Polka Dots and Black Buttons

This little green and white polka dot dress is Oona's party dress for the upcoming wedding we're going to. The pattern is from "Sewn with Love" by Fiona Bell, a collection of vintage patterns for children (mostly dresses). The pattern originally had ruffled flutter sleeves, but it looked so cute without them, that I didn't bother adding them. I also left off the bias binding around the neck and armholes and the skirt lining to simplify things.



I did, however, sew each little button hole on the back of the dress by hand. My "one step button hole" on my sewing machine was acting up, and when I learned that you could hand stitch it with a tight blanket stitch, I was so relieved. Here's the hand sewn button hole instructions I used.



The tutorial says to use thick embroidery floss, but I used double stranded sewing thread with tight stitches, and it worked fine and gave them a more delicate look. I found some cute black flower buttons that I think work well with the green dress.



I also made Oona another felt head band for the occasion.



The purple band is just a simple row of single crochet with a foundation row. Not sure if she'll be able to resist the urge to tear it off her head! I found the little black shoes at a department store. I was going to make matching booties, but time was escaping me. Hope it still fits right by the day of the wedding... this baby keeps growing like mad!