The Junebug Dress: My First Sew-Along

Good Afternoon. As I've stated before, I am slightly obsessed with Jess and her blog Craftiness is Not Optional! When I saw her Junebug Dress she made for her daughter, I fell in love with it, as I do with most of the stuff on her blog!

After checking out Day 1 of the sew-along, I realized I might have everything I need to make the dress in my stash! With some of the stuff on the CINO blog I get a little intimidated because it looks complicated and SO darn cute and just a little above my sewing ability! But, Jess made a printable pattern with this dress in a size 2T/3Tish - she said her daughter is right in the middle of both sizes. So, thinking I'd just use her pattern, I could go for it! Cupcake is just now into 2T clothes, so I thought I could use this as a fall dress if it ended up being a little too big. I had this adorable vintage-ish fabric I picked up at JoAnn's and knew it would be perfect for the dress!

Day 1 was super easy, just cutting out the pattern and cutting my fabric. Day 2 was also fairly easy creating most of the bodice. I was a little behind because Cupcake woke up earlier than expected from nap, so I didn't finish Day 2 on time. But I was okay with that, I mean it was my very first sew-along! After checking my button stash, I realized I didn't have the exact buttons I wanted to use, so I headed back to JoAnn's for buttons and a few other supplies for Cupcake's upcoming birthday! I found the perfect buttons and was set to go!

Day 3 was my hardest day to get through! This was the skirt and the sleeves. I hadn't ever done a dress with sleeves like this before, so it was a little challenging to get through just due to lack of experience. Luckily, Jess' tutorials are fabulous, with great explanations and pictures, so I got through the sleeves! Then it was on to the skirt...I quickly realized I didn't have enough fabric! In the tutorial, Jess said she "barely scraped by with a yard" so I had a yard and figured I was alright. I think, because I didn't know how big the skirt needed to be in the end, I used too much of my fabric to cut the bodice pattern pieces. So, back to JoAnn's I went! Needless to say, I didn't finish the dress on Day 3 of the sew-along. But again, I was alright with that, this was my first time - did I mention that already??

Once I made it to JoAnn's and got my extra fabric, I was able to finish the skirt and attach it to the dress. After using my trusty seam-ripper once after realized I sewed the skirt part on wrong, I finally completed the dress! I was so excited and happy with how it turned out! Unfortunately, my model was fast asleep and I had to wait until the morning to try it on her. As you can see from the pictures, I didn't wait very long after she woke up to try it on her - she wasn't quite awake yet and really just wanted to continue watching Cars instead of smile for Mommy and play dress-up. It is a little big on her, which I figured, but I still love it. I think it will look great in the fall with some tights and a cardigan! I can't wait. Thanks again Jess, for another great tutorial!