More Cottage Love

In my last post I shared a dress from The Cottage Mama which I had made for my daughter. The Party Dress. It is still a little big so she has yet to wear it but it has been greatly admired. It is a lovely pattern.

So I decided to have a look at what else I might find over on The Cottage Mama page and it is chock full of tutorials and patterns.

After the success of the first dress I thought I would try the Picnic Dress. It seemed fairly straightforward looking at the instructions. It had a bit of trim and a ruffle but all very straightforward other than that.

I had some Fabricland Swallows I had put aside and this seemed the perfect time to use it. I found some salvaged ric rac in the sewing box which was perfect for the trim.

The pattern was very simple and the gathering technique worked a treat. I will certainly be remembering that one. I should really have pressed the material before I started the project but I am impatient.

And here it is.

I have got to say I love this pattern too. It was really straightforward and used up less than a meter for the age 2 pattern. It has also been greatly admired and I don't think it will be too long before madam fits into it. I shall definitely be using it again with some more of my stash. Perhaps with a contrasting ruffle next time.

Happy Easter.

Now we need a party to go to.

My Aunt sent me a huge box of her off cuts earlier this year and I have been dipping into it now and again. My daughter has a new skirt and some new shorts and my son's doll has a pillow and a cover with dinosaurs on it. There was a beautiful bit of broderie anglaise in cream and it was calling out party dress to me. But there wasn't quite enough to do anything with. Then I spotted a bit of red for sale on a Facebook fabric de-stash site. £4 for around a meter of fabric, I looked and looked and finally gave in and I am really glad I did.

The pattern is a free Party Dress pattern from The Cottage Mama which you get if you sign up for the newsletter. 

After making the main body I realised I had managed to sew the shoulders to themselves not to each other but I managed to rectify that. I was quite pleased with my top stitching too. But I didn't have enough of the cream from my Aunt for the sash the pattern comes with. However I remembered receiving some free self cover buttons with a magazine at some point so I dug them out and had a go. I am really pleased with the result. They are so easy to do and I imagine I will buy more for future projects. I hope they come in different sizes too. Something I need to look into.

I pondered the sash for a while and decided the best thing to do was to wing it. I actually prefer this method of sewing though I know it's always better to measure. And considering my methods are a little unorthodox at times I was really pleased with the result. I really needed a tiny bit more fabric as it probably wont make a bow but it does finish the dress off perfectly. I shall definitely use this pattern again.

This is the completed dress in age 3. A little big but madam is already getting too tall for her 18mth clothes and we are only at 15mths.

Happy Easter!