Spring, please!

Breaking from my normal flailing around from project to project (& in general avoiding my Wardrobe Plan) for the time honored Easter Sewing. I'll admit I've missed a year or two along the way, but by and large, most of Lu's Easter finery has been handmade by me since she was 18 months old. Bless her for letting me continue the tradition one more year.

We flipflopped with indecision for a few days, both of us preferring something dressy and smocked (one last time!) but the reality is that I don't have enough time for that kind of labor intensive project. So I chose this sweet spring suit for "big girls" from OOP Simplicity 4104:


I will be making View D, the long sleeve jacket and View B, the flippy skirt. I was thrilled to find my local quilt shop (now under new owners) is carrying some WONDERFUL new fabrics, including Lecien Durham quilt fabrics! For those of you unfamiliar with Durham prints, they are beautiful, shabby rose prints (Lecien is a Japanese company I think.) They are a little pricier than your average quilt fabric, but hey...it's a holiday!

Here are the 3 prints I chose:


I'm using the aqua rose as the body of the jacket, which I will be underlining with white batiste. The tiny rose print will be the collar and the main portion of the skirt. The rose stripe will be the skirt ruffle. I also want to crop the sleeves of the jacket so that they are 3/4 length, and add a striped ruffle here too. Here's a preview:


I have oodles of lace trims (some vintage) and antique mother of pearl buttons too, so I will probably further embellish where I can with little touches of lace and possibly some embroidery. Since the jacket is raglan sleeve, and the skirt is just rectangles, construction should be a breeze and I can spend a little more time on "special".

Stay tuned! :)