Improvisational Pleating and a baby geranium dress.

I was pretty excited to sew up this dress for An from Straight Grains competition, admittedly I was more excited to get squishy cuddles from this one and her big sister!  

I used the Geranium Dress  pattern in size 0-3m for my little 6 week old niece. As this is an improv pleating exercise I used the method Faux Seams - you can find the tutorial here.

I love how this turned out and will definitely be using it more! I already have 3 more in the pipeline for the next size up.

The rest of the information:
Very sweet tiny mother of pearl buttons down the back.
Top of the bodice is a quilting cotton in a pumpkin colour - lined in some orange floral that I am not sure of a name.
Skirt piece is Cloud 9 organic floral from their Garden range. 

The pants are organic jersey knit in 'Gelato'. Pattern found here.

And now for some other cute baby photos!

 Her squishy cheeks are coming in. 

 Behind the scenes: Spit up and a big yawn.

 But seriously, this face?

I mean seriously! 

And a kiss from the big sister.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lua Sleep Sack pattern tour

I have been looking forward to trying out this pattern by An from Straight Grain since she first mentioned it many months ago. It has been such a joy and privilege testing this sleep sack pattern. My partner did not really understand my jumping up and down about it either. 

It is no surprise that I love this pattern especially given I have finished 2, started 3 more and have a 6th cut out to sew as well. With all of the babies expected this year and things starting to cool down here in Australia - this is the perfect pattern. 

I had hoped to include some photos of my new niece Amelia in her sleep sack but she has been unwell. Please accept this very sweet (5 days old) photograph of her as a runner up prize.***photos of sleep sack in use now available (pictured at 6 weeks old). 

(For those here for the baby photos, more at the bottom)

Basically this pattern was a breeze to sew up. The instructions are very clear with a number of illustrations to help out. Printing and piecing together the pattern was so easy and paper efficient - the bottom section of the pattern can be used for both the front and back pieces. 

The only tricky part of the pattern (besides choosing the fabrics, of course) is installing the zipper. This is walked through though very gently and was not hard to do. There are some great tips throughout - I certainly learned a few things. 

This pattern is very adaptable and could easily be made with just two layers of woven for a summer weight sleep sack or 2 layers of jersey. I ran out of batting and desperately wanted to make another so I just used fleece as an inner lining for 1 -  not as gorgeously natural and breathable as cotton but definitely warm and might work okay for those on a budget. 

You should definitely get this either for your babies or for baby showers. Thank you for the opportunity An!

As promised some more baby photos: