Today I am very excited to announce that the Catherine cardigan pattern is now available to purchase in the sewpony shop. You can find it HERE!  You can read all about the features of the pattern and see different syles in the shop listing. Scroll to the end of this post for a discount!  Thanks to my wonderful testers, the testing process was lots of fun and it was so encouraging to see so many beautiful cardigans. I only need to modify the neckband of the pattern, otherwise, only minor tweaks to the fit.  I had 23 lovely ladies helping me and I owe them a big thank you!  Thank you Ana Sofia, Beth, Celine, Claudia, Daisy, Deborah, Dosrote, Fabienne, Fanny, Jenny, Juanita, Kristie, Lindsy, Nelleke, Qwinta, Renee, Rineke, Sofie, Sylvia, Tinne and Verinne.  You all did a wonderful job! Search #catherinecardigan on IG to see some tester versions.

I have been meaning to finish this dress and write this post for about three weeks! But life and my pattern got busy so I am sharing this outfit today.  The patterns are the fawn lily dress and the aster cardigan - both of which are from the debut collection by pattern collective, Willow & Co.  

Both patterns are debut clothing designs and patterns by two lovely ladies.  Rebecca from Rock the Stitch designed the beautiful and unique fawn lily dress, and Vanessa from LBG Studio designed the very sweet aster cardigan.

I love both these designs.  The aster cardigan is a three quarter (sleeve and length) cardigan with a sweet peter pan collar.  It closes at the front with just two to three buttons so hangs open when it is buttoned up.  There is also the option for a 'faux piping' collar - whereby the underside of the collar peaks out just a little from the edge of the outer collar to create a nice contrast.

I made Isabella's aster cardigan from a pretty pale pink jersey I had in my stash.  I also had a little watermelon stretch that I used for the collar and cuffs (don't look to hard at the cuff - you will see a loose thread...hey! I told you not to look!)  Vanessa's pattern is great - you will really be pleased with the result after making this pattern - nice finishing details - including a bias bound seam to cover the collar seam and the nice wide continuous hem down the button placket and across the hem.

The lovely fawn lily dress is such a great design. The unique bodice/sleeve construction is really clever. I made the pleated skirt version with button collar.  The main fabric of the dress is a recycled sheet I bought a while ago at the op shop.  It is grey and cream, with hint of watermelon pink.  I used a pretty striped pink brushed cotton for the yokes and watermelon piping. 

Isabella was being very agreeable with posing for photographs for me in our personal pine forest (yes, we actually have a small pine forest on our property!!).  The pine needles provide a beautiful, soft ground cover.

This dress is being sent to my niece as a belated birthday gift.  She is travelling around Australia in a couple of months, so hopefully this dress will get a lot of wear in the warmer climate up north.

I finished this little cardi for Emily last night and just in time as she has almost outgrown it!  I knitted it up from some 4 ply navy and pink I had from a failed jumper I pulled out a couple of years ago.  I used a simple round neck drop sleeve pattern and just incorporated the stripes.

It's nice and soft and a break from baby pastels.

And this is my next project...I picked up some gorgeous 'sugar baby' 4 ply orange (colour #7) from Spotlight and am knitting up a garter stitch hat for Emily.  I intend on embellishing the hat with a cream crochet edge and flower.  I am a complete novice crocheter and had to borrow a couple of books from the library to refresh my memory of even the most basic stitch.  I fiddled around this afternoon with chains and came up with a pretty lace flower.  Fingers crossed it turns out!

Found a new crafty link up so am joining in today.