Pattern review: Kate’s Dress by Lily Bird Studio

I was sick over the weekend (three days in bed). I did promise to write an update on my crochet attempts but for this review, I’m going back to a dress I made last year. Crochet granny squares to come!

Kate’s Dress by Lily Bird Studio

This was the first time I had ever sewn with piping (made by me!), with flutter sleeves and an added yoke. The Kate’s Dress is just perfect for autumn or winter pinnys made from cord or denim. There are so many variations to make this your own – round or square yoke, adding buttons, using contrast cotton fabric for the yoke or flutter sleeves.

The pattern pieces are reasonable simple – just follow the coloured lines for your required size. I do love it when US pattern designers take the patterns in a little from the edge so us Aussies (and elsewhere I assume), don’t lose part of the pattern when we print on our different sized paper.

The pattern starts at 12 months and goes up to size 8. Now that Miss 4 is approaching 5, I’m looking more and more for patterns that go past size 5. What is it about that number? So many patterns are just for 1-5. Do 6 years olds magically not want handmade clothes? There is certainly a market for patterns that go beyond size 5.

The photos here are of Miss then 3 (now 4) modelling the size 3 and size 2. You can see the size 2 is certainly shorter on her but through the chest it fits well. She is slender but I think this is great so you can wear a long sleeve shirt underneath quite comfortably.

This pattern is a little more time consuming to make than a basic dress. Including cutting, sewing and finishing, it takes around 2 hours to put together. You know how some things can seem overwhelming. Then you go through step by step and suddenly using piping isn’t really that hard! The instructions are really clear with lots of diagrams and pictures.

Will I make this again? – absolutely. I have some ideas on how to take this dress from winter through to the ‘shoulder’ months of spring which is still quite cool here in Melbourne.

Will I make this to sell for Lil Pip? – Yes. I already sold them last year and I’m hoping to make a few again soon. Such a pretty dress.

Oh oh oh – check out the photos in the link below. They differ from when I bought the pattern last year and really show the potential of what you could make!

Pattern: Kate’s Dress by Lily Bird Studio

Fabric: Cord from Spotlight and feature designer cotton fabric lining, buttons and piping

Difficulty (1-10 scale with 1 being easy and 10 hard): 7 just due to the piping and flutter sleeves. Not that it is hard but the next step from a basic pattern.
Time: Two to three hours including cutting and finishing.

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Posted by Jane from Lil Pip at 10:16 AM