Sewing for kids: Lotta Dress by Compagnie M in broderie anglaise

Last Saturday Cristina, one of my best friends, got married and for the occasion I sewed two dresses for the kids of two friends of mine, Carmen (the bride’s sister) and Marika (the chief bridesmaid).

Both little girls, Sara and Sofia, are one year old. So we decided to make the same model in two different colours.

We chose a beautiful broderie anglaise cotton, blue and yellow, at Tessuti Raponi in Bresso, a town close to Milan. Even the coordinate batiste linings are by this fabric shop.

The pattern is the Lotta Dress by Compagnie M.. I bought it at Abilmente Fair in Vicenza (Italy) last October. I’d seen the beautiful version of Sasha and I thought it was the right pattern for this kind of occasion. I chose to make the simpler version of this dress, that one I think it is better suited for a wedding: bodice with cap sleeves, no folded collar, no pockets and invisible zip for the back.

I made a muslin and the little girls had a fitting in the middle of June. I made these modification on the original pattern:

• I shortened the bodice by 3 cm
• I cut 5 mm off the sides next to the armholes
• I sewed the neckline of the yellow dress (that one for Sofia) with a 1,5 cm seam allowance instead of 1 cm. Sofia is few months older than Sara and she needs a wider collar.
• The broderie anglaise cotton is slightly see-through, above all in the yellow version, so I added a lining also to the skirts. In this way the dresses are completely lined (the pattern includes the lining of the bodice only).

Here are the little girls with their dresses on the wedding day:

I have to say that I like to sew for kids…it’s very fun and the result is sooo cute!

Soon I’m going to post also my wedding guest outfit, so stay tuned!