Alice Dress from Handmaiden's Cottage

Hi there. I'm Katy from My China Doll and I have created the Alice dress pattern by The Handmaiden's Cottage for review. It is a modern twist on a vintage style and it would be the perfect pattern for summer days. It is sized for girls from 2-12 years. I used lovely cotton poplin for this dress to make it light to wear. I made a size 3 and the sizing was perfect.

The Alice pattern features options for a gathered skirt or elastic leg romper. It has an optional flutter sleeved or sweet cap sleeves. There are options for the back straps to be crossover or tied in a bow. Lots of options means you have great flexibility in creating your desired look. The options I used for my garment are the gathered skirt, bow ties, flutter sleeves and a cotton lace overlay on my centre front bodice. There is an option to create a machine smocked panel for the centre front bodice too which also looks super cute and adds a vintage touch. The construction of the bodice was fiddly for me but the finished result is so beautiful both inside and out and there are no uncomfortable seams to bother my girls when wearing it also.

I love having the skirt top edge completely enclosed within the waistband for comfort (and prettiness too) and the back elastic gives flexibility to the waist fit. The unique back bodice was what drew me to this dress. I love how cute the bow straps look, so I chose this option for mine.  Instead of hemming the flutters I covered them with picot edged bias binding for an extra point of interest.

The Handmaiden's Cottage has such a lovely collection of patterns and the Alice is a wonderful addition. A lovely feminine style with a bit of vintage charm.

Happy sewing

xx Katy

Are you ready to try your hand at the Alice Dress? Handmaidens Cottage is having a sew along for the Alice Dress. You can join their facebook group for more information.