Same dress, same fabric

A geranium dress for R's much-loved teacher, who's expecting her first baby early next year. I chose the geranium because it's the only pattern I have that comes in baby sizes, but it really is a favourite of mine. I've made a few of these in the past, like this one with flutter sleeves and this one with the pleated skirt (which I absolutely love, and which R has sadly grown out of). 

There is only one problem with the geranium, and that's the way the back opening of the skirt folds over itself when the bodice is buttoned. It just looks a little less than perfect to me, and lets down what is otherwise a lovely pattern. I did once modify the bodice to include an invisible zipper, and that worked very well, but it didn't feel right to put a zip in a baby's dress. Instead, for this dress I made a very simple modification: when sewing the gathered skirt to the bodice I set the ends of the skirt in about an inch from each side of the button placket, so that when the buttons are done up the skirt sits nicely, without any overlap. So easy. In fact, much easier to do than to explain, but hopefully these photos will make it clearer:

Having chosen this beautiful cotton voile from my stash, I later remembered that I've made the exact same dress in the exact same fabric for my niece - which just goes to show how predictable I am.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year and a wonderful holiday season!