The Spinny Tinny

So my daughter named this the "spinny" dress.  Aptly named.

I've been working on this one a while.  Not because it was hard, necessarily.  I've been doing it bit by bit, and FINALLY finished.

The pattern is the Tinny dress by Straightgrain.  I've made her Hanami dress a couple of times, and they're some of Julia's most worn dresses.  The Hanami is a pretty basic sew, but the Tinny is definitely more detailed.  There's tons of options, and one of these is a circle skirt.  Knowing my kid, I knew that the ultra spinny circle skirt would make her happy.

I was right.

Yup, she loves it.

The sewing details - the dress has options for the collar, the sleeves, and the skirt.  It has an invisible zipper in the back - the first time I've ever done one in all my many years of sewing!  And, yeah, what was I waiting for.....looks SO professional, and was really easy.

I used some 100% cotton from Riley Blake - a little floral from their Matryoshka line from my shop.  I thought it went with the retro vibe of the dress. 

Problem is, for some reason, I thought I should start making size 5's.  Well, I was wrong.  The bodice was way too big.  So, I put a couple of pleats in the back and took in probably about 4 inches.   It fits much better, but for sure next time I'm going to make a size 4.  I added a bias strip at the waist, mostly because my husband said it needed something.  I think I like it.  I would have added it all the way around the waist, but I was literally looking in the trash for more scraps of the contrast purple.  It just wasn't meant to be.

So, a highly recommended pattern!!!  I'll be making another one soon.....

An Easy Peasy Party Dress

Lindsay at The Cottage Mama has a free pattern on her blog.  You just sign up for her newsletter, and you get it.  Easy peasy.

It's really a basic bodice dress that you can really do anything with.  I made it up as part of her testing process, but really, once you get the size down, you really could use your imagination and make this into any type of dress for your kid....you could make it a tunic, lower the bodice and make a drop waist dress, add a collar, sleeves, or whatever.

Here's my pictures from testing....

 

The fabric is from Robert Kaufman, from Laurie Wisbrun's Perfectly Perched line.  

After taking these pictures, I decided to remove the sash and added a white grograin ribbon across the front with a small bow.  A bit more practical for day-to-day wear, and just as cute.

Thanks to Lindsay for a really versatile - and FREE - pattern!