Sewing: The Summer Set (Pattern)

Ah, summer. Long days and lazy heat and fruit ripening. I love all the iconic things of summer. Children out of school and running around. Bathing suits hung to dry. Popsicle-sticky fingers.

The other evening I went with my girls around the corner to pick some of the apricots that are falling off our neighbors giant, old tree. It's apricot jam underneath and my girls were grabbing them out of the bucket almost as quickly as we were loading it. Yum! One of the simple pleasures of summer.

My mother's favorite thing to dress her three girls in at summertime when they were young was a simple gathered dress with a high yoke and shoulder straps that tied. I still have one of them hanging in the closet. I remember her showing me the pattern when I was much older and trying to decide which of her patterns to keep. I don't think I was very interested, but kept it anyway, and now that I have three girls of my own I understand the charm of the simple summer dress.

So I've been working on my own version--The Summer Set--for couple years now. It started with some strawberry bloomer and then a patriotic bloomer and top set  for Audrey, and then I sewed striped bloomers a capri-length version for Audrey's last birthday.

And then the top--the Flutter Top--reminiscent of my mother's favorite summer dress for girls. This one for Scarlett is sewn in Riley Blake medium Chevron in Orange. Full and breezy and gathered in a high, square yoke. It has ruffles to shade sensitive shoulders and add a bit more fun (it's really cute without the ruffles too). But the back is my favorite part: it crosses over with two buttons for punch.

I designed it as this hip-length top and a just-below-the-knee dress as well. Tess is wearing a dress sewn with a JoAnn exclusive cotton dobby voile. So perfectly lightweight.

And, despite the amount she moves around, the right amount of coverage. The bloomers underneath barely peek through.

Little Tess. She loves her dress! And her apricots.

The Summer Set PDF pattern is available in my Etsy shop.  It includes sizes 18 months/2 through 8 with a printable hand-drafted pattern for the Bloomers and Capris and detailed instructions for cutting the pieces needed for the Flutter Top and Flutter Dress (it's all rectangles) with or without shoulder ruffle.

I hope you're enjoying the simple pleasures of summer too.