A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching one of my  nieces for 5 days. I’m the sole girl in a house full of boys, so I jump at the chance to spend time with one of these darling girls. They know there will be swimming everyday, crafts, nail painting,  fun hairdos, trips to the dollar store, water park, and soda shop. And it’s pretty much a guarantee that they will go back home with a handmade item from Aunt Koe.

A few months ago I scored the Cartwheel Collection by Love Notions Patterns for $5 on one of their awesome  Feature Friday sales. Even though I don’t have any girls in my house, I do have 9 nieces so I knew this pattern would come in handy. Check out what all comes with this pattern! I couldn’t pass up a deal like this. My niece staying with me gave me the perfect opportunity to finally sew this pattern. I knew this was just the thing she would love!

My niece and I spent about 45 min going through my fabric stash to find the perfect fabric combo. Even though she is only 7, this little girl is quite the fashion Diva. She knows what she likes and sticks to it. She had to feel all the fabric and see how all the combos looked together. It was so fun! We decided on a cute double brushed poly floral for the dress and a Breton Strip knit for the cute back cutout part.

Once we found the perfect match I printed her size (5T), cut it out and sewed it up! Start to finish it took an hour and because she’s such a little peanut I only used 3/4 yard of fabric! Such a fast, fun little sew. She slept in it that night, and wore it every day after that until she went home.  She only took it off to swim and was so careful not to get it dirty.

Shortly after I made this first dress another niece came to town.  She saw her older cousins dress and begged for one too.  I’m such a sucker for them all and they know it. However, I ran out off time before the second niece went home so I promised her one before the month was over. True to my word I made her one similar to her cousin’s and sent it off.

When she got her dress this little darling just had to Marco Polo me to tell me she loves her new dress “as much as flowers because it has flowers.” That’s the best part, seeing how happy they are when I make them something. That will never get old. She couldn’t stop telling me how beautiful the back of the dress was. The back of the dress really is super adorable!. I just knew this was gonna be one of those patterns I would use a lot. So happy I purchased it on an impulse!