The Miss Matilda Dress

 I love to sew, and I love to inspire others to sew and help teach them how. Designing and teaching is a true passion and honestly it is what started me on the path of making PDF patterns. You know, though I never really sew with patterns. I tried patterns when I first started sewing, you know those tissue paper patterns that you pick up for 99 cents at the store. I was always so frustrated by the patterns thinking that they must not actually want you to complete the pattern, the directions are horrible the few pictures that are included make almost no sense and I never made a single one that came even close to fitting. Why am I telling you this? Because even in the PDF pattern world I think finding a truly great pattern with a pattern designer that stands behind their work, and they offer truly unique designs, is hard to find. That's why when Lindsay from Cottage Mama, asked if I would join in on her pattern tour for her new patterns out, I was thrilled. She is such a breath of fresh air. It doesn't take long to understand Lindsay's design esthetic. She is vintage and girly, and sweet. Her designs stay true to the a vintage feel with a slight modern twist.

 Dear sweet Penny really needed a new dress so the timing was perfect and her patterns have great range (6m-10years) so I was able to make Penny the 6M size Miss Matilda Dress. The fit is perfection, a little room to grow but not overly large on her.

The pattern is easy to follow with beautiful pictures and simple steps. The pattern itself is gorgeous and comes with a super yummy recipe, you can feel the love that Lindsay poured into the pattern, and that says a lot because it's not always the case. I made the "simple version" omitting the neck ruffle, however I did include the front ruffle because I like a little ruffle and it was just too sweet not to include. I also was perhaps a bit lazy and so the width of the skirt was longer than the pattern suggested, even though I kind of like the added fullness. 

 As for Miss Penny? She loves the Miss Matilda Dress because it ties in front and that means she has something to play with...

and eat... yum yum yum. (it's either the sash or her toes these days :)

So if you haven't tried a Cottage Mamma pattern yet I strongly encourage you to check them out, the patterns are lovely, Lindsay is superb and her designs are so unique and detailed, and her patterns are written with such detail she does not leave anything out.

You can also check out her blog to follow along with the rest of the blog tour, some really pretty variations out there.