July 4th outfit

Hey, remember I have a kid? If you haven't been reading for long, you may not know that, because I haven't sewn anything for her since...February! Eeeep! For a while there I really fell off the wagon about sewing her stuff. She went through this clothes-hating phase and I got totally obsessed with my Wardrobe Architect sewing...so yeah. It's about time I made something for her!

Girl Charlee gave me the perfect motivation with their Stars and Stripes Contest. The objective: sew something patriotic using one or more of GC's fantastic red, white and blue fabrics. If you've been reading for a long time, then you remember I won this contest last year! The only time I've ever won a sewing contest that wasn't randomly selected, haha. 

Look how short her hair is!

When I decided to enter the contest, I didn't have time to acquire new fabrics, so I turned to my stash. Luckily for me, unluckily for my wallet, I have zillions of GC knits. Both fabrics in this outfit are from there.

I was inspired by the thought of a big, full gathered skirt in the red and white chevron. This is totally unlike any of AB's other skirts. It's not terribly practical for a running, jumping 2 year old, but when I put it on her she surprised me by LOVING it. She couldn't stop swishing it around and saying "pretty pretty".

The skirt is simply a rectangle gathered to fit an applied elastic waistband. I wanted the waistband to be a separate piece so that it could be less full than the skirt, cinching in at the waist without extra volume. To balance out the skirt, I went with a fitted bodysuit, which stays in place much better than a t-shirt would.

The bodysuit was sewn using the Lullaby Line Bodysuit pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop (affiliate link). AB is almost 2 1/2 and I ended up going with the 2T with 1" of length added. It fits snugly, as intended. I converted it to sleeveless using the knit binding method that I'll share next week.

The matching pocket was actually my husband's idea, and it was a good one.

The topstitching was done with my coverstitch machine, in white for some extra fun. I love how the color pops on the blue!

It IS possible to get a posed photo from her, but you better be quick! She always wants to come around the camera and see the photo of herself.

"Cheeeeeeese"

Check out the other contest entries on social media using the hashtag #gcstarsandstripes. There were some great ones! You can see the winner here.

Pick up another great Peek-a-Boo pattern today for 50% off! The Sweetheart Halter pattern is $4 today only for Thrifty Thursday. This one is very popular in the Facebook group! (affiliate links)