The Ava Tie Dress.

I love a solid pattern that gets used over and over, time and time again.  

Where the actual pattern becomes so tattered from love and the cost of said pattern compounds per use.
Husband loves that too.

 Let me share with you the Ava Tie Dress by Izzy and Ivy Designs.

First spotted, all lovingly sewn up, over at Narioka many moons ago.

It has a simple construction.

So simple in fact, that when it arrived and I tore open the packaging, I couldnt find the pattern pieces.

Hmmph, ripped off.

Novice Nelly soon realised that to construct this garment, it required the measuring out of a rectangle of fabric which then became the 'tube' of the dress.
Too easy.

It is then shirred at the top end and how good is shirring!

After many attempts I finally got the hang of it and want to shir everything.
Once I wound the elastic thread onto my bobbin for the 10th time, we were good to go.
Tension is everything my friends.
And I do so love a pattern that teaches a new skill and adds to my repertoire as a learning sewist.

Shirring is great because it creates a stretchy, fitted garment without the fuss of carbon paper.

Most excellent.

I prefer the look of this dress with the tie at the back but that's just me.

And here we are in denim this time with little cherries, picked up from Spotlight at 40% off.

Another lovely feature of this pattern is that the designers have included a little sew in label that you can choose to add to your finished garment.

I just love labels on handmade sewing. It takes the finished product to the next level I think and I would really like to get my hands on some personalised ones.

Check out the dodgy lines there on that tie.

I would just like to add that this bottom here dress was one of the first projects I had ever made for my darling little baby daughter back when she was a wee thing.

I didnt know much about sewing. I was borrowing a machine.

And I just wanted to create something with my own hands to express that maternal love.

That was 3 years ago, and I just. cant. stop. crafting. now.

Every day Im creating something, if only for 5 minutes between nappy changes and swimming lessons.

What a journey motherhood has turned out to be.

Im linking up with And Sew We Craft to share the love of all things crafty. Stop by and say hi! It's always good to connect with like minded peeps and enjoy oohing and ahhing over crafty goodness.

My very favourite 'me' thing to do.