New Dress for Philippa

I finally finished Philippa's dress that I cut out in Elsie Marley's Spring Kids Clothes Week Challenge.  Even better it was a lovely warm sunny day perfect for a photo shoot with the littlest member of our family. 

"Look at Me"

This is another Seashore Sundress by Oliver + S.  I love this pattern, it is a super cute dress so easy to sew and lends itself so nicely to using multiple fabrics.  This time I have used Ta Dot in Berry, Ann Kelle's Hearts in Bright and Dot to Dot in Navy from the Children at Play range.  I sewed size 18-24M for Philippa which is actually a little long right now, but it keeps it modest especially with  a bulky nappy underneath. It was very satisfying to cut out a pattern and sew up a lovely dress (no measuring, fiddling, altering).  Philippa is 2 in a couple of weeks, so this is her Birthday Dress and she is very happy with it!

I added a couple of heart appliques as she loves hearts and choose the fabric for the front panel.  So as you can see there is one on the back.  I used dot to dot in Aqua from Children at Play range of fabric.

I also appliqued a heart on the facing as a faux label, using dot to dot in Berry.  To keep it colourful I used Sandi Henderson's Henna Garden in Yellow for the facing.

She enjoyed having photos taken after watching her sisters getting fussed over in the past.  It was very cute!

KCWC day 1 to 3 progress.

So it took day 1 and 2 but my first item is finished!  Alannah has Pajama day at school on Friday so a new pair of Pj's were in order.  I used an old pair of Pajama's for the rough pattern.  It would have been easier with an actual pattern but I was quite surprised at how well I managed without.  There was lots of procrastination before cutting, I was sooo nervous that I was going to completely muck it up!!  So I made them quite big, then sized them down a bit and finally decided to leave them a little too big, as room to grow is always a good thing.  The trim is made from a scrap I received in a recent scrap pack (from Hawthorne Threads, which I see have sold out) and is Michael Miller's Ta Dot in fuschia . I couldn't believe how well it matched.  If I had more I would have folded the cuff  in half stitched it to the bottom of the pants and then top stitched the seam.  I didn't, so I sewed on the contrast fabric and hemmed it which looks a bit odd to me, but I am sure no one else will notice.  The main pant fabric is Ann Kelle's from her Desert Party range, the Sorbet print on a white background.  The Tee shirt is a cheapie from H&M which I appliqued the simple ice block shape on to make the set. 

On Wednesday, or Day 3 as it is known this week, I started my mans business shirt to a dress project.  I first got the idea from Dana's blog.   Just to be difficult (to myself) I decided I didn't want to follow the tutorial, but instead it has become more of an inspiration.  Much time wasting went into this, I seem to get a lot more completed when I have a definite pattern, but I have now a clear idea/sketch of what I want to sew and a shirt in bits.  Today (day 4) I will start sewing it and hopefully I will have another item of clothing complete by the end of the week.