Sometimes a print just grabs you. So it was with this lovely design from one of my favorite fabric groups - the clock tower reminds me of the Small World ride, the geometric shapes tickle my inner quilter, and the bright blue background made it surprisingly boy-friendly despite all the glitter and rainbows.
The flexibility of this print - plus its Disney-esque feel - made it a perfect candidate for my nieces and nephews in SoCal. Everyone loves a good sibling set, so that's what I set out to make.
The girls were easy; my SIL favors timeless, classic silhouettes, and so I've been collecting Violette Fields Threads patterns for quite some time with her in mind. Normally I mostly use knit fabric (it's softer and more forgiving), but for my nieces' dresses I really wanted to work in Woven. Woven takes a lot more work, in my experience. But it has more structure, it's typically what you think of when you think of a "timeless" or "classic" silhouette, and most importantly, it lasts longer. My SIL loves dressing her kids in things *she* wore as a baby, and so I wanted her to be able to pass that gift along to her kids: knits can lose their elastomeric tendencies (stretchiness) over time and in hot storage, but a good woven fabric can be stored indefinitely as long as isn't stored wet.
For this particular sibling set, I settled on the June and the Ruthie for the girls. I wanted each recipient to have her own unique style, and I felt those were the patterns that would best suit the girls' sizes/ages and my chosen fabric. Plus, both patterns have tie closures in the back, which I thought was a nice unifying element.
Baby W was a little bit harder. After much consternation, I did go back to knit for the 'baby' (see: soft & forgiving). I settled on the Brindille & Twig Polo Romper because I did really like the romper + the collared neckline.
Over the next few days, I've got some posts scheduled for how each of the pieces went. Check back tomorrow to hear about the girls' dresses!
It was quite interesting to hear your logic on what makes an outfit timeless. I'd never really thought about knit versus woven. The ties in the back being a unifying element is a good design consideration and once again shows a great deal of thoughtfulness on your part in customizing your pattern choices.
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