Summer creations for the little person

I've been doing a bit of sewing for my niece in recent weeks.  I missed out on having something ready for Christmas, but got cracking on a few items for the summer wardrobe. 

The first was actually part of her 2nd birthday present.  From Burda 9373, version A. 

Here's PJ being very helpful when I was trying to iron the fabric. It's a better quality photo of the fabric which was a craft fabric from Lincraft.  

Next is the Puff The Magic Dragon dress.  I made this from a pattern in the Japanese sewing book "Sewing for your Girls".

After a terrible few weeks of hot weather I decided to make some lightweight outfits.  The first is a shirred dress. No pattern required for that one. I got some lightweight cheesecloth from Lincraft.  I was concerned how my new machine would go with shirring, phew it worked.  Even tough it's a super simple dress to make, it does take awhile doing all those rows of shirring. I probably should have spaced them out more and then I would only have to do half.  

And finally I made this little ensemble using an old skirt that no longer fit.  The skirt was a button down the front number and I kept the facing and button holes so that the back buttons up.  Shorts were from a basic shorts pattern. 

I used a couple of cute cow buttons at the front for a bit of a feature.  

Vintage McCalls 5198

It's that time of year again when my mission statement in sewing projects is to make as many cool summer frocks as possible.  The weather in Brisbop has been quite hideous since before Christmas and motivation to sew on a hot day is always a struggle. 

I found this lovely little sewing pattern on ebay.  It fit all the criteria, easy to make, floaty and doesn't look like anything you can buy in a shop.  I managed to get this finished before the heat settled in for our always very long hot summer. 

 

  

I really like the square neckline you find in a lot of 70's dress patterns. But sometimes the facing doesn't end up matching the outer neck line. And add pleats to the recipe, you could end up having to make constant adjustments.  Fortunately it wasn't the case here, it all matched up perfectly.  The side ties are attached in the fold of the outer pleats.  I guess for a fuller looking dress you could just leave the ties off the dress.  

The front pleats are a littel lost on this fabric.  I originally thought of using a fabric with a dragon print for this. I bought both pieces of fabric at the same little Japanese gift and textile shop in West End. It has a linen blend quality, but I think it is just cotton. Whatever the fudge it is, it is nice and cool to wear.  

This was an easy dress to make. Always a joy to make something without zips and buttons. I'll definitely give the pattern another go. Maybe even making the top.