flower girl

I know I already wrote about Colleen's wedding, but I really wanted to share a few of the professional photos and a bit about Mae's flower girl dress! Here's a few of my favorite pics from the photographer. Everyone looks so nice all dressed up, and I just love the colorful wildflowers bouquets so much!

My boys look so handsome escorting GranE down the aisle. I was disappointed that I forgot to take a photo of them in their matching ties (from ElenaAndChris on Etsy), so I was really happy to see that the photographer got one!

Now on to the flower girl dress. The pattern is the Caroline Party Dress (my 5th time using this pattern! (See versions 1, 2, 3, and 4.) I made a size 4T in width and a 5T in length, and I modified the bodice to eliminate the cap sleeves. Even thought I've sewn this pattern several times, it took me a while to source all my supplies and to psych myself up to begin this project. I wanted it to look great for Colleen's wedding! Fortunately, I gave myself plenty of time and had it finished well before the wedding, so it wasn't high pressure!

The dress fabric is a matte polyester satin in a color called Rose Water from JoAnn. The bodice and skirt lining is a cotton voile which I thought would feel comfier against the skin than the poly dress fabric. The star of the dress is the embroidered 3D flower mesh, which I bought from lacefabricArt on Etsy. I cut the mesh overlay as one piece so it woudln't have side seams. I removed the flowers and beads near the gathered waistband and the seam allowances at the center back. I hand-gathered the satin skirt and overlay together and pressed the gathers before attaching to the bodice to try to get them as even as possible. I left the mesh hem raw and used a horeshair braid (not actually horsehair) in the hem of the satin for a little more body. After hemming the satin, I wished I'd left it a little longer, so I hemmed the skirt lining longer than the satin to give a little more length to the dress under the mesh.

Mae looked so sweet in the dress, and she was so excited to wear it! I even made her a little matching dress for her American girl doll. I thought about making a little hair piece with some of the leftover flowers from the skirt, but the flower crown was so much cuter!!

I'm so happy for Colleen and Bobby and so glad we got to be a part of their special day!