Smocked Easter Chicks for Ahnalin

Happy Easter!

I pray the Lord blessed you, 

and revealed Himself to you today.

My beloved Hot Rockin' Hubby

introduced one of his original 

songs to our church today,

and it made me cry. 

I am so grateful for the gift that

Jesus willingly gave for me and you.

Today was a different kind of Easter for our family.

We celebrated without our India.

She had to work this afternoon,

so she was able to attend a church in Anaheim.

But I miss her so much.

And Ahnalin......

Well....

She requested a yellow Easter dress

with puffy sleeves,

a collar,

a full skirt,

a big bow,

and baby chicks smocked on the front.

I had not made her a smocked yoked dress 

for awhile and she really wanted one badly.

She found one in a Sew Beautiful magazine

and really begged. 

But I always have to do my own thing!

And I wanted to use things from my 

sewing stash, 

rather than head back into those

gardens of temptation, 

known as "fabric stores."

The pattern I used was 

Love and Stitches #151

Toddler Yoke Dresses I

by Debbie Glenn

in a size 5.

The fabric was a bright butter yellow

cotton/poly batiste from my stash.

It is VERY soft and VERY translucent!

The smock plate I used as a base

was Ellen McCarn's "Chicks"

but I made a lot of changes in 

the stitch design and really 

brightened up the color palate.

At 1:30 this morning,

I sewed the growth tuck hem.

Yes, I know that is a super easy, cheesy hem

treatment, but it is my favorite. 

And for wild and crazy girls,

it stays sewn nicely!

When I finally finished the dress,

I realized how see-through it really was.

So I quickly sewed up a simple half

slip and attached some gathered eyelet

from my stash.

Sorry for the blurry shot, but

"It twirls GOOD!" 

As soon as we got home from church

and brunch, she ripped off her socks

because she can't stand them!

And, she is rather vain about

the color of her legs contrasted

with the white shoes, 

regardless of the fact that her legs

and feet are constantly banged up with 

scratches and scars from her wild antics. 

She is SO PROUD of those shoes,

because they have a little heel!

And I didn't notice until just now,

but I got a lovely shot of the 

neighbor's gas meter, 

in the background.

Silly me. 

The dress was completed

at 2:00 AM.

The strawberry stain on the sleeve

appeared just 12 hours later at brunch. 

Oh well. 

She LOVES her dress.

And I LOVED making it for her.

I actually tried to talk her out of 

a smocked dress.

But she won when

she told me 

"Mama, I am 6 years old!

I may not want a smocked dress when I am 7!

Now, I am starting on her

dress for her piano recital!

I pray you all had a wonderful 

blessed Easter.

Even if your Easter was 

"different" this year, 

like ours, I pray you had

a time of reflection and joy.

Happy Sewing!