It is not very often that I am encourage to make clothing for my daughter- she has no shortage of quilts and pillows but clothing for a teen are a totally different affair. However, when I showed her Sara's Jungle Ave fabric range, she leapt on the dotted knit fabric. And so, the Lady Skater in Dotted Boulevard came into being.
I have known Sara from the online sewing world for a while now- we share a mutual love of garment sewing alongside quilting, making bags and other makes. She is a sweet, generous and hugely hardworking lady and to see her as part of the Art Gallery team with a Limited Edition collection is wonderful! She offered me some of her fabric along with some other quilty/bag making/clothes sewing bloggers to help showcase the range as it becomes available to buy any time now.
The dress pattern is Lady Skater by Kitschy Coo. It was on offers recently for a ridiculously low price and is available as a PDF download. It is quick to stick together and the instructions are very detailed. I made size 1 sewn with ¼" rather than ⅜" seams and I made a test bodice before cutting into the good
stuff. The hem was shortened a little, otherwise, no changes. It was sewn with a mix of lightning stitch on my Janome and also with my Brother 1034d overlocker/serger.
The pattern worked well with the fabric. This jersey has 5% spandex so it has good recovery: it springs back into shape and over areas where jersey can bag out, like bottoms, elbows and knees and it will keep its shape making it good for close fitting garments like leggings, camisoles, t shirts- even knickers! It also has nice drape and would gather easily and without too much bulk.
We went as urban as we could in a small city in Devon- a little road signage, faded paint and background textural variety to pay homage to Sara's Chicago inspiration. I think this is my favourite pic! I have to thank Lula for being my model- she is rather shy in front of the camera so we had to have a lot of giggles to get her through! The dress is a hit with her- it's a great fabric/pattern combo for a teen.
