Summer

The summer is coming quickly now, so I have to get into gear. Here is a glimpse of the first pieces coming together:

A nautical combo:

The shirt is 2 patterns mixed together: Spot Fish and Autumn Forest. The short sleeves of Spot Fish, the divided/gathered front panel from Autumn Forest.

The shorts are my first attempt to grade a pattern to a different size. These are Hoola Hoops, starting at size 92, I graded down to 86 and the result is very good.

A skirt with a matching shirt:

The balloons are placed to low, maybe I should put a text above it? The skirt is a first, Saskia LOVES it! The pattern is "Rabbit Dance" from Ottobre, probably one of the easiest skirts to sew: 2 rectangles, sew the sides together, sew the hem en put 4 - 6 rows of smocking elastic in the top. Done.

Next is another Mara-blouse:

Did you notice the hem?

Patterns: Ottobre and Compagnie-M
Fabrics: stash, the skirt is a leftover from Spoonflower, the linen is from Japan (Miss Matatabi on Etsy)

Louisa

Isn't that a pretty name, Louisa? In this case, I am not going to talk about a person, but about a dress. The Louisa Dress from Compagnie-M.
It is a pattern with a couple of options, I went for piping and back inserts. It was a little bit technical but that is OK after so many T-shirts on the serger. I used a corduroy from my stash and  store bought piping.
First fitting, unhemmed:

The piping was not that easy

As you can see, the piping goes front to back without seam, but there is a side seam in the dress. So first you do the bottom part of the side seam, then add the piping and then finish the top part of the side seam. 

Do you see that button? It is more or less the exact same button as the one printed on the fabric! Sometimes you get lucky....

The finished dress, front and back. I used the same fabric for the shell and the back panel, but kept the piping. Action pictures:

Don't mind the leggings, they don't match but she would not take them of.

"Saskia, show me the pocket!"

"There is a pocket?"

"Oh yeah, look!"

Overall, I am happy with the pattern, there will be more Louisa dresses. In my opinion you will need some experience, the instructions alone are not enough. For example, it is unclear how the sleeves are  lined, if at all. I just made two dresses, one shell, one lining, and stitched them together, as I have always done, but maybe there is another way. For my skinny 2 year old I made size 1 year (80) without alterations. I think the dress fits well, although the shoulders and neckline are a bit wide. I will try to adjust that the next time.

All in all, I liked the result enough to try another Compagnie-M pattern: the Mara blouse.

More details later....