Dresses for Daycare

So Littleheart is in Daycare (which we call "Gan" - Hebrew for Garden) when I am at work, and she loves it. I am really happy with her progress, I feel that it is really good for her to be with other children. She learns a lot of social skills, and her language is really developing nicely.

I have two problems though:

1. She is always sick. I guess at this age, being around all those germs is difficult for her body to cope with. They say it gets better in the second year (which starts in September) so let's keep our fingers crossed.

2. They do not use bibs! I can't understand it! Every day the kids eat lunch at about 11:30 am and then their clothes get changed before they go down for a nap. The "morning outfit" comes home filthy! Tomato sauce everywhere! The "afternoon outfit" (which she is wearing when I pick her up) comes home as clean as can be. It took me a while to figure this out. In the beginning, I used to send her in all the cute outfits I made for her, and would just cry when I saw what it looked like when I picked her up. I would wash the clothes over and over again, hang them in the sun and use a ton of laundry detergent to get the stains out. Then I figured out a good system. I send her to Gan with a dark outfit and put a light outfit in her bag for the afternoon. This way, if i don't get all the stains out, they don't really show....

Here are two dresses I made with darker materials, so Littleheart would be fashionable in the mornings too :)

For the polka dot one I used Jess's tutorial from Craftiness is not Optional here. I made a gathered pocket instead of a regular one, using the cute black and white elastic ruffle I found in my stash. I also sewed the same elastic ruffle onto the seam between the bodice and the skirt. 

The striped dress is the free pattern from Crafterhours which you can find here. I made a pleat in the front instead of the gathering. The giant flower idea came from The Train to Crazy here.

So now Littleheart can enjoy her tomato sauce!