My daughter loves this ensemble but personally I think it’s a tiny bit too matchy-matchy. For my taste, anyway. One won’t deny the teal is a lovely color for this time of year.
Funny: as soon as I finished it (handsewing at the soccer practice last night) I knew my daughter would love the dress but be less enamored of the pinafore: and I was right!
Both she and I love the hood more than anything (the pattern for both pieces is Olivia from Farbenmix).
The dress is a 100% cotton Michael Miller; the pinafore is made from one of my favorite current fabrics to work with, a linen/rayon blend.
The linen/rayon looks better and better with age, too.
“It’s the pleats.”
Handsewn flowers via a tutorial by my lady Karen.
Phoenix laughs, watching her dad play hackysack.
I’m offering either/or/both pieces in my little shop; you can also view more detail photos in the Flickr tagset or read my pattern review.
I really like Phoenix’s striped Olivia dress. It really suits her. 🙂
I have to admit that I’ve sewn the Olivia underdress lots of times, but I’ve never made the pinafore from the pattern.
@Sara
Thank you! I just added a link to the pattern review for anyone who wants tips on sewing.
I think the pinafore’s a bit bland without the roses addition; reminds me very much of the mock-WASP clothes my mother jammed me into ten or fifteen years ago! The ujnderdress is all kinds of awesome; LOVE the pointed hoodie!
Phoenix looks like such a classic, and classy, little girl in those pictures. I adore the hood. Your workmanship is really wonderful!
I really like this but then again I’m partial to stripes. I agree – the underdress is way cuter solo- I’ve made one for each of my girls and they were their favorites. I say were because Gwyn’s is already outgrown and Maeve is now obliged to wear hers as a tunic w/jeans because she won’t give it up. I can’t blame her because I made hers w/super-snuggly velour. I highly recommend the velour if you do another – to sell or to keep. That’s what got us so many comments while out and about. And the best part is always the hood, right?
Just beautiful! I have spent a the last several minutes perusing your latest creations and everything is just LOVELY…I LOVE the buntings and completely agree that purple is perfect for the holiday. I am in awe of your hand-sewing and truly think I need to come take a lesson the next time the kids and I are taking an extended break at my parent’s coast house in Ocean Shores.
@Aphie
I agree with you! And this is an interesting point: kids’ clothing designs often are so bland and sack-like and lack imagination. Farbenmix is a notable exception and thus other sewists’ versions reflect a total lack of “bland”ness!
@Jen
I’ve hardly sewn with velour at all. Do you mean stretch panne or something else?
@Kim H.
Thank you! And let’s do it! I love to teach people or to sew alongside them. SO MUCH.
Absolutely magical! It must be so cool to get such great gifts so often.
Kelly – I mean the short-piled thick, cushy stuff. Stretch panné has a nap, but it’s flattend – hence the name, panné, which means exactly that. Velour is more like velveteen (shorter nap, made from mostly cotton) but it’s a knit and the pile is slightly longer and cushier than velveteen. Funnily enough, velours is the French word for velvet. The Fabric Fairy website usually has good velour for a decent price.
This is the one that I made for Maeve:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommymade/3289030930/
And this is a close-up which shows the texture of the fabric better:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommymade/3287575401/
@Jen
That does look like lovely fabric. And it’s all cotton? Sign me up! Altho’ it would be lovely to find something with a little wool, for the upcoming cool months.
Thanks for the fabric recommendation!