When your best friend from college, Kelsey, is a photography genius, and you are a seamstress who makes your daughter's clothes it only makes sense to play dress up when you get together. I had known for months that she was coming into town just a month before my daughters first birthday. So I planned on having both her birthday dresses done by the time Kelsey arrived.
I decided to go all out for these birthday dresses. After all, your baby girl only turns one once. And soon she'll want to have a say in what she wears, so I'm taking full advantage now!
First up is an Ariel inspired dress. Growing up my favorite Disney princess was Ariel. I hated my red hair and how much attention it drew all the time. But how cool that I shared something in common with a Disney princess who also happened to be a mermaid! Naturally I had to go with a mermaid/Ariel themed first birthday with my own little red headed princess. And bonus my kids are LOVING the movie right now.
I had found the Ariel fabric a few months back and knew it was going to be perfect! It has greens and purples and pinks, lots of colors to match with it. Being a red head I went with the teal color to go with it with pink accents. This dress has little flutter sleeves, bow ties on the sides, and a double skirt (that means a top skirt with a skirt underneath for extra poof.)
One of my favorite things about hand making clothes is getting to pay attention to the details. This dress has little lace trim right under her arms by the pink bow ties. It also has a ribbon ruffly trim on the bottom of the top skirt (hand sewn.) I opted for snaps versus buttons on the back for ease and comfort. Being so little she lays down so much still and squirms like crazy when trying to dress her. I can't wait for her to wear this one to have breakfast with Princess Ariel.
I desperately wanted to use tulle for one of her dresses. This fabric is from a fun collection called "Let's be Mermaids" by Riley Blake.
The top has a sweetheart neckline and a fun print with lots of mermaids. I chose to put the one with purple hair in the center to match the purple skirt. Underneath two layers of tulle is a fun metallic fish scale print fabric. I love that you can see it through the tulle.
I love that the back has elastic because as we all know babies grow way too fast. It also makes it much easier to take on and off. This dress also has an option to have a button closure instead.
Put these dresses in the hands of a wonderful photographer, and you've created magical memories that will be captured for a lifetime. I'm so blessed that Kelsey was willing to do this. Watching her do her craft was truly incredible. She knew exactly what details to highlight in each photo to make my baby girl shine. I'm forever grateful for all the time and effort she put into each picture.
It was so fun to do some dresses that are for a "special occasion." They are definitely not every day dresses. I hope this post has given a little insight into all the options that are available when you reach out to us. I can't wait to start creating some Holiday outfits for the fall/winter. Lace, ribbons, petti skirts, you name it. The sky is the limit.
Photo credit: KL Hunt Photography
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