Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Lulu Dress by CINO - Pattern Review



Okay, I am not quite sure what happened but not only have I made matching dresses for the girls....they are also totally appropriate for the upcoming American holiday Independence Day/4th of July. This household might be half British but we are always ready for an excuse to some barbecue and fireworks.....and now apparently also red/white and blue homemade outfits - not on purpose....but still...we are!



The dresses are made from The Lulu Dress pattern - designed by the lovely Jess from Craftiness is not Optional (CINO).
I borrowed the graphic above from her blog because it gives you all the details about all the options this patterns comes with.


I made the cap sleeve, dress and pocket version in a knit and woven option.
And yes....I had totally put candy in their pockets to get the shot above, ha.


Yum, Skittles!


And when little sister decides to do the opposite of what I ask her, then you get a very practical two-in-one shot of the dress - from the front and the back, ha.

I almost jumped up and down from happiness when I saw this pattern because I have wanted to make something similar for awhile - yup, it's on the endless to-do-one-day list. 
A super simple, almost tunic style silhouette, but with a clinched waist like here and in a knit and woven combination. And when sweet Jess asked me to review the pattern the answer was YEEEES!

I basically only have positive thing to say about the pattern. Lines are matching up, techniques making sense and it is true to size. 
The only thing I changed were the lines at the bottom corner of the skirt - side and hem seams. I straightened up the side seam line a tiny bit, and therefor also had to change the hem line a bit to make a 90 degree angle for a smooth line when front and back side seam is sewed together. But honestly it is a detail and might not have made a difference in the final product.....but I know how I want my lines and if I don't get them, I make them myself, ha. (yup, I am a freak)!


It is super hard to see that the woven (cotton shirting) actually has thin blue and white stripes but in the photo above you can kind of see it, right!

So I did not mean to make 4th of July dresses.....I decided on the fabric combo (one of those things that happens when a bunch of different fabrics are in a pile on your sewing table and a combination catches you eye....yeah, that type of random design process, ha) and then realized what I was doing....and I loved it so much that I went through with it even though it is a bit cheesy to a Dane like me who has not grown up with that tradition (sorry) and I certainly plan on the girls wearing them the whole year round.

The woven cotton is from Fabric Mart (sorry, I was not able to find it at their website but there is a ton of other goodies for sure) and the knit is this super soft and delicious Bamboo knit from Harts Fabrics.

............................................

Below is a little photo series of a scene that played out while we took the photos.


Uhhh, what's that growing on the tree?


Look! 
Yikes, what is that?


Ahhh, just something from the tree.


So funny that I got scared by that!


Let's hug it out.


Thank you Jess for letting me review your great pattern.

You can buy The Lulu Dress HERE.

And HERE is a link to the post about Lulu on Jess' own blog Craftiness is not Optional with a bunch of amazing versions that she has made for her cuuuute girls.

Thank you!

9 comments:

  1. Oh they are so cute!!! Gorgeous dresses too.. l bet they will never wear them solo!!

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  2. What a great photo shoot!! Your daughter's are really really ADORABLE!! And I really like the dresses, the 4th of july theme is discrete enough for them to be lovely and perfect for the whole year!! :) Totally going to add this to my list of pattern must haves!! ;)

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  3. They are tooooo cute!! Absolutely adore the photo story :) Also, I find myself combining red, white & blue in outfits year round, and I grew up in this country... It's just a good fashion combo in my opinion!

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  4. Too cute, both the dresses and the pictures! :)

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  5. Aw the dresses (and photos of your girlies!) are sooo cute! My little gal loves her two Lulus. :)

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  6. Mie, your girls look super cute in their matching dresses :)

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  7. Socute and comfy looking! Adding to my list!

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  8. Beautiful style,you can use silk ribbon to dress up!

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