VOTE FOR #7 Grosgrain's The Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! CLOSED.

(UPDATE) THIS DESIGN HAS BEEN CHOSEN AS ONE OF THE 15 FINALISTS. IF YOU LIKE THIS DESIGN AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT PRODUCED BY SHABBY APPLE PLEASE GO HERE AND VOTE FOR #7!!!!

Okay, here is my second last minute Shabby Apple Dress design for Shabby Apple dresses.

Originally I had just intended to make only one. Then last minute I thought up this green and white piece and it just killed me not to enter it. So for the past few days I've been hard at work finishing up the dress. I hope you like it too.

The dress is designed for spring. I imagined wearing this dress when attending a lunch with friends or on Sunday service or farmer's market stroll.

The color, obviously reminded me of spring. The way grass looks when first sprouting from the ground, all bright and noticeable.

I really loved the way the white looked against the grass green color of the dress. So crisp and sunny.

I really loved the design of the collar. It bears a V-neck trim that attaches to a tiny gathered portion of the front bodice.

Then I ruffle pleated a piece of matching fabric and added on top of the collar. I then added a white piping trimmed piece to keep the two in place.

The sleeves are tiny and capped just right for warm spring weather.

The skirt was rather interesting. It is pleated the entire way around the body. The top of the pleats are finished with a rolled white hem and are not sewn at the tops but rather at the middle giving the look of a skirt but the piece is attached.

The white waistband cinches the pieces together creating a nice flattering A-line waist and skirt. The pleats reach all the way to the bottom of the dress which falls to the knee. Very A-line, very flirty, very feminine.

I had my beautiful friend Abi model for me this time. Unfortunately, she was too tall for my tiny basement studio. So we had to ditch her pretty white heels at least for most of the shots.

Unfortunately we were resigned to taking the photos indoors. It now gets dark around 4:30pm here. Ugh. If not for Christmas, I'd really dread this time of year. I wish the holiday season lasted about one month longer so that the winter didn't seem so long and dreary.

Fortunately, I had these potted ornamental grass pieces on hand. But I have to admit that it's very difficult to photograph spring in the throws of November. By now many of the trees have already lost all of their leaves. I have a feeling it's going to be a long, long winter.

But this spring I'm going to enjoy myself. No more pregnancy sickness. I'm going to wear dresses and bake cold apple pie and have picnics and go on bike rides and just be really happy. That's my new year's resolution.

Yesterday I was thinking that I've been sick for so long it's difficult to remember what it's like to be well. I'm sure many of you have similar pregnancy stories. I don't recall being this sick with either Lily or Molly.

When Abi came over last night to do the shoot I admitted that I usually don't put make up on, even to go out in public and when I do I leave it on until the next day and just wear what's left over.

I even wore sweat pants out on Halloween night. Whatever. At this point, I'd rather be comfy than sick.

Mmmm, look at that popsicle. It's lime. When I opened the box I expected them to be green but I think white turned out better anyway. It was actually really tasty and I ate it throughout the shoot. Nice treat for baby. I bought them at Giant. They're called 'Whole Fruit' bars and they also come in Mango and Strawberry. Very spring, very refreshing to eat on a sunny porch.

If I had to sew this dress over again I'd probably use a stiffer material. It was difficult for me to find the right color of green in the right sort of fabric. I would have liked the top of the skirt piece to stick up more at the top by maybe a half an inch?

But the pleats really make the dress quite full at the bottom. I didn't need any under skirt to fluff this out. I used a circular shape which also helped to create an A-line.

I also want to thank Abi for taking the time to stop by last night after work and take these photos with me. She's a very busy girl and I was lucky to have her as a model. We enjoyed the post-shoot ordering pizza and talking kids. I hope she approves of the pictures I chose:)

We also talked about Christmas and gifts and how she possibly wanting a nice camera for Christmas. I was eager to give her some DSLR advice. I really don't know what to get Brian for Christmas. At first I loftily thought, some kind of vacation? Then I remembered, you can't fly being 9 months pregnant. Duh. You can't take a cruise to the middle of the ocean! You really can't do too much.

Then after baby? I think it might be quite a while before we can go on a nice tropical location sans babies. I don't think I could possible ask someone to watch all three under 5yrs. That's quite a tall order. What about some of you, what has been your experience with kids and vacations?

I'd say this dress would fit a size 2-5. If you'd like to win this dress just link to this post either using the 'create a link' at the bottom of this post or simply creating a post on your blog and including this link.

If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link at the top. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

Update!! While creating a link is still the only requirement for entering a giveaway, leaving a comment along with your link makes it much easier to find your entry. This is mostly due to the fact that blog roll links often show up in my search for entries and can be difficult to sort through.

Create a Link