Hot pink Uptown/Downtown dress

Have you ever waited to sew a pattern you absolutely adored until you had perfect fabric for it? The Uptown/Downtown dress by Sew Straight & Gather was such a project for me.


I have been admiring Uptown/Downtown dresses popping up all around the sewing blogland. I love the shape of the dress and the options the pattern in conjunction with the extension pack provide. This seemed a perfect project on my journey to conquer the fear of knits.


The pattern was on some crazy sale one day so I bought it. And then nothing happened for quite some time. Why? Because I did not have suitable fabric to make a dress. The pattern calls for at least 30-60% stretch knit fabric. I did not have anything that would match that description in the print that my picky (not to say fussy) young customer would approve.


Towards the end of last year my friend Renee introduced me to MaaiDesign, an Australian based on-line fabric shop. Maaike had a lot of fabric in her shop that I absolutely loved, but... You see, I need to feel fabric. I need to see what the colours really look like. I can't trust a picture and a description on my screen. This is why I never purchased fabric online before.


While I was browsing through knit section on Maaike's website R came to check out fabrics also. She pointed at Artie Pink by Froy & Dind and asked if I could buy some of that fabric to make her a dress. I told my daughter I would think about it, however to be honest with you I was not going to buy anything. A few days later my girlie asked if I have bought any of the pink fabric yet because she really wanted me to make her a new dress. Still feeling not too convinced I sent a message to Maaike asking for a little more info about the fabric my daughter loved so much. Maaike turned out to be a lovely person to talk to and offered to send a sample pack. R knew what to do with it :)


I liked the feel of the samples and decided to commit to my first on-line fabric purchase. My big girlie was so excited when the package arrived! While she was sleeping I finally made an Uptown/Downtown dress for my sweet R.


Sewing the dress was an absolute breeze. I opted for a sleeveless dress as we were heading towards a long and hot summer. I made a size 4 across chest with size 5 (or was it 6?) length. The only thing I changed was the method of sewing the outer layer and the lining together. I did not trust myself and was a little worried I would end up stretching fabric if I followed the instructions provided in the pattern and used a so called 'burrito' method instead. It looks as if I still managed to stretch the fabric a little while sewing. Oops!


This simple dress made my daughter very happy. I had to beg her to take it off when I tried it on her to determine the length while I was still working on it. That's always a good sign.

R finally got to wear her Uptown/Downtown dress on Christmas day. We usually spend Christmas with my husband's family. Last Christmas was not an exception. As I was getting baby L ready I could hear R run into a room where my husband's relatives were gathering, saying, 'Look at my new twirly dress!' I cannot put in words how happy this little comment made me feel. I have made many things for my daughter, and she was happy with most of them. However this was the first time she wanted to show something off in such a cute way.


I am already planning my daughter's Autumn wardrobe, and I can tell you that she will have at least one more Uptown/Downtown dress. But let's chase any thoughts about Autumn away for the time being and enjoy the sun for a few more weeks.

10 comments

  1. Very cute Jenya! I think that colour of fabric really suits your daughter. How lovely her comment about her dress, it is so nice when my daughter really likes what i made for her, always brings warmth to my heart!

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  2. Gorgeous! It looks super comfy and R is so sweet!

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  3. So cute; the dress as well as how happy your daughter is with it :-)

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  4. No way is this your first time sewing knits! The dress is perfect! Your daughter sounds just like mine, LOL. She looks so pretty in her dress too :)

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  5. The dress looks perfect! I am so happy R loves it, what more could you want?? (and thank you for the kind words ;)

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  6. This is such a beautiful dress, Jenya -- I'm glad your daughter convinced you to try the fabric because it looks wonderful on her ;) And the dress is really lovely. I've had this pattern for ages, too, and now I really want to make one after seeing yours! <3

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  7. That is so cool! I loved reading about her reaction! How wonderful!

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  8. Beautiful fabric, the dress is stunning on R. Thanks for the link to Maai's shop, those fabrics are awfully tempting!

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  9. So sweet and simple, just what I like in little girls clothing.

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  10. Cute dress!! Your little girl sure knows what she wants, and has a good taste! Now I need to check what burrito method is :)

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