Cotton Candy

Every Chinese New Year, I go into a sewing frenzy. I used to sew new cushion covers, new curtains for my kitchen, and of course, new dresses for the kids. It’s a Chinese tradition to wear new clothes on the first day of the new year to signify a new  beginning, but many of us just understand it as time to do some shopping! Since I’ve picked up this hobby, I’ve made it a point to make new dresses for them every year. 2 to be exact, for the first two days which are always public holidays in Singapore. During these two days, we have to go visiting so it’s imperative that the kids are all decked out in new clothes or we’ll be deemed as shabby parents

Oh, and the color must be bright and cheerful. The elderly folks will frown upon dark colors, especially black! Red is the #1 favourite color as it symbolizes good luck.

For day 1, I made a dress using an upsized pattern from the website made-by-rae.com. The original size was a tiny dress, really cute, but meant for babies. SMALL babies. But Amber from Inspiration for Crafting upsized it to a 3T toddler size. Which I thought should be perfect for my 3 year old. BUT! It was way too small! I had a bit of a panic attack when I finished the dress and she couldn’t get in! The dress was designed to be pulled over the head but I couldn’t get it on from either way! I love the fabrics so much I couldn’t bear to waste them…. then I thought of putting an invisible zip on one side of the bodice, so I unpicked one side and inserted a zip. Saved the dress!

Top fabric from Spotlight (part of the Christmas quilting range). Lovely sateen finish, and doesn’t wrinkle much, looks good after wash, unfortunately, the red color ran a a little onto the white parts of the skirt. Thankfully it’s not so visible because of the pink motifs already present on the skirt. Bottom fabric Strawberry Tea Party by Michael Miller. Lovely fabric. Check out the link for the full range.

For Day 2, I made a dress using this pattern from one of my new Japanese sewing books that I bought from my last trip to Japan.

Using a pink polka dotted fabric from spotlight. Which was a little too lightweight for the dress. To make the sleeves stand up nicely, I think a slightly heavier fabric might look better.

I know, pure cotton creases so badly, but it’s so comfortable for the kids. The best part of this dress? No zips Just put it on over the head. I was worried that the opening on top would be too loose and gaping, but it turned out fine! And the Japanese patterns pay so much attention to details, the lining is made with a Japanese floral fabric and the way it’s constructed, there are no raw seams at all inside the dress! Not even on the sides!

For a final touch, I crocheted some brooches. R wanted a flower brooch, and C wanted a heart shape brooch.

Oh, and if you do want to know how to sew from Japanese sewing books, it’s not hard. Do check out my other blog which talks about nothing but Japanese sewing books.