Sweeter than lollipops

A few months ago I had a privilege to participate in Compagnie M's blog tour promoting the Lotta dress. You can read my guest post here. We were heading towards winter then, and I was jealous seeing beautiful summer versions other tour participants were making.

It is finally hot in my corner of the world. While she was sleeping, I stitched up a summer version of the Lotta dress. My husband says Little Monkey looks like a lollipop in it. Oh that's so sweet!

Yep, it is pink. We are going through a second wave of a pink obsession, thankfully it is not as severe as the first one! This fabric is one of Lisette fabrics I got a couple of years ago when I was sewing for markets. I thought pink would surely sell well. I only made one A line dress out of this fabric, and guess what. It did not sell. I gave the dress to a friend of mine, and her little girl looked super cute in it.

Little Monkey enjoys going through my stash. A few weeks ago she pulled this fabric out and got excited. She loved it because it was pink and also because of the different coloured little flowers printed on it. This fabric was destined to become her new dress. I had some plain bright yellow cotton in my stash that matched little yellow flowers almost perfectly. A sign from above?

I modified the pattern slightly. I lengthened the bodice to size 4 while kept the width of size 3. I also made a skirt a little fuller since this is what Little Monkey really enjoys at the moment. This dress should fit her until it gets cool again.

Little Monkey likes 'tiny sleeves' as she calls them, so do I. These 'tiny sleeves' are perfect. They are so easy to make and offer good coverage. Good enough even for childcare! There is a policy that children's shoulders must be covered.

It is Little Monkey's policy that her clothes should have pockets. This dress has in-seam pockets, which apparently are difficult to find. The other day she picked some cool piece of wood at a park and nearly got upset thinking she did not have pockets to put her treasure in until I helped her locate them. See, I comply with policies ;)

I think the Lotta dress is Marte's easiest pattern. It is simple, however has a twist thanks to a fun collar detail. One can play with pockets and back closure options to achieve different looks. Sleeve pattern pieces from Marte's Mara blouse and Louisa dress can be used with this pattern also.

While making the dress was easy, getting my little customer to model it was nearly impossible. She looked so miserable! I thought we would have to repeat the photo shoot, and then Little Monkey noticed ants and a bug on a gum tree. She instantly declared that the bug was her best friend and tried to catch it.

Little Monkey was so pleased with herself once she caught the bug! She was giggling because the bug was tickling her little hands. My husband and I were giggling because this little girl's laugh is seriously contagious!