The Orla affair

July was all about summer dresses here at the petite passions because of the #wardrobebuilder project. It was also the month of 'the Orla affair', hosted by Maddie Made This, Maker Style, Anna-Zoe and (my favourite sewing blogger) Allie J. The idea was incredibly simple - take one free downloadable pattern and invite everyone's take on it. I loved seeing everyone else's creations and managed to squeeze in my own Orla hack....

When sewing gets sticky - problem solvers

Yes, weirdly there are times when a needle and thread won't cut it on their own. I thought a sewing machine was all I would be needing when I started dressmaking....and then I discovered fabrics didn't always behave themselves! Here's a few of my 'get out of jail' finds that have made life a lot easier for me. If you've got some add them in the comments...the more advice the better!

Sew Over It Eve Dress

I have been waiting to get my hands on this pattern for so long! Sew Over It schedule their patterns as classes and then eventually bring them to wider scale production as patterns or pdfs. I saw this dress over a year ago and have been patiently waiting for it to be available. I was so excited I even went to the release party in April! And then...waiting a little longer to keep in theme with the #wardrobebuilder project. It's totally been worth the wait.

La Maison Victor lands in the UK

It's the last day of the UK leg of the blogger tour celebrating the launch of the English language version of La Maison Victor magazine....and I'm hosting today! Previously La Maison Victor has only been available in Belgium, France, Holland and Germany, but now we can get hold of it in the UK, USA and Australia. I was sent a copy of the magazine to review and used the Malia top pattern to create a floaty summer maxi dress ready for the holidays. Having given all of La Maison Victor (in print and online) a good old look, I think it's really exciting that we can get our hands on an English language version now.

Top summer dress sewing patterns for beginners

This post first appeared as a guest post on the Penguin and Pear dressmaking blog. I throughly recommend that you check it out!

Now that the sun is finally present a little more, and as the holiday season really gets underway, it is the perfect time to put together a cute summer dress. If you are a more experienced sewer looking for a quick make, or a beginner looking for a pattern that is easy to understand and assemble then this is the top 5 for you! Plenty of these have found their way on to my dressmaking Pinterest board as there are so many awesome variations already out there for inspiration!

The #wardrobebuilder project - Summer dresses with a Splendid Stitch voucher to be won!

As a dressmaker who is addicted to sewing dresses particularly, I have been really looking forward to this month. Summery dresses are my favourite patterns and I have a cupboard full of them, waiting to be made. This month there's also a brilliant giveaway from The Splendid Stitch - a £20 voucher to spend in their online store. They've just moved and are going to have some fabulous summer fabrics coming!