Baby Blessing Dress

After many, many, MANY hours of looking for a baby blessing dress for our soon-to-be-daughter, I realized that purchasing a dress would be 2 things - 1)expensive, and 2)frustrating. I can't tell you how many stores I went to, and how many websites I visited only to find dresses that were either too large, too "fru-fru" (not my style), or WAY too expensive ($75-$100+ for just the DRESS, knowing I would still need shoes, tights, a headband, and a blanket - all to be worn for just a few hours...I love my family and all, but I must still be practical as well - and that was too expensive of a pill for me to swallow.)(p.s. - And I completely understand that there are some moms out there who will gladly spend that amount on a dress for this special occasion - If you have the money, then by all means, go for it! But please understand that I don't. lol) All I wanted was something white, simple, cute, comfortable, and affordable.

I finally got the idea to do a "composite dress." That is basically where you take different articles of clothing, cut off the parts that you like, and compile them into one ideal garment. To start with, I found this dress on clearance at the Children's Place for only $11.99:



I removed the white bottom from the black top with a seam-ripper, then planned on attaching the white skirt to a white long-sleeved onesie. The dress on the right was a layout (un-sewn) of my original "plan" :


Anyway, after a lot of tinkering, here is the finished product:



Here is the back view:


Here it is with all the little accessories. The white ribbon was $1.99 for the whole spool. The onesie came in a pack of 3 for $5.99, so figure the one costs about $1.99. The tights have little ruffles on the back, and I bought them on sale for $2.99 at Sears. The shoes were the only thing I paid full price for, and those were $9.99, also at Sears...but, I'll admit, someone gave me a gift card to Sears, so I technically got the shoes and the tights for free, plus I used a $5 off Sears coupon. The beautiful blanket was a gift from my mom(grandma). And before I go on, Karen Davis, I am officially asking if I can borrow the following white headband that you made! I was looking through your stash of homemade hair bows for an example of a rosette to sew, which I found, but I also ended up finding this adorable white headband! lol. I tried to get Matt to call you to ask, but he said you wouldn't mind. Since I know you read our blog, I am asking you anyway. And from your design, I learned to hand-sew some rosettes for the dress! Thanks! =):



Here it is pictured with a little white sweater I got at a consignment shop for .25 cents, yes, a quarter! Not sure if I'll use it, but I guess if I need one, I'll have it ready. You'll also notice there are also a 2 little rosette that I sewed out of the ribbon - One I sewed on the dress, but am not quite sure what to do with the other. I'm sure I'll figure it out...Anyway, my total out of pocket cost for the dress and accessories was $16.22, and it came out to be everything I wanted. Can't wait to see it all on her! =)