Finished dresses (with sleeves)!

A couple weeks ago I went to Joann's, and came home with all this.

When all I meant to buy was one card of buttons.

Well at least when I buy fabric, I make something out of it (eventually). 

With the blue calico I wanted to make a girl-sized version of this dress for my little sister.

So I did, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

With this dress I got to learn a new skill - making covered buttons, something I'd never thought to try before. I got 1/2" button forms off Amazon, and started covering them. Covering buttons with fabric was actually easier than I expected it to be, so down the back of the dress are 11 buttons covered in the green fabric the sleeves and yoke are made from. I just hope those buttons stay together! I'm a little worried they might pop apart, but time will tell.

I bought the tan calico to make a winter dress for my self, as nearly all of my dresses are sundresses. After looking through my patterns I came up with a design.

I combined Butterick B5813 with Simplicity 1800, and added a few of my own details.

I changed a few things once I started sewing, and the dress wound up being a bit shorter than I meant for it to be, yet I'm very happy to have a cute dress with sleeves!

 The piping at the pockets and waist, along with the ruffled trim around the neckline, is actually made from scraps of my purple plaid wool.

Now I still haven't cut into the tan wool I got on that trip to Joann's, but that particular project is on this week's (may turn into next week's) to-do list, and I'm very excited about it!