Today I thought I would share a dress I made a couple of months ago for Emily.  I discovered the beautiful fabrics designed by Australian designer Lauren from Thistle and Fox on IG late last year and absolutely adore her designs.  She has created so many beautiful prints, many of them being Australian themed, which I love.  I purchased this fabric through Lauren's shop at Spoonflower. The print I chose is called Swooping swallow (in copper + peach).  Isn't it gorgeous? I found it so hard to choose!  Lauren also has a lovely IG account where you can see many of her prints and also her sewing.

Today I am very happy to be part of the International Lotte Martens tour! Lotte Martens is a beautiful Belgian fabric brand owned by Lotte herself.  I was contacted a couple of months ago by Eva (Lotte's PR manager) asking if I would be interested in receiving some of the gorgeous screen printed fabric to sew up for this tour.  Of course this an offer one cannot refuse!  I eagerly jumped on line to carefully select my favourite fabric to order...

Jill from Kneesocks & Goldilocks is a good friend of mine now. I discovered her beautiful sewing and photography about a year ago through Instagram. We collaborated together to create the Juliette dress + top and I a big fan of hers! If you don't already follow Jill on Instagram, you are missing out!! She is super intelligent, beautiful and talented! She is a doctor/mother and avid sewer.  You will love Jill!

This dress has been sitting half sewn in my sewing room for a couple of weeks now. I needed to trial the zip guard on my Cosmo dress pattern last week and this was my test dress! I fell in love with this gorgeous print the moment I saw it.  Designed by Kimberly Kight for Cotton and Steel and purchased at Miss Matatabi. Unfortunately it is not in stock there anymore but you can find it here. The sweet fabric sat in my sewing drawers for a few months until I decided to turn it in to a fun strawberry Cosmo dress for Juliette!

After I saw this dress An made on Instagram, I had to sew a long sleeved Laure dress too.  I love long sleeved dresses, especially ones made from Japanese lawn!  I found this pretty navy floral lawn at Spotlight in the remnant bin for around $8 for a metre.  I bought it not knowing what I would do with it.  Then after I saw An's dress and how pretty Laure looked sewn up in liberty, I knew the lawn would be perfect.

Today I am happy to be taking part in the Nova blog tour! Nova is the latest pattern released by the uber talented An from StraightGrain.  You probably already know I am a big fan of An's. Her patterns are all AMAZING and Nova doesn't disappoint!  For Emily I made the simplest version as  I was time poor and also because I love the simplicity of the single box pleat paired with the peter pan collar.

The Juliette dress + top is a classic A-line silhouette with a soft ruffle neckline.  A faux button placket can be added for extra detail at the front. The dress and top can be made sleeveless or with short or three quarter length sleeves.  In seam pockets can be added for those who can’t wear a dress/top without pockets! The dress and top close with either a button and loop incorporated into the neck binding, or with bias ties.  A great staple dress and top to complement your girl’s wardrobe.

No doubt by now you have noticed the big Coffee and Thread blog tour?  I have known Olga, the lovely lady behind the Coffee and Thread pattern label, through the blogosphere for a few years now. And she is a super nice and supportive lady. She was born in the Ukraine, but now lives in The US with her husband and four children.  She is an ex school teacher (go teachers) and now also creates PDF patterns! Today is the last day of her world tour and there have been so many lovely creations made using her patterns. Make sure to search #coffeeandthreadtour on IG to see all the lovely things people have made. You can also use the code 'coffeeandthreadtour' to receive 20% off any of Olga's designs today too. Olga is also having a giveaway over on her blog. Enter it HERE.  

A couple of months ago I was contacted by an ex work colleague who I worked with at a Melbourne School. She remembered that I loved sewing and wondered if I would be interested in some fabric from her mother's sewing stash.  Yes I would! Since we no longer live in Melbourne, my sister kindly visited my colleague's home and picked up some great pieces of fabric.  This bold orange, navy and yellow floral was one of my favourites.  I decided to sew it up with my Dear Prudence dress pattern. I get an extra kick out of making things from thrifted/vintage fabric.  Thanks Carolyn!