When my daughter first saw a photograph of the Analise dress, she absolutely had to have one for herself. She repeatedly asked me to sew it for her, and I caved in to the pressure.

It wasn’t much of a hardship. On the contrary, it was a lot of fun to make, and it was the perfect project with which to get my feet wet working the serger. Look at all those seams! So much finishing to do…

I was surprised at how much shorter it turned out than the one photographed on the cover of the pattern book. I thought it would hit mid-shin, but this is more of a knee-length dress. Next time, I’ll make it a size larger than I think necessary, just to add the length–and I’ll make just the skirt. She’s more of a skirt girl than a dress girl. I’m not sure why, but there you have it.

Short or not, it’s a wonderfully-full twirly skirt. Every little girl needs one of these! So much fun.

And there’s a great big wonderful bow on the back.

To insure that Claire would actually wear this when it was done, I enlisted her help in picking out the fabrics. Together, we came up with a combination that reminds me of the romantic artwork of Beatrix Potter–delicate motifs worked in soft pastels. So very, very sweet.