Summertime dottie (Simplicity Dottie Angel 8153)

Well Hellllloooooooo!

  Long time no see you might say! Did I give up sewing? Was I sick of blogging? Or was I abducted by aliens? Well none of the above actually. I have been sewing, if you follow me on instagram you will know that my machine has not gotten dusty with non use. Am I tired of blogging? - No not at all. The simple truth is that I have been so busy with work, family and everything that goes with them! I have just about found time to sew, even to take photos but every time I turned on the computer I knew that there was a ton of unanswered emails and reports to write that needed to be done before any blogging took place. By the time I had done all of the things I needed to I was too tired to write anything remotely sensible! I haven't even kept up with reading any of the blogs I usually follow. I plan to change this - There are three days of term left and then I have just over two weeks holiday! Yayyyyyyyyyy!! After that I am working for two long days a week but then I will have the rest of the week off - plenty of time to enjoy the holidays with the little people and sneak in lots of sewing and blogging - HURRAH!!

  As you know I LOVE the Simplicity Dottie Angel patterns, however my first Dottie make wasn't really a success as it just didn't suit me. One of the reasons I first started to sew was to find a dress/tunic that was summery (exposure of shoulders required) but that could also be worn with cropped leggings (much safer to go to a windy beach with the little people when wearing leggings). So when Simplicity released Dottie Angel 8153 I struggled to wait until it was released in the UK!

  By the by there is an even newer one just released in the US - I will certainly be snapping this one up as soon as it hits the UK online stores!!

  Anyway back to me! There are several options but I really wanted to make the dress. I thought I had better make a toile first so I made the top version in a very very fine (almost translucent) chambray:

  Apologies for the very crumpled non-ironed photo! I mostly like it - I decided to sew the bib bit down completely at the sides - this was a mistake as it restricted the fullness created by the front pleats (under the bib) and makes the top seem too tight. Also despite this being the long version of the top it is still too short (for my liking). At least I knew what to change for the real version.

  I bought some suitably flowery fabric (light quilting weight) and got going. It was an easy make but with just enough detail to make it an interesting sew - you can't see it on the photo but the bib bit has an almost quilted effect.

I had fun styling the pictures like the pattern cover.

I did however feel like I was constantly going to fall off the stool!

  All in all I really like it, the waist ties mean that it is not a billowy sheet like affair and gives it as much or as little shape as you want. I also love being able to accessorize with as much or as little lace edging or contrasting pocket/bib colours as you like. 

   I decided I wanted to make a bib-less version in a non-flowery fabric as a simple summer dress. I dug around in my stash and found this lovely lightweight cotton. The pockets with the pattern were not right for this dress so I made massively over sized pockets instead. I love this version too but I am not sure if the fabric is just too lightweight - I haven't had a chance to wear it for a day yet so we will see.

My hemline has gone a bit funny - hopefully all it needs is a good iron.

  I love both versions and think I will get lots of wear from them.

  In other news the little people are soooooo ready for the holidays and the bad weather we have had for the past few months has meant precious little time spent outside. Hopefully the improvement in weather will last for the holidays (fingers, toes, arms and legs all crossed). The veg in the garden has been rubbish this year - we did manage a few peas:

  

Thanks for stopping by!

        S xx