Hello everybody! It has been a year since I last sewed and blogged. Sewing plans didn’t quite materialise in 2017 and my wardrobe crisis still remains. Since I have been sewing a cheongsam for myself every Chinese New Year since I started dressmaking, I can’t possibly break this tradition this year.
I bought 2m of Daily Like’ poddle print fabric last year for our outfits this CNY. The plan was to sew something for the family: 1 cheongsam for myself, 1 cheongsam/dress for C, 1 shirt for J and 1 pocket patch for the husband (the print is a little too cute for him to wear it). I also plan to use fabric from my current stash so I cannot buy any other matching fabric too. I started working on the outfits really late: a week before CNY. The shirt for J didn’t turn out well. The pattern was way too big for him (at 22mo) though it’s stated for 2-3yo. I’ll save the experience for another post. So I only had time to complete C’s and my dress. It was familiar ground!
For both our dresses, I matched the poodle bodice with a satin blend of some sort that I bought years ago (yes I hoard fabrics). It’s very soft and drapes well. Best of all, it doesn’t leave behind water marks! For my dress, I used the same pattern that I drafted last year (phew! still can fit into it) for the bodice and a rectangle skirt for the bottom. To save time, I folded the waist darts instead. I also added frog buttons on the imaginary curve of the cheongsam to create the same the illusion.
For C’s dress, bodice is drafted from the same pattern book that I have (I’m using a 4yo size which fits perfectly!). The skirt portion is a rectangle skirt too! It’s probably the easiest to make in a short time. I ditched the mandarin collar but attached frog button to the neckline to achieve the chinoise style. 
Sew What? 