One Jump Rope Dress has been fully prepped and is ready for demonstration on Saturday at Spool in Philadelphia. Can’t wait to meet some new friends and talk sewing all day!

The fabric I’m using for my dress is from Denyse Schmidt’s upcoming fabric line, Hope Valley. Gorgeous, isn’t it? I can’t wait for the fabrics to be available in stores. And vintage purple mother-of-pearl buttons just seemed appropriate, if I can bring myself to remove them from their card.

Update: Here’s a recap of the day (complete with photos) from the nice folks at Spool.

The wait is over! Our two new styles–the School Days Jacket and Coat and the Jump Rope Dress–are now available for purchase on our website.

The positive responses are already coming in. The School Days Jacket and Coat is the Sewing Examiner’s pattern pick of the week (“Designer Liesl Gibson and company have outdone themselves again with this sweet and wholesome pattern”), and one very busy blogger who has already sewn two wonderful Jump Rope Dresses–one in view A and another in view B–reports that “these patterns have given me so much confidence in my sewing ability.”

Don’t forget that while supplies last every order ships with a complimentary copy of Pearl, the new spool dog.

In my last post, I previewed View A of the Jump Rope Dress. Now it’s time for the second version of the pattern, View B.

This version is a simple, clean A-line dress with a hem that hits at or slightly above the knee for a more casual look.

The long sleeves are slim, but not tight, and I added gathered patch pockets for a fun detail. You’ve seen these pockets before on the Puppet Show Tunic. I liked them there and thought they would be a nice touch for this pattern as well.

This dress makes use of the same innovative placket construction as View A. I’m really excited about this because plackets are a notoriously tricky detail that many sewers want to do but are afraid to try.

This placket, though, is easily achievable by any intermediate seamstress who is able to follow my very thorough instructions closely. I know you’ll thrill yourself with the result you’ll be able to achieve when you sew this dress.

As a matter of fact, one of our pattern testers had been trying, without success, to copy a top with a placket that she bought for herself. After sewing this dress she understood how to construct and sew a placket and was able to finish her own top using the same technique.

This pattern provides additional room for customization by allowing you to mix and match elements from the two views. Why not try a short-sleeve version of View B for warmer weather? Or how about using the View B pockets on View A?

I’ve provided you with lots of options in this pattern, and I’m eager to see what you do with them when the pattern is released on September 8.

Our in-house model is outside enjoying the sprinklers at the playground, so Pedal (as S has named her, presumably because she has a pedal to raise her up and down) has stepped in to help introduce View A of the Jump Rope Dress.

(A quick aside before I start. A couple of weeks ago my hero, Bill Cunningham, who reports on fashion for The New York Times, did a wonderful audio slide show on shirtwaist dresses. It’s a great piece, and I highly recommend it. I had to chuckle when I saw it because I thought as I was designing this style that I was doing something unique. But it seems that the shirtwaist dress is in the air this season in New York.)

As I mentioned when we announced the new patterns last week, this dress comes in two quite different styles. This is View A–the one that’s shown on the cover of the pattern envelope. I’ll introduce you to View B next week.

I adore softly tailored clothing with subtle feminine details, and I wanted to design a dress with several of those features. This is more tailored than some of our other styles, in part because autumn feels more tailored to me. I think tailored clothing is versatile and practical, but it can also be a lot of fun.

I designed this dress so that you can dress it up or down depending on the fabrics and options you select. The samples I’m showing here are dressier. In fact, S may wear the fuchsia silk plaid sample to my sister’s wedding this fall. But imagine how it would look in chambray or a simple stripe as a school dress or a play dress. (OK, you don’t have to imagine; here’s a photo of both in very different sizes to help you visualize the results.)

This dress fits a bit slimmer than some of our other patterns. It also has a higher armhole, which is especially flattering and means it will layer well with sweaters and jackets when the weather turns cooler. View A has a slightly dropped waist with a self sash, which you could also lengthen if you want a bigger bow. The patch pockets are positioned over the side seams and have little button flaps.

The short sleeves have a tiny cuff with a button tab that matches the front placket. (And here I’m switching to photos of another sample garment.)

But my favorite part about the dress is the collar, which stands up around the neck like a shirt collar rather than the typical Peter Pan collar you might expect from a home sewing pattern. This collar is a one-piece collar with enough roll to it so that it looks like a shirt collar. But (and this is what I know you want to hear) it is much easier to sew than a traditional collar with a collar stand. I’m rather proud of this collar because I haven’t ever seen another pattern designed like this, and I think you’re going to love sewing it.

We rated this pattern as three out of four scissors because it involves more of a time commitment than some of our other patterns. There are many details in this pattern (the placket, collar, belt loops, pockets, etc.) that you won’t find in any other children’s sewing pattern. But if you know your way around a sewing machine and are willing to go slowly, be patient and diligent, and follow instructions carefully, you’ll be able to sew this dress with aplomb.

Of course the instructions are very detailed and thorough, so you won’t be left adrift while you’re sewing it. I walk you through the steps very carefully. So if you’ve always wanted to sew a partial placket like this, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. Once you understand the technique, you’ll be amazed at how straightforward it really is.

I’ll end with a quick note about the fabrics because I know you’ll ask about those, too. The pink plaid is the fuchsia silk taffeta from Della Q fabrics. (Remember that if you’re matching plaids you should always purchase more than the suggested yardage so you won’t run into trouble in your cutting. We used a little over two yards for the size 4 shown.) The black and white check is an Italian shirting I bought in the garment district here in New York last spring. It’s no longer available, but Della Q has a very similar silk gingham.

I can’t wait to see what you make with this pattern. And I can’t wait to show you View B which I’ll blog about next week. Stay tuned!

It’s finally time to take the wraps off what we’ve been working on in the studio for the last several months and give you a preview of our new fall patterns.

This season we’re releasing a cute little shirtwaist dress and a jacket that can be made up in several different ways—as a lightweight fall jacket, as a raincoat, or as a winter coat that comes complete with a removable quilted lining. Both patterns have been designed to be very versatile, and both include many different options.

The Jump Rope Dress pattern is a shirtwaist dress featuring a rounded collar and front placket detail. The pattern includes two styles. The short sleeve style (shown above) features a folded cuff with sleeve tab, slightly dropped waist, gathered skirt, and a self-sash with belt loops. The long sleeve style features A-line shaping and bias trimmed gathered patch pockets.

The School Days Jacket & Coat pattern can handle the elements as either a hooded raincoat or a winter jacket for both boys and girls. The pattern features patch pockets and choice of duffle or button tab closure details. The pattern also comes with instructions for making an optional removable quilted lining that can be created with or without sleeves for additional warmth.

Both patterns will be released in our two size ranges: 6 months through 3T and sizes 4 through 8. They will be available on our website and at select quilt shops starting Tuesday, September 8.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be posting more in-depth descriptions of both patterns, complete with photos of the variations and interesting details on each.