Simplicity 5118 & Clothing Tags

About a year ago I came across Simplicity 5118 on Beki's blog, she made a precious version for her daughter's birthday, and I had to give it a try. I made several dresses from the pattern for the girls last summer. It's a very easy pattern and would be great for a beginner. No placket, no buttonholes, no sleeves to gather, no ties to make... it's EASY PEASY! Seriously, I love this pattern... easy & CUTE.

I knew exactly what fabric I wanted to use this go around:

The polka dot is from Hobby Lobby {I think, it's been in my stash for a LONG time} and the owls are by Alexander Henry {I found it on etsy}.

When Morgan tried it on... all she wanted to do was dance!

I made one for both girls. I haven't sewn in months and it felt so good to sit down and finish 2 dresses in a matter of hours!

Here are the changes I made to the pattern:
1- I cut 2 "backs" {1 for the front & 1 for the back} and rounded them to match the rounding on the "front". The "front" of the dress pattern comes in 2 pieces and has an empire waist. I was looking for a solid front... that's why I cut two backs, and the back is a little fuller than the front. That makes the front and the back the same... the only difference is the sleeve has a front & back so there is a front & back when you are done.
2- I cut about 4" off the length of the back and added a 4" piece of the contrasting fabric that I used on the sleeves
3- It only goes through a size 4 so I made Morgan's {a 5} just a smidge bigger than a 4. :)

Oh... and I added tags because they make life easier for dads if when they dress the children.

Here's a quick TAG TUTORIAL:
My machine {which I still LOVE} has an option to sew letters & numbers.

So I chose the #3 for size 3.

Then I placed a white ribbon under my foot with a piece of stabilizer under it. And stitched out a 3.

Then I trimmed the ribbon and folded it in half and basted the tag closed.

When I was closing up the casing in the neck of my dress I slipped the tag in.

If your machine doesn't sew numbers or letters you could use a permanent fabric marker and just write the size on the tag.

Ok, off to bed. And I think I accidently posted this before I was finished... durn computers!

More on our week to follow...