Easter 2021, Blue Polka-Dot Dresses- That Jo Chick

Happy Easter!

Today’s post requires a little back story. We’re going to go back to when I first moved to Okinawa.

2019

When I first came to Okinawa to be with my husband Anthony, I could not bring any of my personal belongings with me besides what I could fit into two suitcases under 50 pounds. Stuff is just stuff, it wasn’t the end of the world, but it did make being here harder at first.

My Brother sewing machine AND my gorgeous, old, metal Singer sewing machine had to be left in storage in my mother’s attic (where they still are being stored to this day, sadly.)

As I’m sure you can imagine, trying to settle into your new home, in a foreign country, is hard without any of your own personal belongings. But it was so much harder due to the fact that sewing and being creative is a HUGE part of who I am. I felt like every outlet those hobbies had were back home in New Hampshire.

A bed sheet

I DID have hand sewing needles and one or two spools of thread that I had packed in my suitcases. As a desperate effort to release some creative tension, I found the nearest thrift shop and bought a blue polka-dotted sheet set for $3.

Out of that sheet, I made a cover for our bird’s cage and I painstakingly stitched together a dress. These were pre-baby times, so yes, I did actually have the time for that many stitches.

I actually really enjoyed all that hand stitching. The dress gave me something to do during a time when I often felt antsy and unsure what to do with myself. I was so new to the island and regularly home alone while Anthony was on work trips. In addition, I used to always wish I had better hand sewing skills. But who is going to sit there and hand stitch when you have a perfectly fine sewing machine?

Still to this day I am PROUD of each one of those stitches. They look so neat and tidy.

The stitches I was proud of… the dress not so much. The dress I spent all those hours on has never actually been worn. I didn’t use any kind of pattern, and the dress just didn’t ever fit me right. I attempted to use the elastic from the fitted sheet as a waistband and just throw the bodice together from there. The whole thing was just too big and not a flattering shape at all.

Now let’s jump forward some.

Easter 2020

For my birthday in November of 2019, my amazing grandmother sent me a gift. More specifically, she had Amazon ship me a beautiful, shiny and new Brother sewing machine. As I was pregnant at the time, it’s obvious that the first thing I made on that new machine was a teeny tiny baby dress… made out of the same blue polka-dotted bed sheets.

Baby Jane was born in February of 2020 and that Easter the little dress fit her perfectly! My teeny polka-dotted Easter baby. (aww, didn’t she just look like a doll?)

Easter 2021

This year I decided it was finally time to do something about that unshapely dress, the one I put so much time and effort into, and I chopped it up.

Jane’s new Easter dress still has some of the features from the original, such as that white stripe in the skirt and the original hand-stitched hemlines that are still so satisfying to look at. So straight and tidy.

The new Easter dress looks a million times cuter than the first dress and I adore that it matches her first Easter dress from last year.

The Pattern

The pattern I used for this dress is The Littlest Studio’s free Simple Girl’s Dress Pattern. It was so easy to make and came together in just a few hours. The only part of the pattern I didn’t follow exactly was the skirt. I wanted the dress to have two layers and be much fuller than she recommends. I used the 12-month size and it’s just a touch big on her. However, I would say it’s true to size; at 13-months old, Jane is a little small for her age.

I do love this pattern, just simple and easy. A staple for any sewist’s pattern collection.

That little wooden bunny and pink wooden buttons are just the perfect finishing touches!

We had a nice Easter morning. I made blueberry scones and we went to church at the chapel on base (we would have preferred “our” church off base, but COVID…) Once back home, Jane tore apart her very first Easter basket and had some tasty snacks. And of course, we had to throw in a photoshoot with her little bunny Gomi!