Gracie V-Neck Dress and Sweet Retro Dress

We are attending the wedding of a distant cousin today. The girls, of course, need new dresses ;)

Hanan's dress is actually a v-neck top pattern (view C) from Portabellopixie Gracie by Sandi Henderson.

I made an unwise decision with this dress when I cut it one size smaller than Hanan's usual 2T. I honestly thought it would be a bit on the bigger size (some patterns are like that). Note to self: Your baby is growing, when it comes to dresses, better roomy than tight J But of course Hanan loves it because her big sis has a new dress too.

I sewed a sweet & simple, retro inspired dress for Aisha from this Japanese sewing book (ISBN9784834724189, pattern no. 39). I love it!!

I omit the ribbon ties for the dress. And my biggest accomplishment here is the centred zipper, yeay! I wanted this dress to work so much I took the necessary, not for lazy girl action i.e hand basting!

I basted the seam allowance first, then the zipper. There is a reason why all sewing guide books recommend this, the result is so neat and professional, saves me from the heartache of a botched sewing project.

I used vintage inspired roses print Japanese cotton for the dresses. The dusky pink and green stripes trim fabric on Hanan's dress is Kaffe Fasset's shot cotton.