first dress for spring/summer

You might remember last year I made this little dress. It is definitely one of the most popular in her wardrobe and so I decided to make another one. That and I wanted to work on my zipper skills. If I can avoid sewing a pattern with a zipper in it then I will but I do need to face my fears.

The pattern is Ellie Mae Designs K143 which I picked up on eBay. I made the size xs (again) and it’s a perfect fit for my little size 5/6. The fabric I used this time was from the Handmade range by Bonnie & Camille and the red spotty fabric is from another range by Bonnie & Camille.

I followed the pattern exactly but just used a shorter zip (because that’s all I had and I had a little girl busting to wear the dress today).

I hung up the dress to put on her later and then she came into the room. ‘Oh—–my—–gawd, you made it for me’. We do prefer to say ‘oh my gosh’ in this house and she was clearly excited (and has been watching a tv show with my big girls). This is someone who has come so far with her speech in her first year at school. I overheard her playing earlier in the week and she was saying ‘I sorry, I don’t love you anymore’. Not sure where she heard it but it made me laugh.

Anyway if you’re looking for a little summer dress I really think this is a great pattern as it’s not fiddly. The pockets are a big hit and it’s a great dress for wearing on any occasion. This took me 3 sessions in my sewing room (mainly because it’s so hard to get an hour in there on my own). One to cut it, one to piece bodice and skirt and then I finished the rest early one morning before most of the house got up.