One more summer dress for Nikki

I chose the pattern for this based on the amount of fabric I had!  It really wasn't my intention to do another pleated dress at first, but I needed a dress for Nikki that only took a yard of fabric and included a diaper cover. 

So I went through my collection, checking every pattern I had in Nikki's size for one that fit my requirements, and stumbled across Butterick 3782.  The construction is simple--even with pleats and the zipper in the back!

I did make a change--I decided to bind off the hem, neckhole, and armhole in self-made bias tape instead of following the pattern instructions.

 To be honest, the finished result is a tad big on Nikki, but I was worried that it might be, as she's at the bottom end of the sizing spectrum.  It's why I decided that the knit jacket was a must--this way, she can wear it into fall as she grows into it.  Funnily enough, the worst part was finding the embroidered appliques for the jacket.  They simply don't make them in blue anymore and pink would have looked badly out of place on a blue, white, and green dress.  But blue is Nikki's color--she looks great in it!  I ended up locating them on Etsy.  They're from 1963, according to the packaging, and they're attached to the paper with little metal ringey-thingies that I couldn't get off, so they're sewn permanently into the garment.

The ruffle is a little hard to see here, but it's my SIL's favorite feature.  I actually had to unpick it once, because I'd managed to sew it on crooked and thus had to fix it later.  I also added some blue and white whipstitch piping to the waist because it looked like it needed it to me.  :)

 I don't think the original pattern meant the pleats to be pressed-in, but I figure if I'm going to the trouble to have pleats, I might as well press 'em in!  I'm planning on doing a tutorial on that tomorrow because there's a trick to making the pleat lines stay in so you can see where they are to reset them when you iron natural-fiber garments.

The thing I wasn't really happy about with this one was the fact that it has a zipper.  I hate setting in zippers with a vengeance.  In times past, I've got to extraordinary lengths to avoid doing them.  But I didn't have the fabric to do that this time, so putting in the zipper was a necessary evil.  I also sewed a hook and eye at the top binding over the zipper to hook the neckline in place. 

I missed taking pictures on Nikki in it, but she loves the jacket and actually willingly put it on.  And as anyone else with a fifteen-month-old child can attest to, clothing and getting dresses is tantamount to torture!  They'd much rather run around naked then allow you to dress them!