Nilah dresses

There are times I surprise myself. I mean, I bought a newly released pattern from an unknown to me designer, made two dresses straight away, one for each of my girlies... in the same fabric. What's the world coming to!

This is the Nilah dress pattern by Sansahash. I have only recently heard of Sansahash. I am usually a very cautious buyer. A creature of a habit if you like. I tend to use the patterns from the same handful of designers. When someone new appears on my sewing horizon I go into a great length to research as much as I can about their product before committing to a purchase. 

Knowing this you can now understand how unusual of me it was to go and buy a pattern that has only been released for a few hours! But you see, I got crazy in love with the hemline of this dress. Apart from the coolest hemline, this pattern offers sleeve options that make this dress suitable for any season. I chose 3/4 sleeves for both of my girlies which seem to be the most sensible option for our current weather.

The Nilah dress has a fitted bodice. There is not much ease there. Referring to both body measurements and finished garment measurements I decided to make size 7 for Miss R. This is a size bigger against her chest measurement, but I find this works great whenever I sew something for my big love with knits. I lengthened the skirt by about 3 cm. I find this dress fits my big girlie perfectly.

My sweet Miss R looks so grown up and ladylike in her new dress!

My little mischief is working on being ladylike hahaha

Still, you can't deny Miss L looks super cute in her Nilah dress! It is not often I pick up a pattern and think it would suit both of my girlies. Five years is a significant age gap after all.

I followed the size chart and made a straight size 18 months dress for my little love. While the dress looks good on her I feel the bodice is a little too tight for my personal liking. I made a mental note to size up next time I use this pattern for Miss L and see what I think about the overall fit then.

Now, the fabric. I used this Art Gallery knit from Bebeloush Designs. I love the matching yet mismatching look on my girls. This completely matching business was a little too much for me to handle at first. But my girlies love it, and it makes me so happy to see how much they enjoy it. Of course I checked with Miss R if she wanted matching dresses with her little sister, and she assured me it would be cool! 

You know what? Trying something new and getting out of my comfort zone felt great! And definitely paid off on this occasion.