Sofilantjes Summer Surprise Anniversary Tour

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress

Good morning! 

Dutch PDF sewing pattern designer, Sofilantjes, turned one this past week (Happy Anniversary!!) and they're celebrating with a fun blog tour, highlighting their very first pattern, the Summer Surprise Dress. This sweet little sleeveless dress is a super quick sew that is perfect for the hot summer months. Love that!

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress

First, let's go over the pattern specifications;

-The Summer Surprise Dress comes in sizes 6m-7y and then sizes 7y-12y (Two different PDF sewing patterns).
-The Summer Surprise Dress is meant to be sewn using knit fabric.
-The Summer Surprise Dress has three hem options- top, dress and tunic.
-The Summer Surprise Dress features a simple box pleat front bodice and a gorgeous bow in the back.

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress- Front Bodice Detail

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress- Back

-The Summer Surprise Dress PDF sewing pattern features size layers (i.e. Print only the size that you need). This is a brand new, updated feature to the pattern.

I sewed up a size six, dress length. Lil' Miss loves her dresses! I purchased all of my knit fabric from the wonderful Purpleseamstress Fabrics. I did not alter the pattern in any way and/or mash it with another pattern/size/additional idea. In other words, I sewed as instructed in the Summer Surprise Dress tutorial. :-)

The Summer Surprise Dress has three pattern pieces- front, back and bow. There are measurements to cut the arm and neck bindings and bow center. I love when a PDF sewing pattern has minimal pieces to print, tape and put together! I also enjoy when PDF sewing pattern has size layers- that saves so much ink, time and erases any room for error when cutting out the pattern.

Sewing up the Summer Surprise Dress was very straight-forward. I really enjoyed the simple, clear pictures in the tutorial. The flow of the tutorial felt intuitive and natural. I never questioned what a particular picture was trying to show me and/or illustrate. Simple, white arrows also helped to aid in my understanding of the pattern.

There is a lot of set-up in the beginning of the Summer Surprise Dress tutorial. Instead of just skimming, be sure to really read through the directions and understand it- it really helped me while sewing!

This dress was a really quick sew! It can be sewn on either a regular sewing machine (using a stretch stitch) or a serger. I used a combination of both. I definitely believe that the Summer Surprise Dress would be a great starting off point for somebody wanting to delve into the world of sewing with knits.

Now, let's take a moment to talk about the bow in the back of the dress- how cute is that!?! I love that the bow is self-enclosed (no raw edges and no bindings on the bow, itself). The bow adds a girly touch without being in the way. Cute and functional- that's always a winner in my book!!

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress- Bow Detail

Quick sew! Comfy knit! Cute bow back! I know that I'll be making many more of these Summer Surprise Dresses! Love!

Congrats, Sofilantjes, on your milestone anniversary! Thank you for inspiring us with your story and your talent, Anne (the brains behind Sofilantjes). Thank you, for allowing me to take part in your blog tour- I really had fun sewing up the Summer Surprise Dress. Cheers to many, many more (and lots of fun, new patterns ;-)!

Sofilantjes, Summer Surprise Dress

Check out all of the awesome sponsors for this Summer Surprise Anniversary Tour! For your chance to win patterns from the list below, enter here! 


Day 5 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy sewing!

Please check out the 24 other talented bloggers (link below) that took part in the Summer Surprise Anniversary tour! Lots of talented ladies and their beautiful dresses displayed here!

Inspinration - The Craftiness in Me - Van Je Veel - Boutique Birdie - Tory Frail Designs - Wining Wife - Keep Calm and Carrion - Moon Star - Circle Meets Line - Amazing Adventures with Buba and Bug - Manning the Machine - Sugarplum Cuties - House of Estrela - Create 3.5 - Handcrafted by RED - Lulu & Celeste - Rebel & Malice - Two Novembers - From a Box - Sprouting JubeJube - Maryall Made - Phat Quarters - Knot Sew Normal - Sew Happily Ever After - All Things Katy

***Disclosure: "I received a free pattern from Sofilantjes in order to participate in the Sofilantjes Summer Surprise Anniversary tour. The opinions expressed here are my own."***