Real Women wear Unicorns

Thanks for the encouragement over the baby outfit -- it was nice to know I'm not the only one who couldn't hack the pattern (though now I'm living in constant fear that the great AB herself will stumble across the post and read it and have her feelings hurt...mortifying). I'm going to try and mess with the waistband and neckline a little to see if I can get it to fit as a 6-12 month or 12-18 month sized top. The bloomers I fear are a loss, but I'm sure someone I know will procreate again soon and odds are decent (49%, I believe) that effort will produce a girl.

A few weeks ago, bolstered by having Mr Rae home and the fact that my belly was no longer ginormous (although a bit woobly and second trimester-esque), I pulled together this unicorn top with some of the Far Far Away from my stash. It's McCall's 5388, a fave here at Made By Rae and this version (View D) was even easier as I decided not to add the sleeves, bringing the number of pieces I had to cut down to a wee four. Also, this may seem a bit counterintuitive, but fall is coming, and sleeveless looks better under cardigans. I used bias tape (that bright orange they carry at JoAnn happens to match this colorway perfectly) and lace to finish the armholes, and I took out the usual 1 inch from the center of the yoke, as it is notoriously wide.

I decided to pintuck and pleat rather than gather the front, so I alternated pintucks with pleats from the center. Each pintuck was 1/8" and each pleat was 1/2." This was a little tricky with the double gauze fabric, but it turned out pretty well.

I love the idea of making a smocked sundress like this one out of this fabric too (yes I sortof stole the name for this post from that pic)...oh, woe is me, if only I could figure out how to smock properly! One of these days I will beat my machine into submission and then it will be victorious smocking! smocking! smocking! all the way I tell you.

: : closeup of neckline and pleat details : :

: : someone may have gotten a wee bit crabby during this photoshoot...good thing her pants matched : :