Freya's Orange Tinny

I should really listen to Freya more often.

She saw this fabric when I was looking on Instagram one day and instantly kept asking for it.  Naturally we made a trip to the fabric shop (any excuse will do!) and she was still set on having an orange dress.  As ever she was right and it's made a very cute dress.

I used the old faithful Tinny dress by Straightgrain.  To be honest I hadn't really given much thought to the gathered skirt but this is the third version now of this dress I've made.

I've not much to say about this pattern that I haven't already said.  I think it is now my most used pattern, as it has so many options and the fit is so nice.  

Sullivan Dress

Hello! I hope everyone has had a safe and happy Christmas and New Year!

This is actually a dress I made last year but it sat languishing on a shelf waiting for a button that I finally sewed on last week.

The pattern is the Sullivan Dress from Sew Much Ado.  I was instantly drawn to the scallops and the very cute sleeves.  It all went together fairly well.  I had a few errors and frustrations but I think they were more my mistakes than the pattern's.  For instance I stuffed up the lining and had to re-do the bodice, and then I couldn't seem to press the sleeves so the seam allowance sat nicely.

I was a bit worried the fabric would make the dress end up looking a bit flat, but I think in the end it's turned out OK. 

Check out my crazy eyes!

I'm finding it a lot easier to post pictures of projects on Instagram these days.  I've put some of my recent selfish makes up there and hope to get around to posting them here soon. 

Lemon Dress

I've made yet another building block dress.

This again is one of the basic versions of the block dress from the Oliver and S book, this time complete with collars and sleeve cuffs.  The only thing I did differently was just over-locking the sleeves instead of using the sleeve cuff facing.  I wasn't in the mood for fiddly sewing that night.

I toyed with the idea of using a white contrast fabric but I'm glad I ended up going with the yellow. The fabric is some Cotton and Steel with gorgeous little lemons on it.

It looks as good as ever, the book was definitely worth every penny.  I've already had a go at drafting yet another dress.

 Still twirling!

Striped Tinny Dress

I'm kind of proud of this one!

This is a gathered skirt version of the Tinny dress by Straightgrain, a pattern I come back to again and again.

I loved this fabric when I saw one of my local fabric stores post a picture of it on Instagram.  Freya saw the picture and asked for that please, please, please.  She also picked out some orange with diamonds on from the same range. When I'd finished making it, she was very proud that she'd picked the fabric.

I've made this pattern so many times I used the cheat sheet instead of each instruction.  I knew I wanted the stripes to go different ways on the bodice and skirt.  It took quite a bit of work to get that zipper to line up, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

This is the first time I'd ever done a blind hem too. I think it's something I'll be using a lot more.

Don't you love a four year old's style?! She's got new shoes and now she won't wear anything else :) 

Pleatie dress in the Sunshine

I took advantage of a slight break in the pretty miserable weather we've been having to photograph a project I actually finished quite a while ago now.

 This is the Pleatie dress from Tadah patterns.  I'd made the short-suit version last year but wasn't thrilled with the fit so I played it safe this year with a dress.  Plus I have a dress crazy girl, so at least I know this will get worn! I love dungarees and pants but it's not worth making lots of them as she will always, always choose to wear a dress!

This was one of those times when I had the idea of making this dress but just couldn't find the right fabric.  I remember looking around and around my local fabric shop one day and nothing was really leaping out at me.  I think it was around my third time round the store that day when I spotted this lovely Tilda fabric and knew it would be perfect.  It's actually a very pale green with blue spots in the flowers but it's a bit tricky to see on the photos.  I found the perfect blue to pair with it, and that was that!

This isn't the quickest dress I've ever made but it did go together nicely, with everything lining up perfectly. I remembered to be very careful with the facing and paid close attention to when and where you fold things too, as I became a bit unstuck there last time. The instructions and diagrams are pretty clear, just make sure you read them carefully.

 I went for sleeveless as I did make it while the weather was cooler (not that it's really warmed up yet!) so it could be easily layered and still work well for Summer.

I love the details of this pattern!  The pleats are just lovely and I really love a good collar.   You have plenty of options with this pattern including sleeves, pants or a skirt, pleats or no pleats, 2 collars to choose from and whether you put the placket on the front or the back.  As you can see I went with a pointed collar and a front button placket.

 It's been a hit with Little Miss and she quite regularly chooses to wear it.  I swear she must be the most overdressed kid at Kinder sometimes, but I figure she may as well wear what she wants.  I've given up trying to save things for going out as I have done in the past, and then some things were grown out of and barely worn. Not chance of that happening with this dress anyway.

Pembridge Pinafore

You can't go wrong with a pinafore dress and knee high socks!

This is the Pembridge Pinafore from Lil Luxe Collection.  I used a simple blue and white stripe I've had in my stash for ages but just never really known what to do with it.  It's great for layering with long or short sleeves so I hope she'll get a lot of use out if it.

The PDF itself wasn't very big and was very quick to go together with everything lining up nicely.  There are two views, one with a button down back or a crossover strap.  I went for the crossover as you can see and it was a seriously quick sew! 

I made a straight size four but I''m wondering if I'll use a slightly bigger piece of elastic in the back as it does seem to be pulling a bit over the chest.  I do like how it has a high back though, that's a lovely design feature.

All in all I like how it's turned out and will probably make another one some day.  I was worried this might look a bit school uniform-ish in this fabric so I might try something a bit bolder and more colourful next time. 

No, really this is my favourite dress now!

Lately I've been on a good sewing streak and I've been really liking some of my recent makes.  It seems I keep announcing this is my new favourite dress every time I finish something.

It was no different when I finished this dress.  I used the Block Dress Book again but was a bit braver this time.  I had a go at drafting a cap sleeve and the tie collar.  I lengthened the collar by half an inch but I think it wouldn't have hurt to make it a touch longer.  

The fabric is from a Marcus Fabrics range called ''Meadow Storm".  It's a lovely subtle print with little flowers etched in to it.  The more I looked at it, the more I liked it.  I knew I wanted to sew a dress with a collar but I couldn't decide upon a contrast collar so used the same fabric.  

The cap sleeve also worked well, and it really didn't take long to draft the new pieces.  Its certainly given me some more confidence to try drafting some of the other pattern pieces.  The only other thing I did differently was to cut two back skirt pieces and overlock the back edges.  I then sewed up the back to the notch.  I then edgestitched the seam allowance down.  This was much quicker than the tricky placket but it did leave a seam line on the back of the dress.

I had to be careful with placing the snaps at the back as the collar did come fairly close to the edge of the placket.  I found though by using the centre back markings it worked well.  I also used 4 different coloured snaps for a bit of a change,

I really love how it's turned out.  The colour is great on Freya and it's a lovely Summer dress (now we just need Summer to finally arrive!)  So that's my new favourite dress, well for the moment anyways...