Over the past week I have spent lots of time revising my pattern - Debbie's birthday dress.  I released this pattern a few months ago, and after seeing lots of lovelv versions made up around the blogosphere, I decided that although I loved how the dresses came up, that a few modifications would make me even happier with the pattern I was putting out there for people to sew.  They are listed below...

So with dress modifications, of course I had to re-sew my pattern.  This colourful dress has no front seams, which I think suits this fabric best.  This uninterrupted A-line view can easily be achieved by simply subtracting the seam allowance from the front dress piece of view 2 of the pattern and placing the pattern piece on the fold.

 

I love this fabric paired with this pattern.  It's a cotton drill I picked up last week at Spotlight.  I bought it before I knew what I was doing with it.  It was perfect for another Debbie dress.
 

I am posting this dress during Kids' Clothes Week, but I will admit I sewed it up last week, but wanted to wait until my pattern was ready to go before blogging about it.  I will be uploading it to the Kids' Clothes Week site and having a look at what everyone else has been up to.

Here are a little pair of pants I whipped up for Emily today for KCW.  Emily does not feature as highly on my blog as my older girls, and she needs a bit more air time!!  She is not very good at taking directions and she would not stand up for the photos to see the pants properly, but I forgive her because she is so cute. 

Hello Mama Bear! 

And hello little Emily!! So full of character, cheekiness, love and innocence...I love her so much!!!

So this is the sixth (!) version of my pattern, Debbie's birthday dress, that I have sewed up.  My first is here, my second is here (then there were two I gave as gifts and did not photograph), my fifth here and now my sixth!  I wanted to see how the peter pan collar designed for View 2 looked paired with View 1. I accidently cut a size 4 collar for a size 3 dress which is why it is a little oversized, but oh well. 

 

I also wanted to try using a printed collar after seeing Erin's (one of my lovely pattern testers) and my sister's versions of view 2 - they both used a printed collar, which is not something I would have thought of - usually I go with a printed dress and plain collar.  I rushed this dress and didn't stay stitch under the collar so it is sitting a bit proud.  The emerald green is a cotton drill I had in my stash.  The spotted navy cotton is by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

 

 

And how do you like my handy work on Juliette's hair?  I chopped it all off yesterday - about 20cm!  Isabella wanted me to save the hair to put on the 'craft table'.  She doesn't let me throw anything out!!

I think Juliette looks like a little Audrey Tautou in Amelie!

Have you checked out Sanae Ishida's versions of the dress? She was one of my testers and posted two gorgeous versions today on her blog.  One is tres modern, and the other is lovely and vintage.  Love your work Sanae!

 

If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my pre-release pattern giveaway here.

 

Be sure to check out the awesome kids' clothes week website (it's like ravelry for kids's clothes - love it!) and blog for more kids' sewing inspiration!

I wasn't really planning on joining in with Kids' Clothes Week this season, since we are mid winter here in Australia, and I knew most people would be posting great summer stuff.  But, after being asked by Meg to guest post on the KCW blog, I decided to join in anyway.  The first thing I have sewed up for the week actually fits in with the Summer season.  It's another version of my upcoming digital pattern - Debbie's birthday dress.  You can see the original versions of the dress and introduction to the pattern here and here.

 

Read on to find out how to win one of two of my patterns before my official 'launch' next week.  The pattern is almost ready - just a few last minute tweaks... 

I love how easy this view of my dress is to sew up.  Once I had it all cut out, I had it sewn and pressed within an hour.

The hemline sits just above the knee - not quite as short as Debbie wore hers, but I think much more wearable.

For some reason, Issie loves pretending she is a cat.  She donned her cat mask and had me crawling around on all fours being the Mummy cat.  She played the kitten, while Juliette was 'owner' and Emily was the puppy dog.  Love being a Mum!

 

Now, onto that GIVEWAWAY!!  My pattern will be ready for purchase next week.  You might see a couple of versions this week for KCW from my lovely pattern testers.  I also have a fabulous blog tour arranged for early August, where you can see some different versions of my pattern.  But for now, I am offering a FREE PATTERN to two readers.  To enter, you need to be a follower of my blog (via Google friend connect or Bloglovin' - links on my sidebar).  Simply leave a comment to let me know you would like one, and if you are a new follower, let me know you have followed sewpony.  If you do not have a blog, make sure you leave your email address if it is not connected to your profile.

The giveaway will be open until the end of Kids' Clothes Week - Which will be 12.00 midday Monday 22nd July (AEST), Sunday night for Northern Hemisphere readers.  I will draw the winners at random and post the winners later on Monday.

 Good Luck!

On my final day of sewing for the Kids clothes week challenge I made this little summer nightie for Emily.  She generally wears wondersuits to bed but with the weather warming up I thought a nightie would be cute.

Here is day four's efforts - a stripey green top for Issie.  Love the pose?! - Actually I think Isabella looks stunning in this pic - but I shouldn't brag! The next one is even better...

Two words come to mind...Blue steel.

I love the wider neck opening (which is faced - so no binding) and the gathered raglan seam.  This one was sewn betwen Isabella's quiet TV time (while her younger sisters sleep) and late afternoon play with playdough.   Didn't think I would get it photographed by the day's end but daylight savings gave me some extra light before dinner to take a few quick snaps!

In true Melbourne form, the weather today was typically unspring like and very windy.  This was the only shot I got of the dress sitting still.  Too cold to photograph my delicate model outdoors, we opted for the loungeroom...

 

I'll be posting on projects the day after I sew them as I do most of my sewing at night so they will be photographed the following day.

On my first day of the kids clothes week challenge I made these two bibs for Emily.   I love a project that decreases (ever so slightly) the size of my scrap box.  I have had the main pieces of fabric for these bibs in my stash for about four years.  They were both not wide enough for a real garment but could be used here.  I traced the bibs from one of Emily's that I always reach for because of its good shape and closeness to her neckline (so no food slops on her collar!).  The one on the left is backed with polar fleece and the one on the right with jersey.  I like something soft on the underside to mop up any mess on little baby faces!  I made the binding myself which added some time to putting these together.

I check out elsie marley's blog every now and then and was having a look the other day and realised that I might be able to join in on one of her biannual sewing challenges: sewing for children for one hour a day for seven days.  kcwc, or kids clothes week challenge has run for a couple of years apparantly and sounds like a cool way to get inspired by and share with others.  I pondered over whether I might be able to manage the commitment with three little girls plus a 500 + page book (The Book Thief) to read for my book group in under a fortnight.  Anyway, I decided to give it a go! I'm excited.

I have my patterns chosen but not traced and cut.  The seven hours is to encompass all elements of putting the clothes together (aside from fabric shopping).  I wonder how accurate my time estimations will be.

I am most excited about making this dress for Issie...