The Lydia Dress

I have had this pattern lying around for over a year. I even bought the same fabric the model's dress is made of. After reading through the pattern , I decided I wanted to wait until I had a serger. Well, I got one about 6 months ago, and it has been sitting on my desk collecting dust because I didn't have time to figure it out. I have heard nightmarish tales of how hard sergers are to figure out and thread. Well mine must be really user friendly, because it didn't really take that long! And I'm so glad I finally set it up. I am going to get some good use out of that thing; I have been putting certain projects on the back burner because of that until now!

So the first thing I wanted to do after setting up the serger was to make this dress. I was thinking about saving it for Christmas, but I already got my daughter two dresses for Christmas, and the child may want more than dresses. Besides, I kinda couldn't wait :)
I needed the serger so I could do the rolled hem. You can fold it up and sew it, but I thought the rolled hem looked much cleaner. I also opted to eliminate the apron on the front. I like the simple look with these fabrics.
It was my first time shirring! I have to say, shirring is very satisfying. It was pretty easy to do, even though it was hard to sew straight on the last few rows. Very fun!

I also made a little matching necklace and bracelet (not pictured) to go with the dress. I'm going to be making *at least* one more of these dresses. I was really simple and easy, and you know me, I can never make just one!