The Bunnykins Dress & Big Brother Easter Wear

I thought I wouldn't have to make or buy Easter outfits for the kids this year.  I was feeling SO confident about it too.  I was sure my little lady could wear the dress I made for her last year:

and my guys could wear these appliqued t-shirts from 2yrs ago since they still fit:

But of course, making that assumption, the dress (which was extra long last year) was too short when she tried it on.  Ugh.  So an unexpected challenge was thrown down.  Then I saw this purple bunny fabric on sale for 60% off and figured it was a sign, so I came up with my Bunnykins Dress.

The base is a simple party dress design using pieces from one of my favorite sewing books: Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby.  I scaled them up to a 3T and used a few of my own shortcuts to save time putting it together. 

The pinafore was my own design that I literally figured out as I made it.  I wanted to use this pretty embroidery design that came programmed on my Brother sewing machine (now that I've figured out how to use my embroidery attachment & have the right stabilizers for it).  I was so please with how it turned out - machine embroidery is so addictive!!

I used some nice quality muslin from my stash to create the pinafore and since I was adding embroidery on the front, I made the entire thing fully lined so it would hold its shape well and be a nice, crisp white.  I made it tie at the sides for some extra detailing and for plenty of adjustability:

I didn't want to wrestle with doing a closure on the back for what's essentially an apron, so I made it an over-the-head style:

I was so thrilled that this turned out as I imagined it.  When I was almost finished with it I stumbled across a very similar purple dress with embroidered pinafore online for $118! Other than the yard of the bunny print fabric I only used old materials from my stash, so this was ridiculously inexpensive - literally cost $5 from my wallet (and not counting this Mom's time to make it).  And by making it a bit generous in size, and using a big hem, I'm sure this one can get multiple years of wear:)

Of course after I finished the dress I kind of felt bad my guys would have to wear the same thing a 3rd year in a row.  But being older boys (ages 6 & 9) means super cutesy Easter outfits don't quite work anymore and I just don't see the point of making boys' dress shirts or polos from scratch.  Too much time & materials for something so basic!  So I did some a quick embellishing to make these Dandy Gander polo shirts:

I used inexpensive, plain polos from the local mall and embroidered a small, custom colored duck with bow tie on each one:

Now they have something Easter-y, but not too precious looking.  I'm even doing one for my husband (per his request), so everyone will have some seasonal flair.  Now figuring something out for myself is another matter...

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