I Heart London

I did it!

I told my sister that I'd make my niece an Olympics dress if she ordered the adorable fabric that she found on fabric.com. It was a half selfish agreement on my part because I really love the London icons fabric but didn't have an excuse to buy it for myself.

It was quite amazing that I received the fabric last Thursday and had the dress completed by the following Tuesday; I never get through a project that quickly.

Since this was the first dress I've EVER made, there were some bumps. Maybe I should have used a pattern, but what's the fun in that?

The plan was for me to make a skirt and then attach it to a tank top that my sister already had. Unfortunately, my sister was out of town the weekend I was putting this together, so I had to buy one myself, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy to find a solid colored tank top when all the stores I went to have already shifted to fall clothes. My tank top radar was finally able to locate a single red tank top mixed in with some Forth of July straggler tanks at Walmart, so I jumped on it. It was made out of thin, ribbed cotton; I didn't want ribbed, but at that point I just wanted to get it done before the Olympics were over.

The ribbing did end up being my arch nemesis. When attached and stretched, it swallowed up more of the skirt than I created. So, what resulted was what I call a "quirky" vertical stripe. The other craps shoot was the size. My niece is 12 months old, but is a little peanut, so I wasn't sure if the dress would be too big, and of course I didn't take any measurements.

In the end I heart my I Heart London dress, quirks and all! But what will my sister think? She can be a tough crowd. And will it fit the baby? More to come on her reaction...