Ariel the Mermaid Dress

It's been ages since I made a dress for one of the girls.  I did want to have more of a handmade Christmas last year...my intentions were good but unfortunately this is as far as I got!

Last year I was in desperate need of a particular fabric and I rang what seemed like every patchwork shop in Melbourne. One shop had it, so the girls and I jumped in the car and headed out to Gail B's Patchwork in Bayswater. It is a HUGE shop and while I was browsing I heard a loud and excited squeal from the next aisle.

"MUMMY! Can you buy this for me PLEEEEEAASSE!"

Anna had found a bolt of Ariel the Mermaid fabric. Oh dear. It is no secret that I am not a fan of licensed / character items and clothing. She was so thrilled with it I just couldn't say no. So a metre was purchased along with half a metre of a coordinating Moda aqua polka dot. And a fat quarter of an awesome Kokka frog fabric that I had never seen before. And the fabric that I needed that they had in stock. Then I left quickly - otherwise my credit card would have taken a beating.

I used the Tye Dye Diva Fair & Square dress pattern. Easy instructions and it was a fairly quick project. I definitely recommend it. When I was making the bodice I freaked out a bit that it was too small, but it is perfect - the bodice on this dress is really just a neckline piece.

All these photos were taken when we went to the Melbourne Zoo last week - we go often as we have a yearly membership and it is fairly close to where we live. We met my friend and fellow blogger Abby from Things for Boys and Anna and Lucy had a great time with her little boy Roman. Abby was wearing an amazing maternity dress she had made herself!

Some of you might remember I had a decision making crisis with the button choice so I took a photo of my two options and asked my facebook friends to help me choose. The choices were between this blue and a pearly white button - blue was the overwhelming favourite so I went with that. Glad I did - it is perfect and it finishes the dress nicely.

We had our most successful visit to the Butterfly House yet - this butterfly stayed on Anna's hand for a good 3 minutes - exciting stuff!

The Ariel Dress has been a huge success but I think I've created a monster. When my parents-in-law gave Anna some new pajamas for her birthday, the first thing she asked was "Grandma, did you make these on your sewing machine or did you buy them at the shops?"