Freya's requested Ileana

Freya's becoming quite vocal in the things I make for her, which can lead to some fun!

After noticing she had a few cat dresses but no dog dresses she announced she needed one.  So off we went post haste to the fabric shop and found this Cotton and Steel fabric that fit the bill.  Of course the contrast colour just had to be yellow but I think it works really well.

I was then told it needed to be twirly and I decided to go with the Ileana dress pattern from Compagnie M.  I've made it before and figured it was high time for a new one.

As it was quite a directional print I went with the half circle skirt, with the raglan sleeves (my favourite!) and added the triangle pockets.  Because you can never have too much yellow when you're four I also added a belt, which I think lifts the dress nicely.

I made a size 5 for my growing girl.  It's roomy but still definitely wearable.  I had a little hiccup with the back of the skirt when I cut out the pocket shapes from that piece as well.  I was able to wrangle another back skirt out of what I had left but had to cut it in 2 pieces and add seam allowance.

Freya LOVES her new dress and I have to admit, I do too.

The Purple Frederique Dress

 This is the new Compagnie M Frederique Dress, an instabuy as soon as I saw it!

It's a wrap dress, a style I've never really made before so I thought I'd get Freya to wear it for a day before I rushed out to make a second one. 

For this one I kept it pretty simple and left off the collar and sleeves.  I didn't have enough lining to fully line it as the instructions, so I just lined the bodice.  It all seemed to work out OK but there's a couple of corners and edges I'm not 100% happy with so I'll try to fully line the next one.

This is some Cotton and Steel Fabric I have sewn with before.  Freya and I liked that dress so much, that we (and I mean we!) decided she needed another purple dress as she grew out of the old one.  I'd actually bought some more a while back with another dress in mind, but luckily it's worked out nicely for this one.  I picked out some mustard for a contrast tie.

Construction and pattern wise, it's pretty good as usual from Compagnie M.  There's a few options to choose from and I liked not having to worry about zippers or buttons for a change. I made a size 5 for my growing girl and it is a little roomy but not too gapey.  It all stayed together and didn't unravel as she ran and jumped around in it, which was a little concern of mine.  When it does get cooler, I think this will layer nicely.

A certain someone also recently has been able to jump, with both feet off the ground, for the first time.  So now that's all she wants to do which can lead to some interesting photos...  So proud of this girl! A small achievement for some but huge for us :) 

The new "boring" Laure Dress

A certain someone who proclaimed this dress as being "boring"looks pretty pleased with herself in these photos!

This is the Laure Dress a new pattern by Straightgrain.  I must admit a bit of a weakness of a dropped waist dress so this was an insta-buy when it was released.  This is with the bow collar but there are also other options including a qipao collar that I'd like to try one day.

I ended up making a size 5, which is a very generous fit on my girl.  She turns 5 soon and at the rate she's growing I wanted to do some future proofing.  I had some great advice from people on Instagram regarding sizing but I figured I'd be happier with her growing into the dress, instead of growing out of it quickly.  It's not as if she has a shortage of things to wear :)

As ever the pdf and pattern went together well.  The cap sleeves were a little fiddly, but no more than any other sleeve.  There was some great instructions for the invisible zipper, especially for the top.  That's one area I'm never 100% happy with how it looks.  I used some fabric I'd had in the stash for a while (I'm not sure what collection it is) and was able to get this dress out of 1 metre.  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out but Freya proclaimed it to be "boring"and said it needs a pink collar. Who knows, I think she may be onto something. I'm really enjoying how she's developing her own taste now.

Freya was in fine form today with her "modelling"poses.  She had me in stitches!