Bumble Bee Dress

Bumble Bee Dress

Except for the colors, there is nothing bumble bee'ish about this new dress that I made yesterday for Aaliyah. The yellow, black and white are so often associated with the bee. And just for this fact, I am going to call it a bumble bee dress. I took about 1.5 yard of black cotton fabric with yellow and white dotted print. I cut the skirt part in a regular umbrella cut fashion and for the body, I decided to go without sleeves. With the kind of unpredictable weather here in Richmond, you have to layer dresses with a t-shirt one way or another. So, without the sleeves I had one less step to do for my project. I took another
short cut. I made the neck wide enough so she can wear it without having buttons in the back. That is one step that takes me a long time because I do it all by hand. It's not the actual sewing that takes time. Its finding the time and then sitting to do the buttons that takes quite a while. If she ever complains of having trouble getting the dress on or off because of lack of buttons, then I will add buttons and all. For now, no buttons work out just fine. I used a yellow 1.5" width ribbon and an off- white silk Gerbera flower to accessorize it. Fun and quick project.
I say quick because, I completed the dress in about 5-6 hours total with breaks in between. I was taking breaks to give the kids breakfast, lunch snack etc. and keeping them occupied. The kids were attended to but the house was a walk-in toy chest. There were toys all over. Especially the mega blocks. I just ignored it all. All that can wait and wait it did. Mommy so needed a sewing break.