Abbie’s Garden from Riley Blake Designs

I’m excited to be back here on the blog today.  Sewing time is scarce these days and blogging time seems even scarcer.  The sun is shining and I’ve got a house full of kids these days so we are spending as much time outside as possible.  I do love spending a morning at my sewing machines though and this fun fabric from Riley Blake was a perfect excuse to sew!

I always love Sue Daley’s designs and Abbie’s Garden is no exception.  The pinks and blues are just the perfect shades and I love the pop of black with them.  I always get sucked in by the florals but the darling main prints are so sweet too.

My girls and I picked two simple prints from the collection.  My younger daughter went with Abbie’s Garden Floral in Black while my older daughter wanted something more subtle and non-floral and picked the Garden Lattice in Charcoal.  There are so many great coordinating prints with this collection!

For this dress I turned to a free pattern from Simple Life Pattern Co., the Catalina Dress.  I always love finding great free patterns that I can recommend and this one is fantastic!  It’s a classic sundress that comes in sizes 2-12.  The elastic back means no closures so it’s a quick sew too!  It’s perfect for highlighting those special fabrics and a great base to really play around with.  I’m already envisioning a pretty stripe version or playing with the straps a little for fun.

When she put this on and requested a ponytail, I got all kinds of 50’s school girl vibes.  I had to teach her about Sandra Dee and she loved her style!

My oldest wanted something other than a dress and the search was on for just the right pattern.  Little Lizard King released the Cannes pattern just last week and the moment I saw it I knew it’d be perfect!  This pattern comes in sizes 12 mos.-14 and features top and dress options.  With a v-neckline in the front and back, it’s another no closure pattern.  It’s finished with bias around the neckline and arms instead of another layer or facing which makes it nice and lightweight.

While it works great in quilting cotton, I think it’d be lovely in a rayon challis or gauze too!  Bonus points moms, there’s a ladies version as well!

It was so fun to head to one of our favorite walking trails for these pictures.  Summertime is in the air and I can’t wait for more days like this.  We had to stop for our first snow cones of the season after this shoot and for a moment all was right with the world!

A huge thank you to Riley Blake for sponsoring the fabric for this post.  Make sure you check out Abbie’s Garden at your local quilt shop!