Sweet Lily Chambray Dress

Have you ever had a sewing project that looked AH-mazing in your head...but not so great in reality.  This was almost one of those projects for me!  As soon as I saw the Sweet Lilly dress pattern by Bella Sunshine Designs, I knew I wanted to make one in chambray.  I sewed up the bodice with some cute little yellow buttons (and oh man it looked great!) then I added the skirt and....hated it!  So I threw it aside and went to bed, I don't know, but maybe I had just been staring at it too long.  The next day I switched out the yellow buttons for some wooden ones, gave the dress a good press, put it on my little one with the boots from her Halloween costume, and I LOVE it!

The Sweet Lilly dress features a pintucked bodice, I am a sucker for any pattern with pintucks!  It's got elbow length sleeves and some sweet ruffles on the sleeves, bodice, and hemline.

I had bought some chambray months ago with plans to make something for myself, but had not gotten around to it yet.  It is this chambray (affiliate link), and I really love it, I think I will be ordering some more to make that something for myself!  It is lightweight and has a really pretty drape to it.

I will warn you, this pattern is not a quick sew.  There are lots of pieces to cut, both fabric and interfacing, plus all that ruffling (and I really hate ruffling!)  It has some really nice finishing techniques, but they take extra time too.  All the seams on the sleeve cuffs and ruffles are encased and the bodice is lined and hand finished at the waist and sleeves.

This little dress will be perfect for fall!  It looks so cute with her boots and will be cute layered with tights or leggings as the weather cools off...if it ever cools off!