Cherry Blossom Dresses

In February when we visited heaven  S.R. Harris Fabric Outlet in Minnesota, one of my favorite finds was a sheer pink knit with layers of ruffles.  By the time I got home, visions of "cherry blossom dresses" (to celebrate our upcoming trip to the DC Cherry Blossom Festival) were dancing through my head.   

Matthew sharing his personal space with all sorts of ruffle-y goodness at  SR Harris.

And even though a cold spring meant the cherry trees in DC looked more like this:

No blossoms.  But the weather was so pleasant I feel guilty even thinking about complaining!

than this:

SOMEDAY I am going to see DC when it looks like this! :)

the girls' dresses at least were in full bloom.

Group shot with only one person's eyes closed and no one crying.  Good enough.

Robyn's dress was pretty basic.  (That's not the word someone else who-shall-remain-nameless used, but we won't go there... :)  In my head it was a chance to let the fabric speak for itself, while hopefully making it a little more grown-up for Robyn.  Or something like that. 

Robyn with Grandma's bunny decoration.  We tried to convince the girls that Grandma had stuffed the Easter Bunny, so he wasn't going to be coming any more.  Guess we're in the market for a meaner Grandma, because they didn't believe it for a second.

Amber's dress had a lot more fullness to it than Robyn's and is probably the one I'd most like to wear myself.  In honor of the cherry tree's Japanese connection, it's supposed to be kind of reminiscent of a kimono.  It's also the dress I had the most fun laying out, since I decided to have the ruffles in the fabric run parallel to the inset pieces.

Three pictures of Amber, three different hair styles.  We just barely cut her hair short again, and while I miss playing with her long hair (she has incredible hair!), she definitely prefers it pixie-length.

 Finally there's Katie's dress.  I stole the strap/sleeve from a really fun new Butterick pattern (I'll make it a little wider next time, but I really like the effect!) then improvised a drop-waist bodice, added a gathered skirt, and decided to sew in a couple layers of tulle for some extra poof.  These pictures seem to sum up more about Katie than about the dress though:

She's a little bit playful.

A little bit dramatic.

And a lot a bit sweet.

Yay!  Spring dresses done!  And after the last few projects, my sewing machine is itching to do a project that isn't in triplicate.  Hopefully that means there's a mommy-dress in my near future...