REVIEW: Sweet Innocence by My Treasured Heirlooms

WOW.  I love how this turned out! As you read, you'll see just how many feet of fabric I ruffled and exactly why it was worth every minute and inch.

The moment I saw the listing for Sweet Innocence by My Treasured Heirlooms, my breath was taken away.  The fullness of one of the under dress options caught my eye, the cascading skirt ruffle had me dreaming of fabric combos, and the different options included in the pattern made me smile.

*Listing photo of Sweet Innocence*

Reading through the details, I noted the size range of 2-6.  My 3 and 5 year old are so slim, they often require a size 2 or slightly smaller sized bodice so I knew this pattern would last a long time.  But what about the mommas of those already in the upper range of the pattern?  Don't worry, Annastasia, the designer behind My Treasured Heirlooms is working on an upsize right this very moment!! She is adding sizes 7-10!

This pattern has so many options, you could outfit an entire family of girls and have them each unique.  Sweet Innocence contains patterns for THREE styles of dress, TWO under dresses and TWO styles of pants. I chose the lower left option (Option A) of the listing photograph shown above.

Option A features a wrap style dress closed with buttons on the front of the bodice.  The under dress is a comfortable peasant style dress with 3 ruffled tiers for extra twirl and poof.  Did you know that between the under dress and the main dress, there are nearly 5 yards of fabric and over 68 feet (let's let that sink in for a moment) of gathering?!  And I'm the first to tell you, I gathered it all by hand and it is totally worth every.single.minute.

I figured I'd be smart and make the under dress out of white so I could pair it with everything (or nearly everything).  My daughter already put it to good use in her Little Red Riding Hood costume on Halloween.  The fabrics for the dress I had picked up a while ago on a JoAnn's run when it was on a crazy sale, like $2.50/yd.  The total cost of this dress came out under $15!  Score!!

As I mentioned above, my 3 yr old is all height and no meat.  Her chest measures just 19" which is a full 2" below the smallest chest measurement on the included sizing chart.  Normally I make a muslin of any new pattern I sew because fitted bodices require sizing down.  Alas, I didn't follow my normal protocol and ended up with a bodice that was too large for my little lady.  Don't worry, the sizing is not off, I just didn't think about reducing the width of the back bodice to account for her narrow frame.

I channeled my inner Tim Gunn, emailed some pics to Annastasia with my thoughts of what would work ... you know, since I had completely finished. (Oh, the joys of sewing at night...LOL).  I moved the buttons closer to each side seam so that it wraps a bit more and then to reduce the width in the back, I sewed in a strip of extra wide single fold bias tape and threaded 3/4" elastic though it.  It worked!

A brief rundown of the tutorial itself - The instructions include clear, drawn pictures of what is to happen in each step.  Accompanying the pictures are concise instructions, but definitely thorough enough that you won't be left scratching your head.  Before you cut, make sure to check the sizing chart as well as the printing chart and both cutting charts so you know which pattern pieces correspond with your choice.

My Treasured Heirlooms also has several other sewing patterns as well as some adorable crochet patterns available in her Etsy Shop -- it seriously makes me want to learn to crochet!  Also, join in her Facebook group to keep in the loop :D

Thanks Annastasia for this beautiful pattern!!  I adore it!

*Although I was provided a copy of this pattern in exchange for my review, I was not

compensated in any other way.  All thoughts in this post are mine and mine alone.