Sewing clothes, for me, is still rather a challenge. The pattern tracing and cutting, the notches and facings and armhole bindings -- all of that work, and then the whole thing may or may not actually fit. And so I save clothes sewing for only the most special of occasions -- each year, a new birthday outfit.
This year, the pattern for Tilly's dress came from Girl's Style Book -- a new translation of a Japanese book. I chose a simple tunic blouse (pattern 'K' in the book), which turned out to fit more like a dress this year, but has plenty of growing room.
And, because it can be a little difficult to encourage her to actually wear particular clothes, I made a very simple matching dress for Sushi the Frog, and a small bow-tie for Fuzzy Frog as an incentive. Luckily three-year-olds still think that coordinating your wardrobe with your frogs is very cool.
This lovely fabric comes from a new online fabric shop, Modern Yardage. Instead of selling the usual fabric collections that you find in shops, Modern Yardage have their own team of designers, creating collections just for their site. Fabrics are printed to order, in an unusual design that includes the normal 44" print of fabric, plus an extra 12" or so of white space (like a selvedge), on which they print special features. Very original, and always a lovely surprise to see what little extra will arrive with your fabric.
This print, Thrive in Vanilla, is from my favourite collection, Verdant by Liz Ablashi. Amazingly, most prints are available in three different scales, (small, medium, large), so that you can pick the exact look you want. Tilly's dress used the large-scale print.
With the remnants, I just sewed up a quick little strand of bunting to hang on her playhouse -- as if she and her frogs needed to be any more matchy-matchy!
Such a lovely day, with this lively little spirit. Tilly, we celebrate you -- your life, your light, your mischief and sparkle! Here's to a superb third year together.
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