cottington's so crafty: Double Whammy! Saffron Twirls and Tallulah Dreams

Camden fell in love with the Saffron dress by Paisley Roots the first time I made it...500 years ago. I feel awful that I didn't make her a second one SOONER. But....life happens, along with babies. And besides, that dress DID fit for another year or two, aha! That's my excuse.

She was TINY!

For the second incarnation, I knew I wanted to again sew it in double gauze, so, I especially purchased this Nani Iro (find gorgeous double gauzes HERE) for the project....maybe last fall. Oops.

I changed up the pattern, as I did with the first version, but this time, I tried to use my brains a bit more...well, and I maybe failed on that, too, aha. I didn't use the back button tab on the first version, and the straps totally came off Camden's shoulders all the time. I knew I'd need to incorporate the tab on the second dress, but I still wanted to keep it simple, so, I made sure to sew in the tab onto ONE side of the back pieces, and I then sewed the other end into an opening I'd created on the other side of the back bodice, just top-stitching it in place. I did have to take that in a tiny bit, as there was too much fabric - even more than you see in the photos.

I also changed up the neckline, and I curved it, thinking that's what I'd done the first time, but as it turns out, that's not true - no biggie. I like it just as is! And this time, I sewed the ties into the bodice side seams, which I didn't do the first time...for lack of pattern reading, if I remember right, aha! And because I wanted simplicity, I use the same fabric for the ties as I did the main dress.

Lastly, I didn't plan ahead for the back elastic casing - though I DID do so the first time. I felt this time, though, that I'd just figure my way around it and have LESS hassle than the first time. The first version had me cutting a crazy back bodice on the fold, I believe, which worked out just fine. This time, I made the casing in the same pink I used for the lining, and I applied it to the serged seam. This worked to also cover up that seam, as it wanted to position itself in the upward position. This is clearly NOT a fancy finish, but it works!

Overall, I LOVE the dress, and so does Camden. Karly of Paisley Roots writes up a lovely pattern, and I still want to sew her Thyme vest design!! And....the dress was a hit at her first day of charter school - all the teachers loved it, and Camden said some of her friends did, too!

Second up is the Tallulah sweater by Sarah Ronchetti of Sezza Knits (FB page). I have previously knit two of her designs HERE and HERE. The pattern was well-written and super easy! It's a simple, classy design, and it's meant to be more cropped, but I totally knit a size up, as I was concerned that knitting a size 7 would make it too small sooner rather than later. This means you should ignore how large it is on her, as the sizing is great...but it should fit just write about a year from now, aha!

I didn't change anything dramatically, other than to knit a 2 by 2 rib, which is par for the course for me....I'm LAZY. I love that I had AWESOME, simple buttons to match the gorgeous Colour Adventures yarn. I purchased this yarn a thousand years ago, and it is the Dia Merino DK base in the color Tea Rose.

The sweater makes me happy, even just for the simple fact that it was FAST and it was the first sweater I've knit since this past winter - so....score! And YES....she did have to suffer through photos in a sweater during the HEAT :O