A Nani IRO for the Girls

I was inspired by miss matatabi's nani IRO month to pull out the scraps from my Clara Dress to make a little something for the girls! 

I had visions of making something light and dreamy with some smocking thrown in!

I used the A-Line dress pattern from The Cottage Mama as a base and made some alterations to bring my ideas to life:

Some wonderfully random cross smocking!

Vital Statistics

Fabric: Nani Iro by Naomi Ito for Kokka (Little Letter Jose)

Pattern: A-Line Dress from Sew Classic Clothes in Size 4

Alterations: I added 5 inches to the centre front, used rows of gathering and then smocked it. 

To line the dress I used a light cheesecloth and lengthened it by 3 1/2 inches. 

I then used french seams on the lining so that the seams wouldn't show on the outside. The added length works really well and means it can be worn as a size 6 as well!

I trimmed the neckline and both hems with a shiny gold ribbon to bring out the flecks of gold in the fabric. I also added some little ruffle cap sleeves!