The Skater Dress

I've been eyeing up this skater dress pattern from Kitschy Coo for a while now. Not least because of all the gorgeous, funky prints available to make it in! Just one thing stopping me - knit fabric! I have never sewn with knit fabric before and by all accounts, it can be a bit tricky.

But I just love this easy style of dress for my girls. They are comfy, easy to pull on, wear, wash, and last for ages, since they can start at below-the-knee length, and get shorter as they grow, until they become a tunic top, to wear with leggings.

Then I had a conversation with Janet last week, about her Coco dress, and how easy she had found sewing with Interlock Jersey. Then I found this lovely 100% cotton interlock at Tissu Fabrics. I just couldn't resist the idea of a Coco in the big spots for me, and two little Skaters in little spots for the girls.

The Skater Dress is a downloadable PDF pattern, so arrived immediately. The fabric came very quickly, but because I'd chosen the paper Coco pattern (and I'm glad I did, because it's beautiful, but you can also get a downloadable PDF of that too) I had to wait for that, which meant the girls got their dresses first.

Cut out and ready to sew.

The pattern came together really easily and I had a lot of fun making these dresses. Aside from piecing and cutting the pattern in the two sizes, and a small issue of sewing a skirt piece on back to front, it can be done, from start to finish, in 2 hours.

That's if you didn't have to spend an hour 'servicing' your machine first of course. Really, you can't expect your machine to sew properly if you let it get like this!

I really should clean my machine more often

Oops. That's not the right way round! Get the seam ripper out.

Unpicking this seam seriously took longer than the entire rest of the project! Note to self: pay extra attention if you're sewing knits with a tight zigzag stitch. They are a sod to unpick!

Finally, the finished item. Evie loved it. Especially the twirly skirt.

Modelling the finished article

Love the cuff detail.

Look at those lovely cuffs!

And neckband trim. Just calling out for a contrast colour version I think.

Look at my neck!

Evie immediately requested a mini version for Lola. They love dressing the same.

Mini-me version

I was worried it would be a little long for a crawling baby, but as you can see, it's the perfect length and doesn't get in the way at all.

I'm not hanging around for photos Mum!

I tried getting a picture of the front of Lola's dress, but you try keeping her still!

Watch out for the 'big girl' Coco version, coming soon!