Isla Eve by Snazziedrawers, Little Girl Fancy Holiday Dresses

Ever since I started sewing actual clothes, a little over 2 years ago, I have dreamed of a family photo of everyone wearing something made by me.  Well this year, I came close. I made everyone’s clothes except for my husbands.  I didn’t make him anything partially due to time and partially due to I am not truly sure he would actually appreciate it.  He is not really a handmade clothes kind of guy, however he probably still would have worn it to appease me.

Outfit patterns include:

1. Roxanne Dress from Foo Foo Threads for me
2. Jolly Roger Raglan by Patterns for Pirates for Little Dude
3. Pixie Pants by Twig and Tale
4. Isla Eve dress by Snazziedrawers for Baby Girl

My daughter is wearing an Isla Eve dress by the pattern company Snazziedrawers!  This is my favorite little girls fancy dress.  Its looks really difficult, but it’s not.  There are just a lot of little steps, so give yourself some time.  I did make some changes to the pattern, I only used power mesh pieces instead of including lace. I purchased my Power Mesh from Miss Nancy.  You can ask for half yards, but there is a minimum total amount your must purchase.  I did not need a full yard of each color.  I had this flowy pastel rainbow dress in mind and my vision turned out almost as I imagined.  The Bunny is by Sweet Country Designs and the bunny’s dress is my own made up pattern.

For the bodice, I used a thicker dotted Swiss dot tulle.  Since this tulle was thicker, I probably could have got away with just one layer instead of two, but we regular tulle, you definitely want the two layers.  The skirt and bodice are made from purple silk dupioni.

I also used the power mesh scraps for the top tulle Ruffle.  I used 5 layers instead of 4 as well.  I tried to gather it with regular thread, however the mesh was too strong.  I pulled out my upholstery thread and it worked well.  The Isla Eve dresses I have made previously with regular tulle gathered fine with just regular thread.  I chose power mesh this time, so it would match her skirt perfectly and because power mesh is softer and not as scratchy.

I also used rainbow rick rack and yellow glitter ribbon instead making my own bias tape, because, well, I was lazy.  LOL!  I also used purple premade bias tape for the neck straps as well.

I cannot say how long exactly it took me to make this, as I only get to sew for my family and me in between my own work projects.  It’s a little here and a little there…

This was probably my most expensive Isla Eve I have ever made, however it does not have to be so expensive.  The first Isla Eve I made was for my daughter’s first birthday.

I used left over silver and pink french damask fabric my her nursery for the bodice front and back fabric.  It is actually a twill fabric and the sturdiness made the bodice easier to sew and held up the skirt easier. I used regular pink tulle for the bodice overlay, ruffled gray stretch elastic for the bodice strips and a pink scalloped ribbon for the center strip.  The skirt pieces are made from swiss dot tulle and pink sequin lace.  For the underskirts I used pink satin.  It was definitely much cheaper than my Easter version.  I made my daughter the 12-24 month version and it still fits her at 2 and 1/2.

I am currently working on a third Isla Eve in pink and gold sequins and it is going go be fabulous!

I used some gorgeous sequin mesh for the bodice and skirt pieces, more Swiss dot tulle and left over pink sequin lace.  I need to add the underskirt pieces and some straps and she will done!  I hope to finish her soon.

I think the most intimidating part of the Isla Eve was learning how to shirr.  I read many posts about it being impossible to shirr on brother machine without tweaking the bobbin holder.  Well after a little trial an error there is no reason to tweak the bobbin holder.  If you would like me to create a tutorial on how easy it is to shirr with a brother machine.  Please let me know in the comments below!  Please let me know if you have any questions!

I will follow up this post with reviews of my Roxanne dress by Foo Foo Threads, my son’s Jolly Roger Raglan by Patterns for Pirates , and his Pixie Pants by Twig and Tale.

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