The Mermaid Dress...

Princess Dresses. My beef with the princess dresses from department stores is that they tear and fray so easily. I cringe if anything spills on them because they rip to shreds in the washer. I don't even spend $20-25 on Courtney's regular dresses (I'm cheap  frugal). So why would I spend it on a toy dress that will be ruined within (usually) a day of buying it? That's not to say I don't or won't buy the dresses, but I just feel better about my own because I know they'll last a little longer.

Ok, getting down from my soap box now...

So I got out my sewing machine. I love making dress up clothes for my daughter. Well, I don't actually like the process of making them, but I love the end result. Today I spent two hours in the living room floor with my sewing machine and a really pretty sequin fabric. My mission was to make a mermaid tail. Halfway through sewing the fins on, Courtney comes up to me, holds two tiny triangle shaped scraps to her chest and asks if I can make her "some little chesties". She's four, so the little chesties turned out more like a tank top.  Still, it's so cute and I'm just glad to have one more dress up dress that I can wash.

Afterward I enjoyed watching her "swim" all through the house, rescuing sharks and playing with Flounder. This dress is especially fun because she has been "Ariel" for two weeks now, calling her Daddy "King Triton" every chance she gets. Today I asked if she wanted me to text him a picture, but she said she'd rather surprise him in person when he gets home, haha! (I love my girl!)

Here are a few pics. I just wanted to post something because I was so excited at how it turned out!

 I left slits at the legs to allow for extra room to jump. 

It ties in the back and the fin is just stuffed with pillow stuffing.