Norah has been growing strongly in the past months, and desperately needs some new clothes for the coming Winter. So I set out to make some quick dresses for her: just a pretty fabric, and a super simple bodice + gathered skirt design. No pleating, no peter pan collars, no sleeves, no experiments, no nothing.

That was the plan. As I was going through my stash, however, new ideas quickly started bubbling up, and before I knew it, I got carried away by another experiment.

The idea came when I saw the Atelier Brunette fabrics I had been eagerly waiting to make something with. I won them this Summer in a give-away by the splendid Belgian fabric shop Liesellove. I’m the type of person who hardly ever enters give-aways “because I never win anyway”. So I was over the moon when Lies mailed me that I won shop credit to spend at Liesellove. Picking fabrics wasn’t easy – Liesellove carries so many pretty fabrics – but eventually I picked three Atelier Brunette fabrics. And I haven’t regretted it. Gorgeous prints, great quality, and as finely woven as voile.

I have a soft spot for the combination of (dark) yellow and black & white prints, so I knew I wanted to combine Bye Bye Birdie and Hirondelle in one dress. And that brings me back to my experiment.  I wanted to luafy the dress bodice.

Luafy: transitive verb ˈlü-ə-ˌfī  v.  to include the shape of the piping detail of the Lua sleepsack into another sewing project.