Carebear Dress- McCall 6561

I want to start off this post with an enormous THANK YOU to Cindy from Cation Designs. Back in December, she held a giveaway for this Care Bear sheet. Well, I freaked out a little bit because I HAD THIS SHEET SET AS A KID! These are the sheets that I snuggled up in every night! I even had the matching bedspread! I couldn't believe it when I won and received the sheet in the mail! Thanks so much, Cindy!

Source

My first inclination was to make jammie pants out of the fabric, so I would wear it to bed again--like the circle of life. But then I got to thinking.... what would Cation do? What would Tanit-Isis do? Both have made awesome dresses from old cartoon-character sheets. (Want proof? See here, here, and here!) So I took a deep breath, cut into this precious fabric, and made it into a party dress!

This dress was truly a labor of love. I've been working on it on-and-off for a couple of months. And who knows if it will ever be worn in public. But I'm ok with that. The little girl in me, who had these sheets as a kid, would LOVE to know that I made a Care Bear party dress!!!!

Sewing Notes- I used McCall 6561 as a starting point. I had some frustrations---not sure if it was the pattern or the super-lightweight voile I used for lining, but there was some frustration trying to get everything to match up. And of course, I had to make things more difficult for myself:

• Because I don't do well with strapless bras, I decided to add in bust padding to eliminate the need for a bra. I wish I had taken some pictures of this process because the innards of this bodice are epic!
• Because I hate carrying a purse, I added 3 zippered pockets. 3 you ask? 2 side-seam pockets, plus a hidden pocket in the lower bodice to closely hold valuables like my ID and credit card. I'm quite proud of this idea! If I ever wear this dress in public, you had better believe that I don't want a purse distracting from its awesomeness! 

• Because I hate it when dresses fall down, I added boning in the bodice and a waist stay at the waist. I also made the straps criss-cross in the back to help hold it up better.

After completing this dress, I still have some fabric left... probably enough to make some jammie shorts---which realistically will get much more wear than this dress. But admittedly, won't be as ridiculously epic! :)

Finally, for fun, does anyone have a favorite Care Bear? Let us know in the comments!

Source

As a kid, my favorite was Wish Bear:

Source