Geranium Dress

Geranium Dress

05.14.18

SEWING

Handmade

Spring is the season of birthdays in my world. In the span of a few weeks are the birthdays of two of my best friends’ daughters, my niece, and my own daughter. It’s simultaneously fun and exhausting. I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the last party is over, and we have a reprieve before the next party. I always gift a book or two and maybe some art supplies, but this year I wanted to sew something handmade for some of the girls. The Geranium dress has been on my to sew list for a while so I finally tried it out, and I am in LOVE!

This pattern in combination with the expansion pack (links below) provides seemingly endless ways to customize your dress. For each in this set of dresses, I used the same strategy: bodice extension, invisible zipper closure, and flutter sleeves. I don’t love empire waistlines and I will likely always opt for the bodice extension. I significantly shortened the skirts to give a more summery silhouette and to compensate for the extra length contributed by the bodice extension.

I was fairly hesitant leading into this project, worried I would mix up when I should do which step given the various customizations. Thankfully Rae’s instructions are perfectly clear with road signs to help make sure you know when to do what, always. I did accidentally forget to add the sleeves to Caroline’s dress at the appropriate time because I was distracted, but I ended up just adding them later with an edge stitch and it worked just fine. I am so in love with how these dresses turned out. They are beautiful!

The double gauze fabric is a lovely choice for this dress. I adore double gauze but often find it hard to know exactly what to use it for. In this case it is a nice lightweight option for a summer dress, and so far looks great after multiple washes. Scroll down to see a slideshow with lots more photos of the three dresses I made, as well as all of the project details.

Note: Thanks to questions and suggestions from several readers, I’ll have a post for you very soon (hopefully this week) about how I got started sewing. I know this may seem intimidating but I would love to help you lose that fear and take the leap in learning this useful and fun skill!

Pattern Information

Luisa's dress
Luisa's dress
Luisa's dress
Hazel's dress
Hazel's dress
Hazel's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
01/11
Luisa's dress
Luisa's dress
Luisa's dress
Hazel's dress
Hazel's dress
Hazel's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
Caroline's dress
View as a List
  • Luisa's dress
    Luisa's dress
  • Luisa's dress
    Luisa's dress
  • Luisa's dress
    Luisa's dress
  • Hazel's dress
    Hazel's dress
  • Hazel's dress
    Hazel's dress
  • Hazel's dress
    Hazel's dress
  • Caroline's dress
    Caroline's dress
  • Caroline's dress
    Caroline's dress
  • Caroline's dress
    Caroline's dress
  • Caroline's dress
    Caroline's dress
  • Caroline's dress
    Caroline's dress
View as a Slideshow

My Notes

Fit

These fit beautifully! I made size 18-24 months, 3 years, and 8 years. The girls are 1, 2, and 7 respectively. The dresses fit nicely but with a bit of room to grow, as I intended.

Pattern

The pattern is masterfully done! Instructions are very clear and even with the customizations and hopping from place to place in the pattern and expansion pack, I was clear on what to do.

Difficulty

This project isn’t ideal for a beginner, but would be plausible for someone with a bit of experience sewing simpler garments.