Tic Tac Toe dress in denim

How many denim dresses can one little girl have, one might ask.

At least one more, Miss L and I would reply.

This new denim dress is my contribution as a Sewpony team member to introduce a sew-along theme for the month of July - solids! This is also a fun competition. Anyone willing to participate in July is encouraged to sew any Sewpony pattern in solid coloured fabrics and share them on Instagram with a hashtag #sewponysolids. At the end of the month we will choose a winner who will be entitled to receive two yet to be released Sewpony patterns! As an insider I know what projects Suz is working on, and I am super excited! But I am not going to share her secrets ;)

I initially wanted to use the Catherine cardigan pattern for this post, however I have recently made one, in a solid colour! So I decided to sew the Tic Tac Toe dress instead.

The Tic Tac Toe dress is a truly versatile pattern suitable for any season. I initially was going to make a long sleeve dress, but changed my mind as I was just about to cut out the sleeves. You see, winter is my least favourite season. We are not half way through it yet and I already can't wait for warmer weather to return. I made a sleeveless dress in a hope to bring the spring back quicker. OK, one can dream, right ;) Besides, when it actually gets warm Miss L will still be able to wear her Tic Tac Toe dress. For now we have to layer it.

I offered two fabrics in solid colours for Miss L to choose from, and she chose blue denim. No surprises there, she really loves blue! As I was cutting out the pieces I decided to use the wrong side of the fabric for the bodice central panel and pocket pieces to add visual interest to the dress. I really like the way it turned out!

I realised how much I missed using piping when I was sewing this dress. Oh sweet piping, let us never part for this long again!

Last year I made Cosmo dresses for both of my girls. This is another fantastic Sewpony pattern by the way! I was going to make different coloured piping for their dresses and had some paprika coloured homespun cotton ready to go but changed my mind at the last minute and made piping in the same colour for both dresses.

When I dug into my piping making supplies I realised I had enough fabric already cut out to make piping for Miss L's new Tic Tac Toe dress. Paprika looked nice and bright paired up with denim. Miss L agreed, so that's what I went with.

While I have abundant supplies to make piping, my zipper stash is nearing the state of emergency! I did not have an invisible zipper that met the requirements of the pattern. My best option was a pale blue 25 cm long zipper. The colour did not bother me too much as the only part that is visible after installing the zipper is that little bit you use to open and close it (is there a term for this bit?) The length proved to be an issue though as it only just goes past the waist line. It was not too difficult to put the dress on and pull it off though. This made me think that maybe I could swap a zipper for a button closure for the next Tic Tac Toe dress. Hm...

Today Fabienne, Anke and Deborah are posting their inspiration for the July theme. Make sure to visit them.

For the next two months Suz is running a little give-away! Check out this Instagram post for more details.

I can't wait to see your creations using Sewpony patterns for the solids themed month!