London Dress

Another tiny thing!

At the end of June, my cousin had her second baby girl and named her London.  So once I got on my baby kick, I couldn't resist making her a little dress with London-themed fabric!

I used a pattern from a website a friend introduced me to:  Mamma Can Do It.  There are SO many cute patterns on this site for baby things, it took me a while to decide which one I wanted to use, but I finally settled on the Reversible Baby Jumper.  This multi-size pattern includes sizes all the way from newborn to 36 months. 

This is actually the second pattern I've used from this site, but I can't show you my first make until my friend receives her present.  These downloadable patterns come with very clear photo tutorials.  I like to print out the pattern pieces only, then load the pattern and tutorial into iBooks on the iPad so I can easily take it to the table with me when I sew. 

The seam allowances on these patterns is 3/8", which I think is great - somehow it makes sewing easier to line the fabric up with the edge of my presser foot!  The only thing I changed from the pattern was to notch my curves instead of clipping only, as the pattern recommended:  it does make a difference when turning your work out.

I ordered 5 different London print fabrics from Fabric.com because I wasn't sure how the colors would be and which two fabrics would go together best - and you know I'll use the leftovers for bags and such!  I made the 3 - 6 month size, which requires 1/2 yard of each fabric, but I really don't think I used that much.  I have lots left over.  Here's a better look at the two prints I used:

Next Stop:  London Around Town Yellow (Robert Kaufmann)

London Crowns Light Blue (Andover)

And here's the little dress:

Squee!  I love this little thing, and it was so fun to make!  It's really clever how the reversible dress goes together - I doubt I could have figured it out on my own but the tutorial makes it really simple.

OK - I just realized that I did change one other thing.  The pattern recommends using snaps or velcro on the shoulder tabs, but I wanted the dress to be fully reversible, so I made buttonholes and then sewed two buttons to each tab, front and back, making sure to keep my threads loose:

This project was so quick and easy - I really recommend this pattern.  Also, if you buy a pattern from Mamma Can Do It, you get a coupon code for 30% off your next pattern!  But at $5, I think this was really reasonable to begin with.  I would definitely make this again!