Sew Geeky - Studio Ghibli Totoro Dress

Studio Ghibli - they make some of my favorite children's movies& when I saw that this was the theme of September's Sew Geeky I was ON BOARD. 

Yes, I do homeschool my older two hooligans and have a newborn. 

Yes, we are scheduled to move next week and I'm packing an ENTIRE house by myself.

Yes, I'm teaching intro to US history in our Homeschooling Coop this week. 

Is that going to stop me? 

NOPE!! 

I created a Sugar Plum Dress from See Kate Sew with a re-drafted a-symmetical collar for Skye. For the bodice I found some super cute Totoro sketches on the web, then transferred them onto the bodice to embroider. I kept my color palette very simple because I wanted the white and black to POP - plus I just love all things black and white. 

I photographed some super cute photos of Skye in her new dress& my heart nearly exploded. That RED hair! Those big blue eyes! & the itty bitty bows on her shoulders. This dress is so perfect for a baby. I can't believe I won the pattern some 2 years ago (?) and hadn't taken time to make it yet. Though, sometimes I'm waiting for the perfect project, this seemed to be it. 

Can you see the tiny creatures on the top? They added just the right amount of Totoro to the dress. Last Sew Geeky I created Archer's backpack which was BAM Batman all IN YOUR FACE! This one is much more subtle. 

So, details. I created the 6 month size dress because she's 4 months and I wanted something that would fit for a little while. Babies grow way too quick. It's certainly roomy, but still good. She's a petite baby so it should last a little while. 

To go with the dress, I made a diaper cover in the same white eyelette fabric. It was purchased at a garage sale this last summer. I added a little soot sprite to the butt of them because they are such fun characters in the movie. 

For the bottom of the dress I added black pom pom trim to mimic the soot sprites. I considered adding eyes to them, but I didn't want it to be a costume- I wanted it to be a classic nod to the movie- so those got vetoed. I also used a black crinkle tulle to give the dress some PUFF and cut it messy to resemble cobwebs. 

The other wonderful ladies have such fun items to share, and I'm so excited to see them finished up! 

Click each picture below to check out the stars of this episode of Sew Geeky!