KCW: Toddler playdress disguised as Dolce and Gabbana

Kid's Clothes Week is upon us again, this will be my fifth time participating. I tried different strategies over the past seasons and experienced that tackling a few relatively easy projects works best for me. I will not be making seven projects, like when I was an official contributor, but I do expect more than my regular two per week.

This season's theme is "disguise", as always you do not have to sew something related to the theme, but I think it is a nice challenge to stretch the theme in such a way that it fits. Today's outfit is a perfect example. I sewed my smallest one a knock off designer dress. It is a simple jersey playdress disguised as a designer piece.

I often fall in love with new fabric (the love for my husband is a very steady one). Especially when I meet a fabric in an online store, I often immediately want to make a commitment and just take it home. The problem is that my fabric closet is not as big as my heart and my closet is full.Therefore, now a days I am really testing out relationship first. Fill my digital cart and click away, fill my digital cart and click away, this pattern repeats itself over the course of a few weeks. If I then finally really can't stand it anymore, I buy the fabric.

The problem with this strategy is other fabric lovers, so sometimes it happens that my treasured one isn't there when I am ready to take the plunge. The fabric I used for this dress is an example of one that (almost) got away. I had planned to use this fabric for a dress for myself. I love red in general and the graphics on this one are amazing. I had been digitally caressing it for weeks but when I finally placed my order (one in which I bought this fabric as well, and that one is in stock again now), it was gone. I asked if some new was coming in, but no, they only had 40 cm left.

A small piece is better than no piece, so I asked if I could buy the small piece (it wasn't online) and I was told that I could get it as a gift with the rest of my order, thanks again for that Stoffenelf! Although  making something for myself with 40 cm was too far fetched, I was sure that I could at least make something for my smallest girl with it.

Around the same time as the fabric arrived, I came across this picture. It is a piece from the Dolce and Gabbana collection from last year, and I loved it. Like I said, I am a sucker for red and that type of graphics. I know that the original dress wasn't jersey, but I thought that the fabric is pretty darn similar and decided to make my first knock off designer piece.

Like I said, I only had 40 cm and had to think very hard about how to cut my fabric. I wanted a relatively nice placement on the bodice and skirt and because of that, I didn't manage to create a pleat in the front. I simply didn't have enough fabric. I also went for long sleeves, instead of 3/4 ones. I love them for myself, but for my kids I prefer regular long ones.

I used my trusted onesie pattern from Ottobe 1/2012 for the top of the bodice and sleeves. I didn't manage to cut the sleeves at one piece, so I made extra long sleeve cuffs. The skirt length is based on this project (my youngest loves them). I prefer her dress to be below the knee, or else she grows out it extremely quickly, this one has already become too short for example.

My little one loves photo shoots. She literately doesn't want them to end, she actually screamed when I took her off the table. She is the opposite of him, who immediately states he only wants one picture. I think she is crazy adorable, which could be due to the hair (I know many kids her age have much more, but our others didn't have that much hair). Even when she picks her nose I think she looks darn cute, but that is of course because she is mine.

I love to hear what you think of my creations. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).