get in under the skirt and look closely then the beige elastic is visible through the outer fabric, but since it's tucked up under it would never be noticeable when worn.


I made the dress in secret and presented it on the morning of her birthday in a fancy box. As I said, this was one that I wanted to make, but of course I was delighted when she oooh'ed and aaah'ed over it. She often gets to go to watch the ballet and this will be a perfect ballet concert dress.

I'm certainly not the first one to use fancy fabric for the Bubble Dress and I'm very grateful to those who've done it before and reminded me of what a great silhouette it is. Also, thanks to Sarvi and Janice who kicked off the "Size 5 Project" last year and planted the idea in my mind of sewing these early patterns before they are outgrown. Happily this one looks like, with added length, it could be made again next year as it's plenty roomy enough.


She's in school full time now, so gone are our days of hanging out and taking photographs at our leisure. These pics were snapped this evening in between rain storms, as the sun was setting. It had been hard to find time for photographs earlier, but also, it's only now that she hasn't got a huge bandage on her chin. If you look closely you can see one last stitch that hasn't yet fallen out.

On Valentine's day she stacked her bike (riding the half pipe at the skate park mind you!) and sliced her chin open. It required about 7 stitches which were done under local anaesthetic. To allow the local to be injected she had laughing gas.

That, my friends, is hands down the funniest thing I have seen to date. She was completely off her scone. She was giggling, trying to pinch or punch me, slurring out "mummy"s and "Oi love you"s. I got the giggles. The doctor got the giggles. Only the nurse kept a semi-stern face as she tried to hold down my drunk, loved up, smash faced little gigglebot.


I'm kind of proud too, that once she'd recovered and was describing the accident to me, she said she crashed 'cause she wasn't going fast enough! Alright, girl, momentum is your friend. Know that!

This next picture goes out to Iris of the Stitched Together clan!


Birthday Dress details:
Pattern: Bubble Dress
Size: 5 (no mods)
Fabric: Appliqued silk chiffon from The Fabric Store

22 comments:

  1. Shelley, this is great. I love the peacock shining through the fabric and the flower is the perfect touch. I need to get one more sew (two actually) of this dress in before my girls outgrow it (width-wise; I will have to lengthen for sure).

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    1. Thanks Masha, it's hard to "go back" when there are so many unsewn patterns out there, but it's oh so nice when the results are just what you hoped for.

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  2. Love this Shelley!! It's so fancy and rich! It's so hard to get a read on this fabric. I want an extreme close up!! It is gorgeous and this dress design was a perfect choice.

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    1. Thanks Jennifer. It is pretty lush. I love it when I can get her to wear a dress that I wouldn't mind using the fabric for myself. Imagine the base fabric being like a thin, sheer scarf and then covered in little stitched on scarves!

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  3. Bubble dress is my all time favourite O+S pattern and I absolutely adore the fabric you chose. Dress look terrific on her.
    Funny story about the chin stitches :)

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    1. Cheers Deb, if you can laugh in casualty then your luck as a parent is still holding out!
      It's a lovely dress and I list yours amongst the fancy inspirational ones.

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  4. Oh man, I am laughing so much! Well, all of it. The story. The picture. I had to have an endoscopy once and I was pretty much the same way! (Fist bump, A!) I kept telling Dan that I loved him, but then I would forget because of the Versed and so I would tell him again and again! I acted as though I was wasted after the procedure. Thankfully, the doctors and nurses found it endearing and not intolerable. (Apparently I am a nice drunk!) :)

    What an awesome dress! Lucky girl! And I am so sorry about her chin! That is so tough.

    Also we still love to sing the "strawbree" song around here. ;)

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    1. She has quite the Aussie accent! Happy drunks are quite endearing, especially when you expect they'll sober up without having been sick on anyone first.

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  5. Lucky girl to have a hand made silk dress! Lovely work as usual, and glad she appreciated your efforts!

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    1. Me too Nicole. I fully expected this would hang in the closet on the side reserved for things I live but she refuses to wear. Phew, and thank goodness for my MIL who provides all the fancy dress occasions

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  6. She is absolutely adorable and so funny. I love the dress on her (and that flower is such a nice added detail) -- and what a great reminder about making all the size 5s before time is up! My older daughter is getting close to that size, so I know I should hurry!

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    1. Oh Emi, I was so casual about it last year, and now I feel such a sense of urgency. It's daft, but I'll feel bad if I miss out.

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  7. What a beautiful dress! The combination of the simple silhouette with the textured fabric works so well. And I have to say that I love it when little girls can rock a fancy dress with gold shoes, AND rock the halfpipe:)

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    1. Thanks Angela. A girl's gotta have all the skills right? I'd love a finishing school that taught wheelies alongside deportment!

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  8. Perfect and beautiful. A looks very elegant, with no sign (that I can see, although to be honest, I'm not wearing my glasses) of her cycling mishap. That is hilarious about the laughing gas! I once asked my dentist if I could try a bit - I happened to know he was partial to a bit himself now and then - but sadly he said no. Hey where do those pretty gold shoes come from?

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    1. She has a wee little beard of white stitches, but they've all fallen out now. Thanks for the dress love. The shoes were dirt cheap from a shop in Footscray. Nothing sensible or well designed about them, but good for a party. The brand is Harrison by H, which I can't find on the 'net anywhere (except Ebay auctions)

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  9. My comment was eaten, bother.
    Very pretty and I hope she feels better soon, tough little chicken.
    xx N

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    1. Thanks Nicole. She's a surprisingly robust little critter sometimes.

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  10. I'm a wee bit behind on my blog reading.

    Gorgeous frock. Really lovely. I may have further use for this pattern in size 5.

    Should I recognise that fence?!

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    1. :) Nice fence spotting! I'll let you know if it ever needs a hose down prior to a photo shoot ;)
      It's a great pattern for a simple cotton dress through to the fancy-schmancy like this one.

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  11. Gorgeous bubble birthday dress and yes momentum is your friend, so hubby keeps telling me with skiing.

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    1. Oh, but we've all seen what happens to rolling snowballs! The lack of brakes on skis always freaks me out!

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