Floral Dress and Hooded Raglan

  My youngest sister's birthday was early in January, and since I follow her Pinterest boards, I knew that she wanted a mid- or full- length dress from a large-scale floral. After making this dress last year, I bought a few more yards of the same print for myself, but it was just perfect for my sister, so I turned it into a dress for her instead!

  I used the same pattern as last time too, the Lady Skater dress from Kitschy Coo. I lengthened the bodice by 1.5" and added a lot of length to the hem, to make it mid-length for my tall sister. I used the 3/4 length sleeve, but hemmed it instead of banding it, and raised the neckline. I also added pockets again! I had a really difficult time top-stitching the pockets this time, so the final result is a little wobbly, but I didn't want to risk stretching it out by re-doing it.

  I sewed the neckband in the round instead of the flat, and added a tag. The main reason I like adding tags to gifts is that it helps differentiate the back of the garment from the front! ;-)

  She loved the dress, so I'm quite happy about this one!

  One of my sister-in-love's had a birthday in January too. She thought my hooded raglan was pretty cute, so I made a similar one for her. I used the Hey June Lane Raglan pattern, and I remembered to size up for hers, so it would fit even though the fabric wasn't particularly stretchy! She's pregnant, but since her belly was still pretty small at the time I decided not to make any maternity modifications, in hopes that she'll be able to wear it after the baby is born too.

  I used pink for the accent color on this one, and went with plain cuffs and a hem-band.

  I also lined the hood- the pattern has an un-lined hood but I really prefer the look of a lined one. The pink rayon French terry is a lot stretchier and has more drape than the floral polyester French terry, so I used a wider seam allowance along the center seam, and ended up trimming some excess fabric from the neckline edge of the lining so it would match the outer. I stitched in the ditch between the lining and outer to make the drawstring casing... that turned out to be really difficult with the stretch and wobble of the fabric, so I think I'd try something different next time!

  I added a matching pink drawstring from the pink French terry after taking these photos.

  I'm happy to report that this one fit, and was appreciated as well! I am always delighted when the gifts I make are used and loved!

  Thanks for stopping by,