In the midst of sewing a bridesmaid dress, being sick, and going on vacation, I managed to just barely whip up three Edelweiss dresses for my kiddos for Easter. And by “whip up”, I mean “slave over for 2 days wishing the whole time I had chosen a knit dress”. The Edelweiss has three separate sections of gathering, and I made three dresses, so in case you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s NINE different instances of “evenly distributing gathers”, AKA: “sewing hell”. Before I become the world’s worst sales person, I will say that all those gathers are worth it in the end. Kind of like making a kid.
A kid that will eventually grow up to pick their nose in the middle of your Easter pictures.
About them dresses: I got the unmarked chambray-ish cotton locally, and used stash ribbon for the belts. Because I had heavy ribbon on the waistband, I wasn’t able to make buttonholes, so I hand-sewed hooks and eyes instead. I also left the ruffles on the straps raw with just a zig zag stitch so they could have a bit of fray. 
Oldest daughter’s ribbon is from Ribbon Retreat, (which I received as part of my winnings from Project Sewn).
Middle daughter’s ribbon was purchased locally for an embarrassingly cheap price. Gotta buy All The Ribbon before I move!
Youngest daughter’s ribbon was bought years ago at M&J trimming in NYC, for an embarrassingly expensive price. I only bought 1 yard and I’ve been waiting for the perfect project to present itself. It was meant to be. The Edelweiss is a great pattern for using a small amount of fancy ribbon, or you can showcase a special piece of embroidery or vintage fabric in the center panel between the straps.
In case you’d like to make an Edelweiss or three, here’s some info on the sizing I used: Baby girl got a size 2 bodice with a size 3 skirt. I prefer above-the-knee for girls’ dresses in general, and the Edelweiss is made to hit just above the knee, but I sized up so she’ll get more wear out of it. My oldest daughter is a really tall and skinny 7 yr old, so I made her a sz 6 bodice but used the sz 8 straps and skirt to maintain length. Middle daughter is 5 1/2, totally average, and is wearing a straight-up size 5. The Edelweiss has three main pieces – the bodice, straps, and skirt, and you can interchange sizes at will to fit your wearer’s body type.
I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with family! We got to spend ours with friends who feel like family, so it was pretty much the best. (Though family that feels like friends is pretty awesome too.)
These are so perfect!
And I wouldn’t worry much about your (lack) of commercial skills (you just sold me this pattern) :)
Ha, thanks Ana Sofia!
Those girls in those dresses are almost too much cute for one post.
They’re gorgeous. I love the woven trim too:)
FAB springtime dress you’ve sewn for your 3 girls. LOVE the ribbon trim (each different) at the waistline. Never know which is the more expensive! Lost of Mom’s LOVE sewn into these dresses, Adrianna. THANKS for sharing! Sarah Helen in Minneapolis
I love this version so much!
Those are majorly cute! I like the dresses too. ;-) The chambray(ish) fabric and the ribbons are perfect together.
Have you tried gathering by sewing your gathering stitch with the tension turned right up – the machine gathers it evenly for you :-) and if you leave a long tail on the threads you can still adjust it if necessary.
I used to do that on my old machine, but my Bernina won’t let me do it. I guess because it’s technically a tension “mistake”, and Berninas are all about perfect tension everytime, whether you want it or not :) I usually hold the thread as it comes out of the spool (before it enters the machine) to physically add tension. It works pretty much the same although it takes a little practice to make the tension even all the way across the stitch line. Either way, gathers still bug me! Just one of those things that take a little extra time but are always worth it, I guess!
Fabulous! both the dresses and your kids. Pin it right away.
P.S. I love your locally chambray-ish cotton. Where did you got the fabric exactly? Sampeng?
I got it at a fabric store on Prachachuan Rd. (it’s about as far north as Chatuchak, but farther west, near the river). I’m sure they have similar stuff on Sampeng though, or around Little India. Have you been there? It’s awesome, and they have a whole hidden section of knits on the second floor! (outside the mall, not inside).
Wow! hidden section of knits would be great. Thank you. :)
Hey! I followed your route and got the Chambray then. Thank you so much, here is what I made from it, the chambray romper :) http://anapprenticehousewife.blogspot.com/2014/05/run-around-romper-my-version-for.html
I love this pattern more every time I see it! The ribbon trim is such a nice touch.
cute cute cute cute cute!! i love these all and the ribbon you added. solid choice. happy easter!
These are so pretty and perfect for the summer. Just love chambray fabric! All your gathering was definitely worth it!
Don’t all families have at least one kid picking their nose in all the photos. And yet, she’s still SO DARN CUTE. How do you stand it. The great thing about where you live is that those Easter dresses can be worn all spring and summer. If you do the math, each individual gather over the time those dresses will be worn will, I’m sure, work out to the plus side.
Oh my word. It must have been awhile since I clicked over because your girls seems so old! The dresses are adorbs!