My oldest daughter turned 6 earlier this month and for once I went with a simple birthday dress instead of planning something complicated. No piping. No lace. Just jersey knit…with mermaids!

In previous years this child would only wear dresses and fancy shoes but kindergarten has changed her from a toddler into a real and true kid. She still likes a fancy dress sometimes, but t-shirts, leggings, and tennis shoes are more her speed these days.

Making this also made me realize a lot of my sewing patterns are in toddler sizes and not kid sizes. However perhaps I shouldn’t worry. I made the bodice up in a size 5 t-shirt pattern shortened for a dress and it is still huge. This is Made By Rae’s Flashback Skinny Tee which I’ve used tons of times, but clearly I should have actually measured Lu’s chest and not assumed a 5 would be right.

The mermaid fabric is from Sahara Fabrics. I stashed a bunch of their prints a while back and I’m slowly working through them. This came as a panel which I used on the front of the bodice and mermaid printed yardage I used for the skirt and back of the bodice. I have a 2nd panel and more yardage I’d like to use for my younger daughter so I cut carefully to leave large enough remnants.

Since the weather is unpredictable in March I went ahead and added long sleeves like a faux under sleeve so there isn’t the bulk of having to wear a whole shirt underneath. Then I used the same pink jersey from my stash for the neckband to tie it all together. I’m thankful I added the sleeves since all our winter weather has decided to land in March after having a hot and dry December, January, and February!

The dress was a hit on her birthday. Lu asked for a Chuck E. Cheese birthday for 6 months so we gave in. It was pure chaos, but she had a lot of fun and that’s all that matters! Happy birthday to Lu!