The Mimi Dress!!!

My baby is turning four this week.  Here she is a couple of months ago wearing the Mimi Dress Pattern by Filles et Maman.  I love this chic little dress.  It's made entirely out of knit but is constructed as you would a woven dress.  The collar is interfaced to make it easier to sew.  And the best part, Mel shows you how to turn the button loop tube in the most clever way.

I added flat piping to the collar and sleeve cuffs to differentiate those features from the rest of the dress.  I think my favorite part of this dress is the asymmetrical peter pan collar and the keyhole opening underneath.

There is also an option for a collar-less top, or a dress, or a collared top.  Plus long-sleeves.  You can mix and match to your heart's content.

She looks very Parisian, don't you think?

shwin designs spring patterns

It occurred to me that I never did post about the Shwin Designs' Spring Collection, some of which I tested.

The Georgia Twirl Tunic/Dress is one of my favorites in this collection.  The front is a simple sleeveless boatneck with a double circle skirt that can be made shorter for a tunic length or longer for a dress length.  I chose to make the tunic length to wear with leggings or skinny jeans. 

The back has a V-neck with button closures, the skirt can be left opened, which I opted for, or sewn together if you are making the dress version.  There is also an option for color-blocking the front.  It's a fun dress to play with mixing patterns and colors.

All the fabrics were bought from LimaSews Etsy Shop. 

 

Shwin Designs' Anna Top and Lucy Tunic

Shauna of Shwin & Shwin just came out with 2 cute patterns in women's sizes.  This first one is the Anna Top/ Dress.  I made mine a top just because tops are way more practical and has the most chance of being worn.  I found this cute blue floral fabric in the red tag area of JoAnn's.  I think it's cotton lawn and there's probably a little bit of synthetic fibers in there.  It's soft and light and just lovely for a summer top.  The top portion is chiffon, leftover fabric from a dance costume.

The pattern calls for folding the bias tape to the inside so that it is hidden; I changed it up a little by letting it show.  I just love this top, it's cool and breezy for summer, and the shape is simple and classic.  I might have to make a million more.

This next one is the Lucy Top.  Another classic, but modern style, it can be made totally reversible.  The underside of this top is a lovely blue voile from free spirit.  I haven't worn the reverse side because it ended up looking too much like scrubs, haha.  But anyway, the fabric shown is birch organic quilting cotton from Lima Sews.  These pictures were taken after a full day of the top being worn.  I look like a rumpled mess.  I had a little trouble with the button-holes and they ended up being too big for the buttons.  Next time I will try adding a little bit of interfacing to the wrong side to make sure the fabric doesn't stretch.

Here I am with Queen Elsa!

The Hummingbird Dress

 

Our annual trip to Disneyland is coming up and I just happened to have this fashionable princess fabric in my stash and a really cute new dress pattern by RabbitRabbit Creations.  This is the Hummingbird Dress, Jasmine's latest release.  There are options to fancy this little dress up but I chose the simplest "everyday" version. 

I had exactly 1 yard of this fabric and knew that it had to accommodate both girls.  As it turned out, the everyday option was more than enough for both dresses.   I even cut a little off the bottom so that I could add the hem band to tie it in with the bodice fabric.

This was such a quick sew too; I probably finished both dresses in under 2 hours.  The fitted bodice gets its shape from elastic in the back.

I'm excited to make the dressed up version: chiffon, sequins, lace, the possibilities are endless.

A Jennuine Design: The Matinee Dress

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Spring in Oregon can be a little treacherous.  Often, it can rain days on end and you feel like it's just a sad continuation of the rainy season that we have nine months of the year.  Then all of a sudden, we get one glorious day when the sun comes out and the sky is blue, and the flowers start sprouting. 

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‹ Apr 2014 ›

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Timezone: Pacific Daylight Time

We took a trip to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival on one of those glorious spring days, and it was the perfect opportunity to photograph B in her new Matinee Dress, which I had the pleasure of testing.  Jenn is the author of the lovely blog A Jennuine Life.  The Matinee dress is her first foray into the world of children's pdf patterns, and let me tell you, the pattern and tutorial are so impressive, professional, and thorough that you would never guess that she is a novice.  The steps are fully illustrated with computer graphics and the directions are concise with just enough details.  I'm excited to see more of her designs in the not too distant future.

The front has a sweet boat-neck, a sash right at the empire line and a simple drop waist with a gathered skirt.  But then, she turns around and you get this:

Is that not the cutest?  I just can't get enough of the back view.  B is on the slim side for her size, so I added an extra button in the back to make sure that her skivvies didn't accidentally peak out.  Jenn has since added a section on customizing the fit of the dress.  But honestly, I like that it's a little on the big side.  She will definitely get more wear out of this lovely dress.  And she is growing so fast that she'll probably outgrow it soon enough.

I really wanted to use this Heather Ross floral for B.  There are little bees flying around amongst the flowers.  Her nickname is Bee and she is busy, busy, busy!  I found the perfect plaid from my stash to match.  I think it's Riley Blake.

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You can find the pattern on Etsy here.  It's on sale currently; just use the code MATINEE20 to receive 20 percent off.  Or you can hop onto craftsy and buy it at the already discounted rate.  And be sure to check out all the other tester's versions of the Matinee dress.  There are some crazy talented sewists/ photographers with beautiful children in this group.

I'll leave you with one last picture of B jumping for joy.