Sofliantjes {Amare To and Dress} A review

size 4 dress, with sash option

Its no secret that I am more of a sewer of knits.. I love the quickness of sewing with knits. Woven takes time, and I am a bit of a perfectionist sometimes (not that it always shows :P) so it takes a little longer, and well when you have 4 kids.. sometimes its the quick and dirty sew you need.

When I do sew something with woven, I need a pattern that is easy to follow, and produces a beautiful result, and Sofliantjes is definitely one of my go to designers.

I was involved in testing the Amare Dress and Top. I loooooooove the finished product. It is super cute, classy and modest.. and what little girl would not look gorgeous in this?

You have the option of a top or a knee length dress, you can have a bow, or a sash.. or as some testers did a bow and a sash! The options with colour blocking this one is what makes it! I'm adding this pattern to the Christmas photo options for my girls this year.

It also has a great size range 12 months to 12 years, but isn't recommended for those with a developing chest and is an advanced beginner to intermediate pattern. It has a few tricky parts but honestly, if I can do it you can do it!

There is no pattern piece for the skirt portion of the dress and top, only the bodice so it helps save on ink as well. You also have the options of using Buttons or snaps on the back closure... I used snaps, because well.. button holes are not my most favourite thing to do.

If you haven't tried any Sofliantjes patterns you really should, and for its release the pattern is on sale for $5USD at the Sofliantjes website. It really is a beautiful design and I can't wait to make more of them.

Sofliantjes {Brueram Dress} A review

One of the best things about testing patterns for me, is that it forces me to step out of my comfort zone and try things that I put off because they look intimidating. For example shirring! I have seen many many patterns over the past year that use that technique but have avoided them because well, it looks pretty darn intimidating! especially as a beginner sewer. Not that I can probably call myself a beginner anymore? Advanced beginner? Intermediate? some where in between I think!

Normally I lean towards patterns that call for knit, this one was a woven one it was nice to get back to the wovens, even if for a short time ;)

I have tested for Sofilantjes before, so I knew that when she did a tester call for the Brueram dress, and that even though it called for shirring, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try! knowing the end result would be worth over coming my fear of it.

The pattern doesn't explain how to shirr it assumes that you know how to. After asking around, I was pointed in the direction of the Make it Love it blog post about it, which was great and well made it sound really simple, even though  I have a brother machine with a drop in bobbin!

So I jumped right in! I was testing the maxi dress version, sadly as I was cutting out the material I realised that I didn't have enough fabric for the maxi dress length! so it ends up hitting calf level... which I will admit I love just a little bit!

There are three different skirt options; A peplum top, Petal skirt and Maxi skirt. There are also two options for the bodice; Elastic casing and Shirring.

It also uses under stitching, enclosed seams, hand stitched hemming and the bodice is fully lined!

The size range is great too size 12 months to size 14, however due to the bodice its not recommended for developing figures.

There is also the awesome feature of layers, you can only print the size you want, and with the printing chart it really cuts down the amount of pages you need to print! and for those wondering the maxi dress skirt part is just measurements for the rectangle, so no wasted paper printing off the skirt pattern!

I used quilting cotton for my bodice which meant I had to really steam the shirring to get the right look, its recommended to use lighter fabrics for the bodice so next time I think I will use some poplin ect.. an excuse to pick some poplin up next shopping trip... I'm down with that!

Size 5 Maxidress (shortened) and Shirred bodice

Miss A, love it, throughout the fitting process she kept getting angry at me for taking it off her, and she wore it out to dinner that night.

The instruction to make the dress are well written and easy to follow, great for a confident beginner that wants to jump out side their comfort zone. The end result is timeless and any little girl will love this dress!

I will be making this one again, so why don't you? Miss A gives it her smile of approval! Get your copy of the Brueram Dress pattern while it is on sale for $5 for two days only!