KCW day 7: Panda dress

I made it, I reached my personal goal. Make seven animal inspired clothes and post about them during KCW. You know you have a problem if you wake up on a Sunday at 7:00 h and think: "Lets get out now and quickly finish that dress before we are going swimming today". This was the last day of KCW so I can now get back to my usual sewing schedule without me pushing myself to finish something everyday. I know that I shouldn't have made a garment per day, but just have spend one day sewing, but I liked to challenge myself a bit more because I usually spend one hour a day on making clothes anyway.

When the contributors were announced on Facebook somebody challenged us to make a garment inspired by the animal that we were matched with. Mine was a panda and I took that challenge. I thought about what defined a panda and I thought about the contrasting white and black and the big belly. I translated that in a black and white bubble dress.

I started with the bubble dress pattern from Ottobre 6/2012. I flipped the curve in the bodice down, creating a "head"shaped bodice. I added arm shaped pockets and added black shoulder details to mimic the ears.

I slightly exaggerated the bubble effect by sewing a shirred elastic in the lining as well, as I learned for the Project run and Play challenge that Alida gave us.

I knitified the pattern again to avoid zippers. I used two T-shirts from my husband, one (the outer) barely worn because it itched a bit (my son gets his sensitive skin from his father). The lining is made from a frequently worn one, so my daughters skin is not exposed to the slightly itching one (in case you were wearing).

The arm holes are a bit big, but I like the dress a lot. I was surprised that my small one found the pockets by herself. I didn't make them deep because I assumed they would only be decorative. It seems that her next dress should also have serious pockets.

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).