Alexandria Blog Tour: Ishi Dress
This post is my honest opinion using fabric I received free of charge from Lizzie Clark + Sweet Bee Designs
Its been a while since one of my little peanuts has made an appearance ‘round this blog, so I’m super happy to have miss Mars here to celebrate the Alexandria line from Lizzie Clark and Sweet Bee Designs. Take a look at the fabrics she chose for the blog tour and the fantastic Ishi Dress that’s perfect for my on-the-go gal!
If you asked Mars about her favorite things, pink, purple, and flowers would be in her top five (probably with Moana and kitty cats rounding out her list). So when I first saw the Alexandria collection I knew whatever I decided to make, it had to be for my little girl. Mars mulled over the color board with me (pointing at every single one and saying, “Pink! My favorite color! Purple! My favorite color!”) and helped me settle on a few prints that she liked. I wanted to use a couple of her choices so I searched my patterns for something that lent itself to color blocking, and landed on the Ishi Dress by StraightGrain patterns.
The Ishi Dress has been on my to-make list for a while—I loved the pockets and princess seams, and though I’m not an experienced color blocker, I was a big fan of the samples photographed for the pattern listing and wanted to give it a try.
Though the instructions weren’t my favorite (I just prefer some of the steps in a different order), the dress came together pretty smoothly. The princess seams weren’t difficult to join together and the fit is spot on for Mars. I finished this dress with the invisible zipper option and hot dang, its so satisfying to watch that zip disappear right into the back of the dress!
Hands down, Mars’ favorite part of this dress is the pockets. She was so excited about her dress that she didn’t want to take it off after we took these photos, and she promptly ran around the yard stuffing her pockets with rocks from our fire pit. Mars loves collecting rocks and leaves outside and playing with cars, and the ample pockets are perfect for her to store her treasures. This girl has work to do and she won’t be slowed down by dresses without sufficient pockets!
The beautiful Sweet Bee Designs cotton just makes this dress. Its very soft and has a very high quality feel, but my favorite part is how vibrant the colors are. Lizzie and I live in the same neck of the woods in Northern Virginia and I actually got to meet her in person when she hand delivered my fabric, and I was immediately so pleased when I opened the packaging and saw the gorgeous colors in that darling floral print. It really is lovely!
My sewing focus has shifted a lot over the last year and a half and I’m not sewing for my kids as much as I did before, so I always love when I do get to make something for one of my littles. Mars lit up when we picked out fabric together and she got to make her own choices, and I think that makes this dress extra special for her. She is so ready for backyard adventures in her Ishi Dress!
