Party Dresses Galore {What I'm working on this week}

With the kiddos home from school for two weeks I'm finding it a little hard to squeeze in sewing time.  I was really ramped up for Christmas sewing and it helped that they didn't start vacation until right before the big day.  So now I'm jumping head first into some party-dresses!

I started sewing dresses for my niece and daughter too late for wearing Christmas day.  As usual, I bit off  more than I could chew, sewing-wise, and so the dresses will be called "party dresses" (I also considered "after-Christmas dresses").  We sat down and ran through all the birthdays in my big extended family and there is at least 1 birthday every month except November.  I think the dresses will get some wear!

With the Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress Sewing Pattern I'm making view A (with sleeves and Peter Pan collar) and also the sash from view B.  The fabric is Shantung Sateen in pink, blue and champagne.  It's a 100% polyester with a shiny satin side and a nubby shantung side that looks like silk dupioni.  It's still dry clean only but is $7 a yard instead of 20+$ a yard. The lining is 100% cotton batiste in white.


The other thing I'm really excited about is Project Run and Play.

From the website:

Project Run and Play is the blogger's version of Project Runway, but for kids! Each week, the designers compete to create the best outfit (with a tutorial) based on a theme. A panel of "celebrity" judges awards them a score of 1 to 5 in each category, and then a reader's poll is opened. Readers are allowed to vote once each week for the design they like the most, and at the end of the week, the score is tallyed. The winner is announced (and their tutorial is posted), and the person with the lowest votes is "sent home."

We followers can sew along and compete for a small prize. They listed the themes on December 21st and wouldn't you know it, week one is a party dress remix!  It's pretty similar to what I'm already doing so I have some ideas swirling around my head on how to really mix it up.

Week One:  The Pattern Remix Challenge

 Week Two:  Stripes and Polka Dots 

Week Three:  Boys Week

 Week Four:  Love is in the Air 

Week Five:  The Men's Dress Shirt Challenge 

Week Six:  Your Signature Look

Happy Sewing.