Have you seen the Lana Dress that was just released by Sansahash? It is a pattern designed for lots of  ruffles, twirl and just so much fun! I am so glad to have been able to test this pattern, my daughter loves her new Lana Dress.

It has a fitted bodice and scoop back with ties with both sleeveless and sleeve options. The pattern also includes a quick and simple gathered skirt without the ruffle. As you can see, we picked the circle skirt with the gathered ruffle option.

Gathering is admittedly not one of my favorite sewing techniques, I was sweating when it was time to gather the long pretty ruffle. But gathering it in sections as suggested by the designers made it both precise and easy. And in the end, I couldn’t be more proud of this dress. Actually I might be slightly more excited about that narrow rolled hem I learnt to do on my serger because of this pattern 🙂

I used a cotton jersey from Hobby Lobby for this dress and it was surprisingly easy to work with. There was no curling or pulling or being sucked into the machine which happens so often with thinner knits.

For my muslin, I made a top with a nylon spandex (I think) from my stash and though it drapes beautifully, doesn’t press well and was quite slippery. But she loves it anyway because of all that twirl 🙂

The  Lana Top and Dress Pattern  comes in sizes 6m – 12 years and is layered so you can print only the size you need. The instructions and tips that come with the pattern are very helpful, even if you are working with knits or gathering or hemming knits for the first time. The tutorial is very well illustrated and clearly explained including examples on how to blend between sizes.

I was so excited about discovering how to do a baby hem on my serger and adding all the ruffles that I never ended up making the simple gathered skirt version. But it would make great staple, especially with all the sleeve options. For more Lana dress inspiration, check out the beautiful pictures from the listing here. Today is the last day to get this pattern on sale for € 5.12 (regular price € 8.00).

Happy Sewing!!!