Something to Wear, Something to Read, Something to Play With

 

My honorary niece Olivia turns 5 years old today, and of course this momentous occasion called for a present. My formula for her gifts is "something to wear, something to read, and something to play with". Let's begin with the something to wear.

I wanted to make Olivia a dress, and I searched for a nice summer dress pattern for her until I found this adorable little sundress pattern (Butterick 3477, View A), and another pattern that I liked just as much. I wavered between the two, but the sizes on the sundress pattern ran only to size 5 while the other design came in larger sizes than that, so that settled it. I ordered both patterns, with the plan that I would make the size 5 sundress this year and the other pattern for Olivia's sixth birthday.  

I had some difficulty finding two fabrics that worked together, but I eventually settled on this pink rosebud print and green polka dot combo. I love pink and green as a colour scheme, and this combination has an especially fresh, pretty, spring-like appeal. The dress itself was quite easy to make and worked up very quickly. I'm pleased with it.  

Then came the all-important matching purse. I used Vogue Pattern 9893, View F for that -- I've had that pattern for many years now and used it lots of times. As to the trim, I had a piece of very crumpled green ribbon and a slightly damaged length of pink ribbon in my ribbon cannister that I thought would do for finishing off the purse. A steam pressing restored the green ribbon to good as new, and the damage on the pink ribbon ceased to show once the ribbon was made into a pink satin rosebud. Dress and purse together made the "something to wear" component of the present. 

As for the "something to read" and "something to play with" part of the gift, I bought Olivia a thrift shop copy of Beverly Cleary's Ramona the Pest, a dollar store colouring book, and a dollar store coin bank that is shaped like a big cupcake. I think coin banks make a good teaching tool for children, and can help them learn how to manage/save money, and this particular coin bank is super cute. I put a toonie in it to help Olivia get the idea.  

The gift as a whole (er, except for the quilt). Not a bad set up for a 5-year-old's birthday, I think.