Embroidering with Whimsy

Kari Mecca's two books, Sewing with Whimsy and More Sewing with Whimsy, are two of the most creative things I have seen for sewing for little girls - simply breath-taking eye candy. I'll admit that I haven't done as much with them as I'd like to, but have sampled a little from each book.

Last night, I dug into More Sewing with Whimsy and decided to make the square-yoked dress with wavy tiers. Directions for drafting the skirt of the dress couldn't have been easier (even if it does look complicated). I decided to alternate these two coordinating fabrics and embellish the dress with embroidery from Designs by Juju's "Tropical Blast" collection.

I cut the skirt pieces, attached them together and then began stitching.

Tonight I continued by adding the surfing monkey.

Currently, this is the skirt of the dress:

Gracie's little eyes bugged out when she saw the little girl and her surfboard! I'm still deciding what I want to do as far as further embellishment (if I want to do any at all). The print is really bold to begin with and I don't want to detract from the cute characters.

I do think I will construct a pair of bloomers/shorts to go underneath since my little monkey can't get enough of her swingset and I do want her to maintain a little modesty.