Isa dresses

Brace yourselves for more twinning sisters style!

Ok, the remark that their dresses are not identical is absolutely legitimate, but still, I used the same pattern for both of them, so my girlies are still twinning? Sort of? Kind of? Yeah?

I don't mind matching outfits on children but I prefer mismatching-matching for my own. My girls had completely matching dresses last spring, and while they thought it was super, it was a little over the top for me. 

The pattern is the Isa sweater, dress and top designed by Isabel from Bel'etoile. Both Isabel and I have two daughters who were born five years apart, and we both love sewing for them. 

The Isa pattern has so many fantastic options! I knew that a sweater dress with a gathered skirt would be a winning options for both of my rascals. One day I would like to make a colour blocked Isa dresses or tops for my girlies (and myself, the ladies pattern is included).

My girlies chose fabric for their dresses. Miss R surprised me with her choice. You see, she does not like grey or black and would not usually wear those colours. The exception is her dance uniform, which is black.

There is nothing this girl loves more than animals. And there are no animals she loves more than cats! Take a closer look at the print of her dress - they are tigers surrounded by fancy flowers! Big cats and flowers proved to be a winning combination and the colours were forgiven.

This fabric is lovely soft fleece from Spotlight. The tag suggested the fibre content is cotton and elastane. This fabric does not have much stretch at all, so I used ribbing for the neckband and the cuffs, also from Spotlight. I made size 122 width with size 128 length.

OK, this is embarrassing, and therefore I absolutely must share this story with you! There are no markings for the back and the front on the sleeve pieces. There is a clear indication in the instructions though. Well, while I was sewing Miss R's dress (late at night of course) I failed to properly read the instructions and sewed the part of the sleeve that was supposed to go with the back bodice to the front and so on. When it came to sewing the side seams I was very puzzled because my pieces did not match of course. I didn't want to unpick all the seams so I had to do a little creative trimming to make sure the dress would be OK. So please learn from my mistakes and read the instructions first! 

By the time I started sewing Miss L's dress I knew where the back and the front of the sleeve were haha So her dress took no time at all!

Miss R's dress is a straight size 92. I think I might lengthen the sleeves by 2 cm next time I use this pattern to give her a little more room to grow. Otherwise the fit is perfect on my little mischief. 

Miss L loves blue, so she chose this bright cotton/elastane French Terry for her dress. This fabric has more stretch than her sister's but still I used ribbing for her neckline and the cuffs.

So there you have it, mismatching-matching sisters style. Charming ;)