It’s a combination of two things: details I would have added as well as visions which were not realized as intended. I’ll get to those as I talk about the outfits.
I took the opportunity to try out the Caroline Dress offered by Hayley from Mouse House Creations. It’s a super cute dress and as I usually find with great patterns, there were some new tricks and techniques that I learned. I modified it by adding my own collar with buttons, blocking a curved line to the bodice, and adding a box-pleated peplum and a band to the bottom of the skirt.
The floral fabric is Liberty of London tana lawn purchased from Fabric.com. I’ve used Liberty of London previously in this little top I made during Kid’s Clothes Week last Summer and I just LOVE the light and lush feel! The grey is Robert Kaufman Essex yarn yarn dyed linen in black which I got from Pink Chalk Fabrics.
Details which I had planned to include for this dress were some embroidery along the curve on the linen, a hand knitted tie to go under the collar, and I have an upcycled cashmere sweater with sequined short sleeves about 90% done that seems to have been way cuter in my mind than in reality. I wanted to include an element of refashion into this look since I do think of that as my signature style, and the sequined sweater knit is remaining from my original signature style look which had landed my spot in this season of sew along favorites.
The photos are taken underneath my parent’s stilt house in Florida. I had plans to create a backdrop in Hadley’s room with kraft paper with “signatures” written all over it and then letting the girls go at it with markers once I had the majority of the shots. Once I was eliminated, it took me a while to come back and wrap up to this look so shooting at home before we left for vacation was out.
I’d like to point out how close I came to getting a pattern match on the floral across the invisible zip. It’s even closer than it appears, but I landed at an unfortunate spot on the design and the orange flower petals dip in right where the zipper crosses, making it look more off than it is.
Sisters gotta hug!
I love this~ and your “fail” is very cute.
I love all the details that went into that dress…and I say that you pattern matched perfectly!
Glad you finished the whole sew a long~ and your girls now have some cute things to add to their wardrobes!
I love the box pleated peplum and the fabric combination is dreamy! Bummer about the top but I love the concept!
I think I’ll give the silhouette another shot, maybe just try drafting from scratch this time so I can get the proportions I’m looking for.
I love your fabric choices!! I will admit, I snorted when I saw the too-short peplum/belly shirt…I made the same mistake thinking a dress pattern would translate well into a peplum top. Nope. Not without some length. Oh, those sewing fails are what make us real 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!
It’s good to hear I’m not alone! I am obsessed with Liberty and linen, so it seemed like good choices for me.
That dress is beautiful! I love the fabrics together.that invisible zipper in the back is sooo nicely done!
Thanks so much, Carin!
Those are both super cute! One more pink dot layer under the peplum? That top is too cute to not get some use out of!
Like a double peplum? That might work really nicely!
Amazing match on the zippered area!!! DEFINITELY worth showcasing….
Thanks ladies! High praise from the two of you!
I love that dress! Great pattern matching, great fabric combination, and I love the details you added (collar and peplum). I agree that the other top is too short but I love that belly!
The belly is so fun! I love kissing her little outie belly button!
The Dress is lovely. I totally know about sewing fails I had two in a row last week. So I don’t know if you want to try and save the fail but you might be able to make a flowy knit dress to go under then it would cover the belly.
I’ll definitely try to salvage it — I worked too hard getting the collar just right and drafting those silly curved stripes to abandon it! Good luck with your new pattern!
The dress looks beautiful and yes, sewing fails we all have. It’s part of it I guess. You did great though, don’t worry!
Yeah, I have to imagine it happens to everyone. My husband is a physicist and said if he didn’t blow something up every now and again, he wasn’t being creative enough!
The details are wonderful!
Thanks!
I love how the collar turned out! Sewing fails always make such fun stories!
Best to admit when things don’t turn out as planned!
Well that’s a very cute sewing fail at least! The dress is amazing and fabric matching is crazy good on the zipper back. and I love the box pleat – so original.
Thanks! I am going to play around with pleats a bit more – I’ve always loved them!
I love how you really made that dress your own! So lovely!
Thanks! I normally would have drafted my own, but the silhouette I had drawn was so similar to the Caroline and I’d heard such great things about the pattern so I thought I’d get twice as much bang for my buck by saving the drafting time and trying a great pattern simultaneously!
Awww, thanks for posting! We have times when we HATE what we make too! Thanks for being real.
Luckily I don’t hate it, just need to fix the issues.
The dress is gorgeous! The little tummy is too cute!
Thanks Michelle! I was pretty pleased with myself about the matching!
What a pretty dress! I love your fabric choices, the peplum, and that sweet collar.
Thanks Karen!
Had a totally sewing fail tonight…I made myself a bodice that would fit my 5 year old…nice….
Love this look though…especially the linen paired with the Liberty of London fabric…so nice!!!
My all-time favourite Liberty of London print!!! It never occurred to me that it would look great with grey/black linen. Great pairing!