test: bubblegum

My daughter turned four years old recently and I wanted to make her a special dress for the big day. We planned to take her to the American Girl store in Seattle for a birthday lunch with family and friends so of course, the dress had to include a dollie version. My little girl only had three requirements for her birthday dress: pink, fairies, and twirly. For the pink and fairy requirements, I decided this was the perfect chance to use this gorgeous Michael Miller Petal Flower Fairies fabric that I've been saving for a special occasion. But before I even decided on the fabric, I knew the 'twirly' part would be satisfied by the Bubblegum Dress by Candy Castle Patterns that I won in the sew-along for the Candy Castle Princess Dress. I have been so inspired by all the lovely Bubblegum dress creations by fellow sewing enthusiasts in the Candy Castle Patterns Group. After seeing their lovely dresses, I knew my very twirly girl would prefer the Bubblegum Swing Dress Add-on and the ruffled neckline included with the Bubblegum Dress pattern. Once again, Rebecca's instructions are flawless and extremely easy to follow. My favorite part of the whole pattern has to be how she makes the bottom gathers on the sleeves. Seriously, just look at my perfect gathers on the bottom of this sleeve!

My other favorite part has to be the ruffles on the neckline. It just gives the dress that extra bit of girliness.

I made my own bias tape using a Simplicity bias tape machine and it was well worth the money. Rebecca also provides excellent instructions for how to attach the bias tape to all the hemlines. I just fell in love with the oodles and oodles of bias tape I made. I think in my spare time, I will just make bias tape for fun!

And let's not forget about the adorable matching Mini Bubblegum Swing Doll dress. Holy cuteness! I just can't help myself... I feel like I need to make a matching doll outfit for all the clothes I make for the girls. I just love this dress on Isabelle!

But most importantly, the birthday girl was very happy with the finished product. And why wouldn't she be? It satisfied all three of her basic requests: