hand-embroidered playtime dress

Kathy, a member of the Advisors Circle, is sharing the Playtime Dress she made for her granddaughter. She has included hand-embroidered details that would enhance any project!

Even before my granddaughter was born, I bought fabric for her. This was before I learned that when purchasing fabric online, I should pay careful attention to how heavy the fabric is and not buy it unless there is good information about the weight. What eventually turned into this Playtime dress is a case in point: the fabric was a waffle knit, so I assumed it was quite a bit heavier than it is. It is very lightweight. But I couldn’t resist the butterflies or the color scheme.

I was attracted to the Playtime dress as it can be made in either a woven or a knit. As the waffle knit fabric seemed flimsy, I was worried that a knit facing would not stay down where it belonged. I had plenty of fabric, so I doubled the bodice rather than using a facing. This worked amazingly well and made it much sturdier for my granddaughter. (Don’t let the picture fool you!)

Hand-Embroidered Detail

The pattern called for machine-stitching a collar outline, but I hadn’t had good luck with machine embroidery, so I decided to hand-stitch it. I wanted something three-dimensional, so I opened up my book of embroidery stitches until I found something that looked good.

The butterfly buttons came from Etsy a few years ago, and they have been waiting in my stash to come out and play. I hadn’t realized what a good match they were! They’re difficult to pick out in the picture. The buttons won’t last as they are wood, but when they disintegrate, I can replace them with regular buttons.

And, of course, I had to make a matching dress for the 18-inch doll; she now expects this every time I sew something for her! I have a book of patterns for that size doll and just adapt them to whatever I need. This time I just made a knit top and then attached a skirt.

And if my independent granddaughter decides to style her Playtime butterfly dress with Pokemon socks, who am I to argue?

Knitting Fabric

Knitted fabrics are fabrics formed by bending yarns into loops and interlacing by knitting needles, which are divided into warp knitted fabrics and weft knitted fabrics. Knitted fabrics have the characteristics of soft texture, moisture absorption, air permeability, sweating and warmth retention, and most of them have excellent elasticity and extensibility. Compared with shuttle fabrics, it has the characteristics of high output and suitable for small batch production. Knitted clothes are comfortable to wear, close to the body, free of restraint, and can fully reflect the human body curve.

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