A few weeks ago, Olivia came with me to the vintage shops and wanted to try on and touch everything in sight! She decided that she wanted some "bintage" of her own so I let her pick out a skirt that she could wear with her summery peasant blouses.

Later that week, I found my vintage kids sewing patterns and we picked out a pattern for a dress to make for her.

1950s kids vintage mermaid print dress simplicity 2930

1950s kids vintage mermaid print dress simplicity 2930

I used Simplicity pattern 2930 with some Heather Ross Underwater Sisters fabric from my stash. I bought this fabric before Olivia was born, to use in her nursery. I had some left over and had been waiting for the perfect time to use it.

1950s kids vintage mermaid print Heather Ross dress simplicity 2930


I used some vintage buttons from my stash for the back.

Since kids grow so quickly and a lot of effort goes into sewing clothes, I wanted her to be able to wear this dress for more than one summer. I made it a little big in the waist but it ties in the back so the extra fabric gathers in the skirt when its tied. I also allowed a deep hem to let the skirt down as she gets taller.

1950s kids vintage mermaid print Heather Ross dress simplicity 2930


I really loved this pattern and will probably sew another for her if she likes this one. I did not like the scallops....at all! The pattern instructs you to fold over a tiny edge of the scallop and somehow press it to get a perfect professional looking curved edge. Yeah, that wasn't happening. Instead of burning the hell out of my fingers and ripping the stitching out over and over,  I cut out another piece just to fit the scallops, sewed them right side together, clipped the curves, turned out and pressed, then hand-stitched the scalloped edge to the dress front. It was time consuming but hand sewing is so relaxing and the finished results were well worth it.


1950s kids vintage mermaid print Heather Ross dress simplicity 2930

1950s kids vintage mermaid print Heather Ross dress simplicity 2930