my little one was a feeling a tad better today so we had an impromptu photo shoot of her new zephyr sundress from figgy's patterns. i'm smitten with this whole dress and seriously would love to be able to wear this myself. mackenzie is absolutely over the moon with it. the print i used is pat bravo's retro harmony sugar from her line summerlove (art gallery fabrics). it's made with 100% pima cotton and is soooooo soft and has a lovely hand/drape. i knew it would be lovely with this pattern and perfect for the summer weather. the yoke is natural by harmony art and is a 100% organic cotton sateen from www.stitchsimple.com (where your fabrics come pre-washed and pressed! amazing!). and those buttons....yes, the buttons....dug deep into my button stash jar for those lovelies and i think they pull the whole dress together. perfectly purdy!
i think the braided straps and bodice detail are my favorite part of the zephyr pattern. shelly shows you in detail how to make all of these steps in her "kids romper revamp class" on craftsy. it was wonderful to sit down and sew the bodice while watching her. i'm a visual learner so i completed the dress way faster than i would have if i had just read the instructions. it was also a lot more fun. the yoke pairs so nicely with the little gathered details of the front and back and really this sundress is a great beginner-intermediate project! you learn a lot of skills in this one pattern so i highly recommend it for those of you looking to bump up your skill level.
the only mod i made to the whole pattern was to topstitch the entire yoke. i believe in the pattern you only edgestitch the bottom of the yoke to close your facings (encase your seams etc.) but that topstitching fiend in my came out and i just had to do it. i love the feeling of things not moving about after i'm done with something as purdy as this yoke. i would have had to press it big time every time it came out of the wash to keep it all crisp and lovely so this way it will stay where it's supposed to and be way less high maintenance for this momma. that is just my personal preference though :)
shelly's lesson on measuring and making pattern adjustments was very helpful. my wee one is a tiny thing so i knew ahead of time that i would have to take the chest in a wee bit. i ended up tracing the size 4/5 because my wee one was sick and i couldn't measure her properly. it all worked out fabulously though because all i did was do a 3/4" seam allowance instead of a 1/2" and it fit her perfectly! good thing my guessing on her strap length worked out too. it's sure hard to make a dress for your kidlet when they are too ill to move. i won't do that again...lol.
it did brighten her mood though when she saw it all done. she couldn't wait to get better so she could wear it. she hasn't taken it off since. it's her new fave and if you knew my daughter you would know that is a huge accomplishment. she's hard to please. so thank you figgy's for designing clothes my kids will love to wear! harper is very sad she doesn't have one so it sounds like a size 2 is on the horizon. i can't wait to see them both out and about running in their zephyr's! so adorbs!
if you would like to take the kids romper revamp class you can for 50% off right now!!!!! yee haw!!! woot woot! seriously though. i'm not kidding 'round here....that is a mighty fine deal. that's almost just the cost of the pattern! say what?! yes.....it's a steal of a deal! for $20 you get the zephyr pattern, all the perks that come with the class (and there are some goodies) and the class - forever!!!! you can buy your discounted class by clicking on the link below, you know you wanna...
click here for the 50% off kids romper revamp craftsy class
you can find all things shelly and figgy's patterns here: