Cuffed and Color-Blocked Sunday Picnic Dress

I am so happy to be a part of the Sunday Picnic Dress Tour by Sewpony Vintage.  I think you can see why.

I  just love the adorable vintage styling of this pattern and I couldn't resist whipping one up for Hannah.  

Since we're smack dab in the middle of autumn now, I decided to go directly into dark autumnal colors with this deep plum-colored fabric and play with some color blocking for the details.  The pattern has options for long sleeves, elbow-length sleeves, or a sleeveless fully-lined bodice, but I opted for something in the middle and made a 3/4 length sleeve and slightly oversized flip-up cuffs.

I lined the dress with this dusty pink fabric, and as I ironed the front bodice of the dress I pulled just a sliver of the pink out and topstitched it down.  This gave a little more definition to this spot and the appearance of piping.  

(Also, I have always considered doing a collection of photos in which one of my children is holding my lens cap, because this always seems to happen.  Anyone else?)

While I was taking Hannah's pictures Chris and Jayce were nearby working on riding his bike without training wheels.  He had a few good stretches of success and Hannah kept dibs on him the whole time and periodically cheered him on.  Such a good little sister! 

Back to the dress, the collar is a muted shade of aqua blue, but the zipper color isn't subtle at all.  The pattern calls for an invisible zip but I didn't have any on hand, and when I was flipping through my (small) stash of zippers I saw this one and knew that it was meant to be.  Right?!  Plum fabric with contrasting aqua accents is my dream. :)

The dress is just slightly big on Hannah, but since it has that adorable vintage styling and A-line shape, it works just right.  I know that she will wear it well through the wintertime and into the spring, even if she has a growth spurt somewhere in there, which I'm sure that she will.

The dress is a fast sew, even with the zipper installation.  Suzanne's pattern provides a detailed photo tutorial that walks you right through it.  

There is a 15% discount during the pattern tour which is today until Friday the 7th of November with the code SUNDAYTOUR15, so head on over to her shop to pick up one for yourself.

 But wait, there's even more Sunday Picnic Dresses for you to check out today!

Victoria from As It Seams and Rachel from Stitched Together have both made stunning Sunday Picnic Dresses that they are sharing in detail on their blogs today.  Click over to see their dresses and don't forget to check in with Suzanne at Sewpony over the next few weeks to see these bloggers' gorgeous works as well.

Follow along with me on BlogLovin'.
**I was provided a copy of this pattern for free for participating in the pattern tour, but I was delighted to do so because I love the design and my enthusiasm is completely sincere.**