Pleased To Meet You - Hanami

I've been having a bit of pattern testing fun lately ... 

When An put out a call for some Hanami pattern testers, I was like a little kid at the back of the class yelling "me, me, me!"

My youngest daughter is nearly two, but very slight (yes, I feed her!), so I made the 18 month size.  

I chose the gorgeous cross-back option ...

with the even more gorgeous Tulip Flutter sleeves ...

Aren't those tulip flutter sleeves, divine? (everybody nod now)

We always joke that this little cheeky monkey has such slight shoulders, summer dress spaghetti straps just slide right off.  Well, Hanami has sorted those shoulders right out!

The high volume of the Tulip Flutter sleeves are balanced nicely with the flounce at the bottom ...

and I love the fun you can have with picking different buttons to close the cross-back ...

We chose pink love hearts - of course!

It's a very versatile top ... it allows the wearer to climb into small spaces ...

... or stretch out wide!

As we are in Australia, it's winter here ... and well even though it's winter, we usually don't get much rain here in Perth.  In fact, I'm told that we are the second sunniest city in the world (the first being Honolulu - but they're just showing off).  So I find myself out of my comfort zone of taking pics inside due to bad, rainy, windy, cold weather ... don't laugh!  I've had no choice but to take photos of our little cheeky monkey in her natural habitat ...

... her messy bedroom!

As this was an indoor activity, big sister decided to get in on the act and show off her Peplum Bubble Dress ...

... another of An's wonderful designs 

A few details for you ...

Main fabric is 100% light weight cotton called "Summer Chill" - it's a lovely navy blue with cherry blossom pink polka dots.

Lining fabric is also 100% light weight cotton called "Savannah" - a Stonehill Collection by Donna Wilder for Fabric Traditions.  For you Ozzies out there, both fabrics were purchased from Spotlight.

The lovely pink heart buttons are made by Beutron (code SR 0588) and also purchased from Spotlight.

Don't be fooled by this lovely sisterly hug ...

 ... it's actually a body slam!

Too much fun!  It's raining ... don't they understand??

Ok, so I strongly suggest that you keep an eye out on An's blog Straightgrain or her Shop so you don't miss out on the release of this pattern!  

I find her patterns easy to navigate (I'm a novice clothes sewist - is that a word?) and the results always bring a smile to my girl's faces ... which is better than warm weather and sunshine - but I am biased!

I hope you find the time to check out how the other pattern testers went ... we've all been working sooooo hard - lol, actually, it was a pleasure!

Sx