Matching outfits (again!)

It's cheesy, but I've got a bit of a thing for matching parent and child outfits. I'm making the most of dressing the kids in outfits to match ours before they start refusing to wear them! I've previously made Polly a pair of Summer trousers and a Christmas party dress to match my own trousers and dress, and the boys had matching pyjamas for Christmas last year. For Polly's first birthday last week, I wanted to make an extra special dress for her, with a matching top for myself. I chose New Look 6217 for my top and the Flo Dress from Love Sewing magazine for her dress. I had been looking for a project to use some butterfly print grey cotton bought from Fabrics Galore at the Handmade Fair last September, and I thought it would be perfect for both of these. 

The top was a super-quick sew - only two pattern pieces. I used a button from my stash for the back neck fastening and some leftover bias binding for the neckline.  I made it a size larger than usual as the measurements indicated I should. I will make it in my usual size next time as it does feel a bit big. The neck is also far too wide for me, so I will need to adjust that too. I really like the length and the curved hem, plus it's a great versatile top that goes with jeans or tucked into a pencil skirt. 

The Flo Dress for Polly used quite a lot of fabric as the skirt is very gathered - I like this as it makes it feel like a special occasion dress. The bodice is fully lined, which is great as it is designed to be worn without a vest underneath. It was pretty quick to make (because baby clothes always are!), and I absolutely love this pattern. I finished it with a royal blue ribbon to tie in with my Ultimate Pencil Skirt (I had planned to wear this as the butterflies have the same colour blue in them, but it ended up being too cold and I wore jeans instead). The pattern has lots of sizes and I will definitely be making it again in future. 

Here we are on her first birthday:

My Mum had also made Polly a couple of dresses for her birthday and made me a Susie blouse to match one of them, so we got to be matching girls again:

Here we are at Christmas in our matching party outfits:

And those matching Summer trousers:

She'll be so embarrassed when she's older.....