"Charlotte" All Dressed Up For The Holidays. . . Plus Another Surprise!

I've been so anxious to show you these photos that Abby and I took the other day of her modeling the "Holiday Edition of Miss Charlotte". I had been wanting to make a Holiday dress for you and I knew that I wanted to use my new Charlotte pattern. In this version I used gorgeous, silky red and white sateen to create the dress. I also made pretty little covered buttons to go down the back, but then I wanted to add a special "Christmasy touch" and I wanted holly leaves and berries to be hand sewed on the bands to make it extraordinary. I went searching for "holly leaves" and I discovered this pretty trim that I hoped would be perfect and I ordered it in hopes that it would work with my idea, and when it arrived I knew I had found the perfect solution.

Here is a close-up so you can see the delicate details on this dress.

This is what the trim looks like on the spool. It's manufactured by a company called "May Arts" and can be purchased on-line. I happened to get mine from Amazon...

Click here to go to see it at Amazon

I carefully snipped each and every leaf off the vine and stitched them onto the dress and then added pretty little red pearl beads to create the holly berries.

In the end I really love the way the dress turned out. . . 

Simple, Classic and Elegant

Not too much, not too little, just the right amount of special to make this dress a family heirloom.

Now, if your worried about your little girl needing a little something extra to keep her warm you could add my "Madison's Jacket" to this to make a gorgeous outfit. Perhaps in white fur, or velvet and lined with something soft and silky.

Now for the GREAT news!

Both this version and the classic version are now available in my shop for purchase. Currently the PDF version is ready to go and I hope to have the printed version in the shop within the next few days. I asked my printers to please put this on a rush order so that I can get them to you quicker.

Click here to read about "Charlotte"

Click here to read about "Holiday Charlotte"

Now, I want to show you something else I have been working on for you....

Meet Tiffany...

Soon to join my collection.

Can you tell I have been busy? This dress idea actually came to me one night when I couldn't sleep and once again I hopped out of bed and rushed to my studio at some crazy hour to make it. I was just finishing it when Abby woke up and when she saw it her eyes were like saucers. I used some fabrics from my stash that I had been saving for just the right occasion and I think this dress was worth waiting for. Tiffany will become available for purchase within the next week or so so keep watch for news of her arrival.

Phew, now I need a nap!

Dawn

More Of Charlotte

I just wanted to share a few more photos of "Charlotte" with you before I release the pattern early this week. I adore this dress and I know you will too. So pretty and feminine without being too fussy with layers and layers of ruffles. With Abby growing up, she is wanting more sophisticated styles and so I designed this with that in mind. I can see this dress being perfect for so many occasions and it works with cottons as well as other fabrics and this is a perfect example of that. I went to JA with a coupon in hand and headed for the "Special Occasion" fabrics. I have to admit I usually avoid that section of the store completely. But I wanted to show you how pretty this dress can be done in "the slippery stuff". I found this gorgeous icy aqua and silvery gray and I loved the combo. Oh, here's a funny little hint. I actually liked the "wrong side" of the fabric more that the "right side" so I used the wrong side instead. It looks a lot more like silk dupioni that the other side, which honestly was a little too glittery for my taste. Not to mention it was the perfect colors to go with Abby's fur wrap. This dress would be amazing for the holidays and if you are concerned about your little one being warm enough you could also pair this up with my "Madison's Jacket" for a great outfit! I will be debuting my special "Holiday version" of "Charlotte" this week as well when I release the pattern and wait till you see that one! But until then I hope you enjoy looking at these photos of this new design.

Dawn

Introducing "Charlotte"

Abby and I are both in love with Miss "Charlotte"! A while back I started thinking about wanting to make another special occasion dress to add to my collection. I wanted something that could work for the holidays as well as for weddings, parties or other special events and also that was a bit more grown up. That's how "Charlotte" came to be. When Abby saw the finished dress on the dress form her mouth fell open and she said... "Mom, you've done it again!" and she said when can we go take photos??? Now, if you like this one, you are going to love, and I do mean LOVE the holiday version of "Charlotte". I was hoping to take Abby out for a photo shoot this weekend but sadly, Mother Nature has something else planned for us for the next few days while we batten down the hatches for the next hurricane. Yuck! I had so many things I wanted to do this weekend and now we will all be stuck inside waiting for this storm to pass. So, hopefully Abby and I will be able to take photos of her in the Christmas version later in the week. I have a ton of work done on this new pattern so finger's crossed I will be able to complete it within the next few weeks so that I can get it into the shop with still plenty of time for you to make it up for the holidays! 

Dawn