Thomas the train is everyone’s favorite engine! Well, actually my niece really loves Percy. That surprises me because her favorite color is blue, and Thomas is blue. Either way, Thomas and Percy were coming to town.
My sister asked me if I would make something for my Tater-Tot and her friend to wear to see the trains. I had a lot of stuff going on and I said I will do it if it’s really, really simple. I wanted her to buy a Thomas t-shirt so we could “girl-y” it up by adding a skirt to the bottom and maybe some bows. A little time passed and there was now less than a week before they were headed to Thomas when I accidentally invited her to the fabric store. I really just wanted to hang out, but she still wanted dresses for the girls. I can’t believe I forgot about this little detail. While we were there she suckered me into making something from scratch. It’s so hard to say no to a little blonde headed blue eyed girl when she says, “Please make me a dress, Aunt Sammie?” How do I get myself into these rushed predicaments?
We needed a plan, now that I had gotten suckered into this. It needed to be a quick and easy plan because I had one week to make 2 dresses. Those weren’t the only special orders I had to finish that week. I wanted it to be Thomas inspired, but not look just like Thomas. We chose a blue and white striped fabric for the top so it would look similar to conductor overalls, a red polkadot for the bottom, navy for straps and ties, and yellow to match the #1 that Thomas wears. I had to get to work immediately!
The top is almost like an apron. It was basically just a square with 2 straps that tie around the neck. Under this panel was a row of navy that will be the sash around the waist. And then of course, my favorite, polka dots scrunched together with elastic in the back to form the bottom of the dress. A dress this shape could probably be warn in the middle of summer with nothing under it, but it was chilly and rainy on this particular Saturday, so they layered.
The last extra special detail was the “1” on the top of the dress. I used iron on appliqué stuff to make this. I used 2 pieces of yellow fabric and the iron on stuff to bind them together. I cut out the “1” and then stitch around the edges with red thread in a zig-zag pattern. This made a red outline, just like on Thomas. I strategically hand tacked the number onto the bib of the dress so that it could be removed at a later date. They might like these dresses to be more than just Thomas appropriate.
Since it was a chilly day, the girls wore their dresses with a peter pan collar shirt and navy leggings. I think they look adorable. What about you?
Beautiful girls with a front view of the dresses!
Those bows sure look cute in the back.
Riding Thomas!
I wish I could have been there for all this fun!
Why is Tater-Tot at the wheel? Let’s hope she doesn’t drive like her mommy.
These three amigos are going to be best friends for a long time!
craftydancer 