the tradition of making each girl a special dress or outfit for their birthday continued in 2014 (read about maya's first birthday dress here and etta's third birthday dress here) and first up was maya's second birthday.

a few months earlier i had made a polka dot class picnic tunic by oliver + s that was incredibly popular with maya and her mom. so when it was decided that the party theme would be farm animals i decided to do a twist on that much loved style by adding a pig embellishment.

i got the materials (two buttons, embroidery thread, a yard of polka dot quilting fabric, and a fat quarter of pink cotton) at jo-ann for something like $12.

for the pig i found circular objects around the house that were the right size for the body, head, and nose. (okay i used a growler, pint glass, and shot glass respectively). i traced them on to parchment paper then added the ears and legs freehand.

(sorry for the blurry photo, i didn't know then i would be blogging this).

i stitched the pieces on with a zig-zag stitch and dark pink thread. for the eyes i used small black buttons. on the back i used the two larger pieces just put on in the reverse order (head then body). for the curly tail i hand stitched on a spiral with some some embroidery thread.

as expected the birthday girl loved her new top.