Birthday Party Dress

My daughter will turn 7 later this summer, and she's up for wearing anything I make her (at the moment...) I sewed up the Oliver+S Birthday Party Dress this week. I bought it a while ago (I have the paper copy and I see that's it's now only available as a digital download) and I've finally got around to making it. It's completely adorable :)

Colette Hawthorn

I have been participating in the Hawthorn sewalong by Colette Patterns, and here's my finished dress. I opted for the sleeveless version, but the pattern also has directions for two lengths of sleeve and also a peplum top too. I think I'll be making up a sleeved version when (if) time allows....

Handstitched belt loops

I just spent some time this morning stitchining belt loops to my new dress and just thought I'd quickly share the technique here because it's a nice way to be able to adapt an item of clothing and make it suitable for wearing with belts. Belts are a fun way to dress up an outfit or to create different looks. And these belt loops are very subtle, so you can still wear the dress without a belt too!