A Birthday Dress for Miss Millie

Miss Millie had a birthday, and her mama made her this dress.  She has been wanting to sew some new clothes for spring and summer, but would like them to mysteriously appear without so much as a snip of the scissors, so I secretly sewed this for her when she was off at a friend's house for a few hours.  She told me later that she saw the scraps in the garbage can, so she figured I had made something!  These kids sure get smart as they grow up! Millie is now 13 ... all three kids are now teenagers!
She picked out the fabric from my stash, saying she wanted to go back to more floral, feminine dresses after spending the last year in mostly solid colored skirts and knit shirts.  I love that she has her own style, no matter what other kids her age are wearing; it's a sign of maturity, I think.  She told me today the dress made her look like a woman!  A sweet little lady, for sure, I said. The fabric is Love's Bouquet by Holly Holderman, which I had been planning on listing in my Etsy shop, CutSewCreate, but this is a much better use for it.  The pattern is See & Sew 501 which I could only find on Amazon.  It's from 1997, the good ol' days!  I have a friend who sews most of her clothes, so I called her and asked her for a good go-to jumper pattern, and this is the one she recommended, having used it for herself for years.  It is a pullover dress with a gathered, slightly raised waist.  I added ties to make it narrower at the waist.  I knew Millie wouldn't like it without a bit of cinch there. So here's to my happiness that the days of sewing for Millie are not gone after all!