I finally got a sewing machine this last Christmas from Andrew. I’ve been asking for one for ages and he finally gave in. I wanted one for a long time so that I could make clothes and try out other cool things. It’s been hiding in the corner of the office since Christmas, but I finally got around to picking what I wanted my first project to be: A bubble dress for Isabelle!

Originally, I had been casually looking around online for some cool Disney themed outfits for Isabelle to wear for our Disney trip, but I kept coming across things that I didn’t like or things that were way too expensive for my taste. It took awhile before it occurred to me that I could just make one for her. Duh! It sounded ridiculously perfect that I can’t believe it took me awhile to figure this out. Well, I went online to search for some free tutorials. Gotta love the internet. I came across a bunch that I loved, but I stuck to the bubble dress as my first project since it seemed simple enough for me to do. I learned to use a sewing machine back in junior high school and haven’t really used one since, except once in high school and another time recently for a doll I made Isabelle for Christmas. It surprisingly comes back fairly quickly. I did have to learn a few things I never learned before, like threading the machine, etc., but it wasn’t too bad after I figured that out.

Andrew and I took the kiddies to our local Joann store, which is always an adventure with the whole family in tow. Usually it turns into me browsing while Andrew is wrangling the kids. Once, I didn’t have my wallet on me and Andrew took Isabelle to keep her distracted while I waiting in line to check-out. He was no where in sight by the time I got to the check-out counter. I kept looking for him to appear while the cashier scanned my items, but he never came. The cashier was super nice though and offered to call him over the PA system. It was pretty funny because everyone there knew what was going on and Andrew popping out of the aisle after his name was called was priceless.

So I didn’t find my first choice in fabric for my Disney themed dress, but I will find it and make that another day. Andrew ended up helping me pick out this really cute ladybug fabric. I wasn’t a huge fan of it when picking it out, but it turned out really cute. Since the tutorial is all about actual measurement of the wearer, it was really hard for me to get accurate measurements of Isabelle. She didn’t want me to put the fabric or measuring tape anywhere near her so I had to eyeball it from afar. I had some minor problems here and there, but it worked out pretty nicely. I finished it all in one night minus the straps, which I did in the morning with Isabelle close by.

Here’s the finished product:

This actually fits Isabelle pretty well, but I think I may make some modifications at some point for future versions. Andrew wasn’t too sure about the bubble since he didn’t really know what it was, but he says he really likes it now that he sees it completed. I’ve got lots more ideas I want to try out, so stay tuned to more of my sewing adventures.