Frankly, my Dear...

The wife of my husband's good friend from college recently gave birth to their second child, a little girl they named Scarlett - after the famed heroine of Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind.  Although they currently reside just outside of Washington, DC, since Miss Scarlett's dad is from South Carolina and both her parents attended the University of South Carolina, I decided that - along with her namesake - this makes her at least 3/4 southern and as such in need of a traditional southern baby gift:  The monogrammed outfit.

I do not know why or when this phenomenon burst onto the scene or why it happened to take such a strong hold, but one thing is certain:  Any child of any social standing is to have at least one monogrammed a-line dress or john-john in order to be considered part of proper southern society, period.  Perhaps it was because the affluent parents could boast that they were well-off enough to afford a new wardrobe for each child in the house by plastering each baby's initials and proper names all over the fronts of their little seersucker and gingham outfits, but I just happen to think it's powerful cute.  Judge for yourself!

so cute with the itty bitty bloomers!

Close-up view of the monogram on the bodice.

This was by far one of the most difficult patterns I've ever dealt with.  Not being a master seamstress (I definitely consider myself like, 1/2 a step above a novice!), I had no idea what some of the directions meant.  That is when I take things into my own hands and just make up stuff to make the fabric bend to my will.  While that can be fun sometimes, sometimes you just want to be able to read the directions and mindlessly follow them, you know?  And when you're making a gift, especially, you just want it to turn out &$*!-ing amazing, right?  So this project ended up frustrating me to the point that instead of having it finished and ready to send the moment that Miss Scarlett joined us here in the outside world, it took me a whole month after her birth to get from being stuck on that stupid collar piece to getting the dress tidied up and finished being sewn together.  And it frustrates me to know that there are ways I could have done it neater or better, but as it was, the child was going to be 18 before I got it finished if I got too picky on it, so I just had to let go and send it with all my good intentions as a substitute for master seamstress skills. 

To make sure that there was a little more of a nod to the baby's name, I also personalized this onesie to send along with the dress -

"I'll think about that tomorrow"

Hilarious, eh?  I couldn't resist.  The thought of a brand new, tiny, still pink baby bearing these carefree words sent me into a fit of giggles, and once that happened, nothing - not even a finicky font that wanted to pull through the delicate weave of a baby onesie - was going to stop me.

And so here was the gift as a whole that was finally mailed and received shortly after Scarlett turned a month old this past week.

Did you ever have a project that you just got a mental block on and couldn't push through?  How do you work through those times?  Does it help you to go to another project and then come back later, or do you prefer to stew over it until the solution is bullied out of your brain?  I'd love to know your tips and tricks, because this month I'm making a flower girl dress for my daughter, and though the pattern is simple enough, there is *gasp* a zipper involved, and I don't know if I'll be able to make it without much cursing and seam ripping of delicate silk fabric.

Heaven help us!