Last month I tested out a new pattern for Toni of Make it Perfect. She has a great selection of patterns for women, babies, and kids – I made her Serendipity Jacket this winter, and the Uptown Girl Jacket was one of my first major sewing projects for Lila. I’ve been a long-time fan of Toni’s patterns and blog, and I always look forward to what she’s got coming up next. It was really exciting to test for her and get to know her a bit in the process!
One thing I love about pattern testing is that it helps to get me out of my comfort zone. My sewing style pretty much matches my personality – I’m not much of a risk-taker. I feel like I get into a rut sometimes and choose very safe, conservative patterns, or just make the same things again and again. But this pattern is really fun – something I might not have chosen on my own, but am so glad I made. It’s called the Zip-It, named of course for the colorful zipper that runs down the front.
I wanted to pick some bright and bold colors to go with the style of the dress. The yellow dots are Lotta Jansdotter’s Scatter Dots in Citron from the Bella line, purchased locally at Cool Cottons. Not sure exactly what the solid is, I just got it to match my zipper. Speaking of which – I had trouble finding a good color selection of 20-inch jacket zippers around town, so I ordered a few from Zipperstop on Etsy. No shortage of fun color options there!
I was surprised by how incredibly easy it was to install a zipper in this manner – definitely manageable even for a zipper novice! If your zipper is heavy and your fabric is light, you may get a little waviness when the zipper goes in. I used some 1/2 inch stay tape along the front dress seams to keep the fabric from stretching with the weight of the zipper.
The remainder of this photo shoot is brought to you by my wedding ring – she begged me to take it off, and holding it apparently made her feel all responsible and grown-up. It was sweet, and it worked, so I went with it.
That’s it. Enjoy your weekend!
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This is such a fun dress! I’m a huge fan of zippers though I can never seem to sew them in correctly, Lovely as always, Gail!
beatiful work!!!Beatiful!!!!
~hugs de Maria Filomena, to Portugal
Gosh, this is so cute and so different! I really like the zipper down the front. And as usual- great fabric selection!
What a great dress pattern and you nailed it with the colours. Gorgeous!
The dress is adorable. I love your style….patterns as well as all fabric choices. I don’t see any rut , just awesomeness ! And Lila…could she get any cuter? The 4th picture down is too much. So cute!
What a beautiful little girl with such a sweet smile!
Looks absolutely lovely and something my girls would love. Did you use cotton or knit? It’s hard to tell from the photos.
thanks! it’s just woven cotton 🙂
My goodness she is just adorable! And that dress is so cute! I love the fun detail of the bright zipper up the front!
Yay! A new dress for Lila! And even though you say you may not have chosen this pattern on your own, it still very much looks like you – clean, crisp with lovely details (love the accent along the pockets!). The zipper running along the front is such a fun detail, and I also really like the cap sleeves. Looks like a winner of a pattern and you did a beautiful job with it, Gail!
What a fun dress! Love your fabric selection – the colors are so pretty together! And your daughter is adorable!
That Lila sure is a cutie. This is such a cute dress and seems really fun to wear – way to step out of the comfort zone!
Sooo cute! Love the color combo.
I have just made a zipper front dress last weekend – made the pattern up. will post in next day or so. This is really sweet:)
thankyou so much gail! love the extra pics 🙂