Alviana of Popolok Design has created another sweet confection for little girls and I was lucky enough to be in on the pattern testing :)
The Cece dress and top features a fitted bodice and peplum, with optional "peter pan" collar, cap sleeves and gathered skirt (if you are making the dress).
I opted to make the Cece top with sleeves and collar. Little Miss has heaps of sleeveless tops (no good for daycare's sun protection policy) and I love the retro cuteness a peter pan collar can give, so this pattern was already a winner in my mind!
I used a scant fat quarter (approx) of a pink/red strawberry cotton print for the body and some deep pink broadcloth for the collar.
As DD is very petite (premmie smaller twin- otherwise very healthy!) for her age I cut a size 1 in width and added about an inch to the torso length. The finished garment fit perfectly :)
The bodice called for lining and as I am trying to "stash bust" I decided to reuse some fabric from an old sheet that I had put aside for sewing.
The pattern says to hand stitch the bottom edge of the lining to the waist seam but being the impatient sewer that I am (not to mention awful hand stitcher) I just turned it up, pinned, then "stitched in the ditch" from the right side all around the waist seam.
This method worked but as you can see did not give as even a finish on the inside that hand stitching would (note lining mismatched at bottom of zip). Little Miss however I am sure wont mind ;)
Another fluff I made was to mix up the front and back pieces- cutting the front in two by accident. Luckily I had just enough fabric left to squeeze out another bodice front, albeit in the wrong direction. Luckily with the print it is not overly noticeable, unless you are looking out for it (or a keen sewer).
Also my invisible zip insertion was a bit rusty so there are two wonky bits, one at the collar back top...
...and a section at the centre back waistline where I didn't manage to get close enough to the zipper coil.
Despite this Little Miss was very proud of her new strawberry top made by mummy and I got several compliments on it at her daycare- yay!!
I can see DD wearing many versions of this top and dress in the years to come (well as long as she will let me sew for her!), I'm hoping to make the dress version up as soon as my current pattern-testing commitments are finished.
Sewing with Alviana's "Popolok Design" patterns have so far been a very pleasant experience. Each one I have tried has been well drafted and all the assembly steps were explained clearly with lots of photos. Makes it kind of hard to go back to the "big 4" tissue paper print patterns...
Popolok Design will be releasing a new skirt/top pattern soon - the "Nova". I've thrown my hat in the ring to be a pattern tester again so stayed tuned !
3 comments:
Thanks for the great blog post Kate! You did a an awesome job on your Cece. Yes, it is actually difficult to get the zipper coil as closest as we can on the waistline part. But still, it look perfectly installed. You girl looks absolutely adorable. Look forward for our Nova project! :)
Your daughter looks RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE in this new top. So cute. Peplum <3!
Thanks Alviana- glad you like it :D
And Sarah- thanks too! Millie is pretty cute but having such a sweet design to work with helps too! Millie now offically has the best clothing collection of the entire household.
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