Flower girl dress - prototype

Well maybe not that much of a prototype. I've made these hybrid knit/cloth dresses for years. I keep asking myself why. Why not just crochet the skirt as well?

I dunno. I think you can make use of some pretty remnants.

And now that mom's gone, it's a way to use cloth connected to a loved one. A long time ago I inherited a bunch of cloth mom had bought when we were tiny kids. I remember some garments she made from them. Even using cloth she thought was pretty kind of makes me happy.

Mom would have loved the classic gingham in this skirt. I had some pieces but none were quite big enough to make the generous hem mom would have approved of.

That's why i added the crocheted picot lace trim. It's not quite the same blue family, but i like the pallet of blues idea.

As for the matching hat, i sewed lots of cotton hats for my girls when they were small. Out of remnants. I had a beautiful yellow one that a librarian commented on one time. It later went missing. I think it was a hit with more than the librarian.

I didnt have enough scraps or time to sew up a hat to match here. So i crocheted the little hat with  fan motif in the hat band.

It still bothered me that the gingham didn't tie in to the hat. Then it hit me - a ribbon thru the wide gaps in the fan. The ribbon is just a strip of the gingham, pinked and stay stitched all around. Thread thru and simply tie in a square knot at the back. Gives a way to snug up on a tiny head, along with say using bobby pins. I also did a small picot strip of the  hem lace to make it seem like less of an after thought as well.

I love this knit bodice with the sort of ribbon tied shoulders. It makes for a nice stretchy fit around round tummies. The shoulder ties allow quite a bit of adjustment for length. I measured this at 14 inches from shoulder to end of lace for the smallest fit on the doll. Tied longer, I could get a length of 18 inches. You could do longer. You might just have to put a lace strip across the chest so it doesn't dip down too far. Obvs you could also wear with a tshirt or turtleneck under it and more of suspendered skirt effect.

The socks are the ribbon embroidered flower  ones i posted a while ago.

The little Mary Jane slipper shoes are ones i also made a while ago. They could be done in any colour.

To adapt to flower girl white, this could be done in  the offwhite of the blanket in photos. Bodice and blanket are same weight craft cotton. Cloth skirt could be eyelet.

I don't think i would need the periwinkle lace piece if i bought a piece of eyelet that was big enough.

That would make the dress cheaper to produce. To account for time, I could probably list the dress for $30 and the hat for $15.

This sundress outfit was originally made for a toddler cousin who had a birthday recently. It has taken me a year to finish - sigh. But I think she can still wear it :D

Fun project.