When I made Adelaide and Annabel their holiday dresses this month, I quite forgot how perfect that style of dress is for my Ada. She's a fan of loose flowy tops and leggings, and doesn't stray a whole lot from what she loves in that clothing department (hmn...I wonder where she gets that from - yoga pants and tunic lover that is her Mama?). On the third day (in a row) of wearing the dress, while I peeled it off her to great protestation, she sat by the washing machine waiting for it to be done. And I promised her I'd make her as many more as she wanted. It's been a few sizes since I last made her some of these, and quite a few years since the first. They suit her. And while they may have been designed as a summer sun dress, they work just perfectly fine with layers under and over, all year long. We like layers.
The pattern is Suzanne by Citronille. Yes, it's in French but it's such a basic construction with some great illustrations for instructions that it's an easy go. (I think, though I'm not certain, they are releasing some patterns in English now.) Though I lost the instructions somewhere along the way of making this pattern over and over and just have the pattern pieces now. Each time, I dig around the girls' closet until I find a finished one, which tells me the order of the construction. It works. I know this one. (Someday, those instructions will surface again, I'm sure of it.)
(The fabrics, I'm guessing you'll ask about, are Alexander Henry from the Mercer Park line, and the sweet honeycomb is Elk Grove by Birch Bark Fabrics in organic cotton. And the You Are My Sunshine decal that I didn't realized was featured so prominently in all these photos is by Shanna Murray.)
Layered or not, with book in hand or without, but most definitely always with cat or dog or chicken or goat in arms (you'd be surprised what this girl can hold), it feels so good to be in a favorite dress. I definitely get that. And I'm glad to keep making them for her.
