"Let's Go to the Movies!" Project Run & Play: Season 8

 Alice in Wonderland

Meet Alice!  She'd like to invite you to tea in the garden.  All her furry friends will be there, too.  Everyone will be so happy to see you there!

September 20, 2014:  I am happy to link this post to http://nap-timecreations.com/2014/09/sew-many-books-giveaway-and-sew-a-long.html  for the Sew Many Books sew-along.  Disney's Alice movie was obviously inspired by Lewis Carrols's  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  which has been a favorite among children's books for decades.  There are many wonderful children's outfits inspired by books in the contest and in the sew a-long.  Check them out!

http://nap-timecreations.com/2014/09/sew-many-books-giveaway-and-sew-a-long.html

My sweet little "Alice" is my friend Kaye's little three year old daughter, Chloe.  She is quite a character with a delightful blend of "sugar and spice and everything nice"!  She calls me "Miss Mouse"...We don't know why...I am putty in her hands.

The dress is a gift "just because".  When I was thinking of what to make for this week's Project Run & Play Let's Go to the Movies sew-along challenge, I knew that I wanted to make something from one of Disney's classic animated movies.  Alice In Wonderland popped into my head and I knew Chloe would make the perfect Alice.  We made sure that she watched the movie over a couple of days and her mommy made it special by making tea and serving it in a pretty china cups and saucers.  Chloe was charmed.

The dress is a comfortable "play in" dress that is meant to be worn and enjoyed.  The dress is made of white cotton sateen and a blue on blue printed cotton calico trimmed in embroidered ribbon, Swiss beading and edging, and French lace.  All materials were laundered in the washer and dryer to preshrink.

I used McCalls 6062 for the bodice and the starting point for the sleeves.  It is an easy-on and off dress without buttons or zippers.  The neckline has narrow elastic woven through a casing.  The sleeves in the pattern also have elastic but I chose to alter the sleeves.

I added Swiss edging over the sleeves to simulate a pinafore look and fancy the basic dress up a bit.

The sleeve pattern piece was shortened and beading and a gathered ruffle was added to the  bottom.  The beading is woven with white satin ribbon.  (I would haver preferred blue but I couldn't locate the right shade of blue in the needed width.)  The pretty flair at the bottom of the ruffle is achieved with hand rolling and sewing the little hem.

I added a little French lace trimmed faux peter pan collar to continue the pinafore/dress look.

Chloe had such fun with my daughter's childhood china tea set!

One of the most memorable scenes in the movie is the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.  I added the hand cut and traditionally satin stitched teacup set and spoon to reference those wonderful moments.

This is one of my favorite pictures of our little photo shoot!  

To make the dress even more special I added some charms for more movie references.

These charms were Chloe's favorite part of the dress!  They were not part of my original design sketches but the idea just popped into my head when I was working on the teacup.  I am so glad that I added them!  Originally, there were three silver charms.   I knew I wanted to add the White Rabbit button but I didn't know where.  Putting the charms on the ribbons gave me the idea to sew the button on a different ribbon to replace the tiny silver teapot.

Isn't Chloe adorable?  I sure loved making this dress for her and seeing her have fun wearing it!

I am linking this post to Project Run and Play's movie theme sew-along challenge HERE.  I hope you will go and check out the featured designers' creations and the creations of the sew-along 'sewists'.