26 years and fabric not yarn

I am now 26 years old.  Today is my birthday and it is different from any other I have had.  I am buying fabric this year.  Previous years have been filled with yarn, yarn and more yarn.  I would search ravelry.com for patterns and yarns and saved up that birthday money for a big splurge!
I still love knitting but unfortunately I am limited by lots of joint pain in my hands.  One year ago for my birthday my mom gave me my first sewing machine.

A Elna Air Electronic SU circa sometime early 80's.  In the last six months I have immersed myself in the world of internet sewing blogs and become quite smitten with sewing new projects.  Most of them being for gifts or my one year old daughter Lydia.  I haven't been a 'newbie' for a long time so it feels good to be in total awe of the new possibilities of sewing. I love that I know very little and it is a fun, new learning experience every time I sit down to sew.  Not to mention my hands are healing from LOTS of knitting.
I held off on learning to sew because I feared this very thing.  The fear that it would take away from/eliminate knitting from my life.  I still love knitting but for now I am willing to accept that I have a HUGE stash of beautiful (expensive) yarns in my guest bedroom that are just...hanging out.  Rapidly Steadily being joined by their cotton counterparts heaps of fabric.
My first challenge of this year is to create an easter dress for my daughter that she loves.  She's only one so therefore I have to love it as well.  I have turned to the ever-so-adorable Oliver + S Family Reunion Dress.  I am hoping that my fears of following a pattern will be eased by using a pattern by a company that I only hear rave reviews about.  The only negatives being about the price tags.  But...you get what you pay for!!!

I bought the supplies to make this gorgeous dress at the local fine fabric shop, Waechter's.  I was warmly greeted and even invited to join a free class on a Saturday (yes free)!  Cannot wait for the opportunity to learn more and more.