Shirt Dresses and Shrouded Robes

I realized recently that Mina, despite appearances, is growing. This realization came when I tried to dress her in her Easter dress and she couldn't move her arms.  Her beautiful, colorful plaid silk Easter dress was too small. I went to Hancock's and bought some printed cotton from their sale table. It had a bird print that looked vintage in an ugly/interesting sort of way.  I loved it. 

Patterning the dress was quick, I used her blouse pattern as a base.

I swapped in sharper collar and puffed sleeves. I made the skirt extra full and followed suit with the diaper cover. For a pattern that came together so quickly, the dress took a long time to finish. 

She wore it for the first time to Cooper's service. I realized after I finished it that it was really done, it needed pockets, belt loops and a belt. The body of the dress was too big, I got a little carried away with adding ease. Maybe that just means she will be able to wear it next year?

The extra fullness means it floats out when she twirls or rides on the teeter totter. 

I really want to make a few more! 

My current project is my brother's Comic Con costume. Last year he went as Henchman 21 from Venture Brothers. It was a really fun costume that turned out better than I anticipated. 

This year he is dressing as an assassin from the video game Skyrim. Initially I felt like it was going to be too big of a challenge, the costume is kind of complicated. 

But, then craziness ruled out and I agreed to make it. We met so I could take some measurements and we could talk about the specifics. 

Once we broke it down into separate elements it became much more manageable. 

I sketched and took notes while he showed me the character on the game. I took the information and made a mock up out of some polyester that had a good weight to it. After a fitting I finalized the pattern. 

Now I need to buy the fabric and make costume. I hope I don't mess it up!