Tyler Katelynn's New Dress

Debbie showed us a little dress she made this past weekend for her grandbaby Tyler, and it. Is. The. Cutest. Thing. We want to share the cuteness, so comment on this post to win a copy of the pattern she used, Claire by Portabello Pixie! We'll post a winner next Thursday!

I had one of those marathon sewing weekends planned with two major projects to work on. One was a quilt kit for our website that just needed putting together and the other was to make a cute little dress for my granddaughter, Tyler Katelynn. I am going to San Anselmo, CA, to visit her this weekend and just wanted to take a little something to her! You know how Grandmas are; there always needs to be a surprise in the suitcase!

With some help from Jocelyn, I chose the pattern called “Claire” by Portabellopixie! I could not resist that darling little girl pictured on the cover, and the dress she is modeling is just what I had in mind. It also helped that Sandi Henderson, the pattern designer, sized this pattern for little girls from 6-12 months up to size 8. Tyler Katelynn could virtually have this dress in different fabrics until she reaches size 8! I also loved that I had four different choices of styles in which to make this little dress; short, long, with or without sleeves, and with or without an apron. So many choices; which one to choose this time around?

Then there was the decision of fabrics! The possibilities were endless and I could have dwelled on that decision forever! You know the saying, “So many fabrics and so little time”? Well, that was me! One collection that recently caught my eye is from Riley Blake Designs, a new manufacturer to the Fat Quarter Shop. It’s called Just Dreamy! And believe me, it is just dreamy!

For the bodice, I used the Pink Tone on Tone (C7005-PINK), for the sleeves the Pink Small Floral (C7004-PINK). The skirt is the Rose Medium Floral (C7008-ROSE), and the apron is the Cream Tone on Tone (C7005-CREAM). The skirt and apron bands are the Pink Stripe (C7003-PINK). The yo-yo flowers I made with the extra fabric, and the leaves from my Lake House stash.

I started working on this project early Saturday morning with the intent of just getting it cut out... then I thought, well I’ll just put the bodice together and see how it looks... then it was, I’ll just work on the apron and make those cute little yo-yo flowers with rick-rack stems... then I’ll just gather together the skirt and apron and attach it to the bodice... Before I knew it, it was early afternoon and the dress was almost completely finished! I could not stop working on this project. The instructions were easy to follow and it was a breeze to put together! I kept thinking of the endless possibilities of fabrics and styles, and my mind was racing way ahead of my sewing capability!


Anyway, Tyler Katelynn will get this dress on Friday, and I hope it fits! I haven’t seen her since March, but her mom reassured me that one of the size options would work for her little body! I’ll definitely be bringing back photos of her in the dress, and I’m sure you will get to see those! So stay tuned!

Debbie
Fat Quarter Shop