A Cherished Dress

As I mentioned a few days ago, I was the lucky winner of three patterns from Lilac Lane by Melissa Stramel.  So, this past weekend, I sewed together a Cherished dress for my cherished daughter.  I hope to save the dress for Ella to wear to her birthday party in a couple of months, but she has already asked to wear it a several times.  We'll see if I can wait that long!

Here it is!  I think it is sewVery adorable, but then again I did spend the better part of a day sewing this together, so I better like it!

The light blue fabric is a Minny Muu Japanese fabric by Lecien and the other is a cotton yellow/white check--both purchased at Textile Fabrics. The Lecien fabric is a little heavier than a normal cotton quilting fabric but seems to have a looser weave to it.  I've never had any of their fabrics before, but I've read and heard wonderful things about them.  Glad I found this piece and even have a yard left over for another project!  I have lots of the yellow check left, too, and I'm thinking Ella may need some pants made out of that.

The original Cherished pattern had different pockets that involved a snap and gathers, but I had a difficult time trying to get them sewn up according to the instructions.  After two tries, I decided to just go with this simple pocket instead, and I'm glad I did.  I really like the cuff detail I added to the top of the pocket, and I even covered the buttons in the same yellow check fabric.

I received the paper pattern from Lilac Lane instead of the digital version, and it is packaged beautifully and professionally. The instructions were detailed, but I did find myself confused a couple of times which resulted in my having to remove the sleeves and sewing them on the opposite side of the dress.  I think this was just my fault. 

I cut out the dress by the 4T for Ella who will just be turning 3 in a few months.  I'm glad I did because I think a 3T would have been too small for her.  

I also won the Cherished for Dolls pattern and the Joy Bag pattern.  I can't wait to find time to try these out as well!  Thanks again to Melissa at Lilac Lane for the patterns.  Please check out her shop.