Christmas Dress for a special neice

Now that it is Christmas Eve, and the recipient of this is tucked away asleep in her bed, I figured I could show it. My neice, Alyssa, lives in Italy, so Santa is already about to deliver the goodies.
She's very much a girly-girl, loving the ballerina and dresses that twirl. I made she and her sister smocked dresses last Christmas too. She definitely appreciated that style more, wearing the smocked jumper into the summer. I wasn't going to go down that road again, but then I saw this ballerina fabric, and I knew what it needed to become.

The dress is made to look like two pieces, but it is actually just one. I had the rose (which is a batik), and it matched nicely. The bodice is not smocked this year - a much simpler version with just vertical pleats and pearly buttons. Since she is in Italy, I also opted for short sleeves, in hopes that she can wear it more of the year.

My pictures do not show the hem-stitching detail around the collar well, but it is very pretty. It coordinates with the edging of the ivory eyelet lace. The back of the dress has ties for a bow. I thought I had more pictures, but got into a rush to get their packages mailed before Thanksgiving so I guess I missed out. Hopefully my sister-in-law will send me a picture of her in it. She is seven, and is very tall for her age. This style of dress will suit her well, I think :-)