When our family was surprised with a new baby girl five months ago and after the initial giggling had died down (we were so sure that it would be a boy), I looked at the clothing that I had gathered for the new baby.  There were gender-neutral things that leaned very heavily to the masculine side of things.  Navy pants.  An orange and white striped romper.  Navy and orange numbers from a Petit Bateau sample sale I had hit up last winter were just sitting there waiting for this tiny person.

One of the very first things Mira requested to do for her sister was to find her some girly things to wear.  She, of course, had to go pick a (comfy but) pink dress and beautiful little dark green and pink rose onesie.  Mira took one look at those clothes we had and asked where her old baby clothing was.

We retrieved Mira’s baby wardrobe from her younger cousins, gave away some of the navy and orange, and I began to think of the special things that we could make for this new, sweet daughter of mine.  I hoped to create an heirloom or two since she is the third child.  Third children don’t often have filled-in baby books or a whole lot of time to themselves with their parents.

One dress that really caught my eye was in the book SEWN WITH LOVE by Fiona Bell.  It is called the”Baby Dress”and is a classic cut with butterfly sleeves and a sweet pocket ruffle detail.  Genevieve’s sleeves are finished with bias binding, something to help it look a little more polished seeing as we don’t have a serger.

It took me a long time to make this dress, what with the lack of sleep and the general lack of time to do anything except the bare bones: laundry, dinner, nursing, cleaning the bathroom.  Still, I stuck to making it, little by little, until it was done.

Just look at our Gigi!  Who knows whether my children will want to pass this on to their own children one day.  All I know is that Genevieve seems to and Mira definitely approves.