Vintage Butterfly Birthday Dress, VFT Haven diy

Butterfly Birthday Dress, diy

We have butterflies!!  All ten of our caterpillars from our Live Butterfly Kit became butterflies. We even saw two butterflies emerge from their cocoons today. It was amazing and both the kids enjoyed the experience of the metamorphosis process.

new butterfly grow your butterfly kit
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This dress started a little differently than I had planned.  I had originally almost finished my daughter’s birthday dress, when I decided with all that hard work, I couldn’t let her eat cake in her dress, so I started a second outfit for her the day before her party.

I thought to myself I will just make a quick plain Haven Romper from Violette Fields Thread (VFT).  I already had made a few of these in the past therefore I had the pattern cut out and on hand.  After cutting out the bodice, I decided, maybe I should put a little embroidery on the front bodice???  You can reference my post on How to Center Your Embroidery Design Every Time.

how to center embroidery design elle est forte metallic thread milk sugar

I had made some gorgeous free standing lace (the fsl butterflies embroidery design can be found by artapli on Etsy) for her original butterfly birthday dress, however I was not fond of the colors I had made.  They did not quite match, so I decided I would just add a few free standing lace (fsl) butterflies to her romper.  Please feel free to reference my previous post on How to Make Free Standing Lace.  I thought it over for a bit and decided  fsl butterflies might look a little silly on shorts.  I had always wanted to try the Haven Skirt version with a chiffon overlay!  So I decided to go for it. I would attach the fsl butterflies to the chiffon overlay of the skirt, one on the bodice and one on the headband.

butterfly headband and bodice free standing lace
Butterfly headband to match butterfly dress

So much for my simple romper she could eat in.  Oops.  She cannot eat cake in this dress either.    I worked on this dress till the last-minute.  We had cancelled her party earlier in the week due to sickness, however she was feeling fine.  It was a rainy day, so we took the kids to the butterfly house and had a marvelous time.

butterfly dress with attached free standing lace 3d butterflies
Butterfly dress with chiffon overlay and 3D free standing lace butterflies

We absolutely love the butterfly house, it gives them the chance to see butterflies close up and it is fun to do on a day full of thunderstorms.  Baby Girl was super excited every time she found a butterfly!

butterfly birthday dress at the butterfly house
Butterfly Birthday Haven Dress 3D butterflies

Of course we cannot mention the Haven without showing the back of the dress!  I think I bought this pattern the first time, just for the the gorgeous back options.

back of haven vft dress with lace vintage

Is the the back not gorgeous?? I just love the vintage look of the Haven Dress by VFT.  I have made several rompers and now the dress version.  I see MANY MANY more in our near future.  Once I make a pattern and I like it, I usually recreate in a new way.  Okay, Okay, I already have my next one planned.  LOL

IMG_1501 antique lace more vibrance
Chiffon Overlay Butterfly Birthday dress

So came the true dilemma…..  What will she wear to eat cake?  We just put her in some of her every day clothes and it was just the 4 of us and the cake my son helped me bake and Baby Girl helped me decorate. Okay, I decorated while she ate the frosting. The cake may look like a Pinterest fail, however she loved it!  The pre-made edible butterflies definitely made the whole cake and the edible hearts sprinkles were pretty awesome as well. Oh and for the girl who said she wanted “Pink” for her birthday, I found her pink candles that glow pink too!

Butterfly birthday cake
Butterfly birthday cake with edible butterflies and edible heart sprinkles

The Photoshop actions used for the dress pictures are Tea Party by A Whimsical Pixel on Etsy.  I love the vintage look of these Photoshop actions, they went very well with the vintage style dress.

Supplies in this post:

  1. Haven Skirt and Romper Pattern
  2. 3D Butterfly Free Standing Lace Butterfly Design
  3. Pink Bias Tape (Or you could make your own)
  4. 1.5 Inch wide Elastic
  5. Chiffon Fabric (I bought mine from Joann)
    1. I used remnants for all my fabrice, since I made a 2t size
  6. Gold Elastic for the headband
  7. Metallic Thread (See my tutorial on How to Embroider with Metallic Thread)
  8. Embroidery Thread
  9. Tea Party Photoshop Actions
  10. Edible Butterflies
  11. Gold Edible Hearts
  12. Pink Flame Candles 
  13. Live Butterfly Kit
vintage butterfly dress sewing pattern diy
About Seams Sew Lo 173 Articles
Hi I'm Lo and I love to sew and I also love to play with my two children! I am a work at home Mom of two toddlers.  I never planned on staying home with the kids, however when I was 8 and 1/2 months pregnant with my first child, Little Dude, I was unexpectedly let go from my corporate job.  With a newborn and a tough job market, I decided to buy a Brother Sewing/Embroidery Machine and taught myself to sew. I would like to thank the many bloggers, youtube videos I have watched and PDF pattern designers for all their help. With a degree in International Business from Blaise-Pascal University in France I decided to open my own business, an Etsy shop.  I started making baby leg warmers and then added embroidered bodysuits.  I was so busy I couldn't keep up and had to seek out third party help. After my second child, Baby Girl, life became super busy.  There is something about little girls clothes that makes them so much fun to create.  I started venturing out to more articles of clothing.  It has been a fun adventure. I am learning as I go.  I sometimes skip steps or take short cuts, sometimes I take a long road to get where I need to go.  I don't think sewing needs to be perfect, I think it should be fun!!

13 Comments

  1. My Mom is a pattern maker/seamstress and amazing sewer. Having grown up around this, I can really appreciate the work that you’ve put in these dresses. I LOVE the 3-D effect – very creative! I wish my daughter was younger b/c I would def put her in one of these!

      • No…I don’t know why not though? Do you sell yours on Etsy? She’s been really focusing on Bridal alterations for the last 10 years. I would love to do more things like this with her, but she’s super busy!

    • Thank you! Yes it was a bummer she was sick the week of her birthday. Poor girl. Thanks, I loved the butterflies too and they didn’t taste too bad either. 🙂

  2. Oh my heart, that little dress is adorable! I wish I could be as creative as this, I am terrible at sewing! You have done an amazing job!

  3. This turned out so cute! My little girl is 1 and I would love seeing her in something like this. Cute dress, cute headband, cute sewing job.

  4. Wow it really looks a lovely dress and it looks cute on her plus I love the color combination!

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