Rise and shine, Sunshines! We’re Back to School! I’m Dora, mother of three, sewist, tester, blogger and teacher. So… since we’re all getting back to lessons and books around here, for this series, I’m sharing with you one of my favorite Back to School dresses: Amelia
Back to school with Amelia
“S”… is for School, September, Start…
At my home, September is always the month for fresh new starts. This year we have even more of these… my older girl is starting high school, my younger girl has a new teacher, I’ll have new classes to teach… it’s so much to get excited about! My little girl usually wears a new dress on the first day and this year I’ll be joining her with my own Amelia dress.Blue and Pink
For this dress, I decided to play with pink and blue. I love blue and my girly girl loves pink, so… why not? I went for different shades of pink and burgundy for my dress. And I used blue french terry with pink bunnies for hers. I could have played a bit more with the pattern: mixing fabrics and colors ( the bodice could have been different from the skirt/bottom of the top)… but the fabrics were so beautiful as they were…
The pattern requires a 4-way stretch knit fabric with at least a 50% stretch and similar or lighter weight fabric for the lining. The skirt can be in either knit or woven. I used a knit with a nice recovery for my bodice and woven with a small percentage of stretch for my skirt. For my girl’s Amelia top, I used soft french terry.
Sewing Amelia
After measuring me and my girl, I checked the sizes and ended up selecting size 12 for me and a 4 for my daughter.
Although I’m between sizes (12 for bodice and 14 for the skirt), this is a gathered skirt, so it’s pretty forgiving.
And if you think blending sizes is difficult, think again! This pattern (and all of them in Bella Sunshine Designs) includes straight forward instructions to guide you through blending sizes. Nothing to fear!
What did I struggle with???
Well… It wasn’t really a struggle, but I always twist my arm when it comes to lining a pattern. However, it does give your piece a better finish and with this pattern, you really benefit from the lined bodice.
I only added one thing after lining: a small pink binding for contrast at the neckline and at the armscye. I think it really made the fabric pop.
All in all, I really enjoyed sewing this dress. It has been on my to-do list for quite some time. Since my girl usually wears either leggings or shorts, I ended up sewing the top length version for her and the knee length dress for myself.
Still having some doubts? Well, we’ve got you covered!
• Amelia sew-along album
• Need help? Shout out in the Bella Sunshine Designs Facebook group. The BSD community is pretty helpful and will be there for you.
Go on… Take advantage of this Back to School sale and grab these awesome patterns that are featured this week:
Amelia (top, dress, and maxi) and Apple cardigan. Two great patterns at a great price!
*I used affiliate links in this post. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase,
I will receive a small commission from your purchase, at no additional cost to you.*