An Umbrella Prints Miss Polly

May 27, 2016

Have you heard of the Australian fabric designer and manufacturer - Umbrella Prints? They create beautifully screen printed organic cotton and cotton/hemp. For the past seven years, Umbrella Prints has held a fun competition to showcase their fabrics. The Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition invites sewers to purchase a pack of their trimmings - which are small off cuts of their fabrics - and creating something unique from them. I decided to join in this year as I would just love to win the awesome Umbrella Prints prize, and because I thought the trimmings pack would make a great Miss Polly dress pocket.

So my pack of trimmings became the pocket of Emily's latest dress. There was not enough fabric in one pack to create a whole pocket, so I complemented the pieces with some mustard homespun fabric I had in my stash. I tried to choose a colour that tied in with the trimmings pieces and complemented them well. I envisaged the pocket sitting on a bright green corduroy, so I was excited when I found just the right colour at my local Spotlight. I used a coral pink piping to pick up on the neon pink in the trimmings piece and make this dress nice and fun. I was very glad that I kept the label after reading a few days later that it must be kept and displayed along with the entry to be part of the competition. Phew!

My trimmings pack was called Mountain Girl. I chose it because I like the look of the pops of green. The fabrics are a mix of organic cotton and a firmer organic cotton/hemp blend.

This is all that was left of the trimmings pack after I used a pieced circle to cover a hair clip to match the dress.

I love the patch-worked and handmade look of this dress with the colourful and fun pocket. It is a perfect kinder dress for Emily, and at this time of year she can wear it layered with a top underneath, tights and a cardi.

I can recommend Umbrella Prints fabrics highly and their trimmings packs are a great way to sample their fabrics and make something fun!

On June 1st, voting will open for this competition and you can then check out what other sewers have made with their pack of trimmings. I will post the link on my facebook page then