Geranium Trio {Feel the Love}

I am always impressed when I use a Made by Rae pattern, and the Geranium Dress was no exception. With a house full of boys, it took me a while to purchase and use this particular pattern, but now I'm wondering why on earth I waited so long.  It's really such a perfect little dress and now I can whip one up in less than two hours, so it makes a nice gift.

The first one I made is in Lotus Pond fabric and size 12-18 months for a very special first birthday!

Then I had to make my little niece one in the 6-12 month size using some hoarded Heather Ross bicycles.  Ignore the weird green tint on this photo.

And finally, this morning I made one in size 3T for a little friend's birthday party that the boys are going to today.  I adore the way the Heather Bailey Pop fabric looks on this dress, but, oh, I am so sad I pretty much used it all now!  Isn't that always the way it is with fabric?  It sits for so long, waiting to be used, and then you wish you had bought more!  I'm trying to use up the hoarded fabric, but it isn't easy!

I think one of my favorite things about this pattern is that it looks so nice inside.  Thanks to the lined bodice and beautifully finished seams, it looks very professional.

And buttons on the back!  I'm getting better after three sets, but still room for improvement.  I probably should have tried to find  a reference for how long to make buttonholes vs. size of button, but I have it pretty much figured out now.  Initially I feared making the buttonholes to large to stay closed, so that on the first dress I couldn't get the buttons through their holes.  Luckily, I just used smaller buttons and eventually by dress three had figured it out well enough.  

Farewell, sweet dresses!  I kind of wanted to keep them, but that would just be silly.  They will all be with their new owners soon, and I hope they bring a smile to a few faces.  That really is the point, after all, isn't it?  All that fabric buying and hoarding and work?  You just want someone to feel the love and smile.