This is a child’s dress that’s been in my head and in the pages of my sketchbooks for a while now, bouncing around while I played with a few different options for it.

It’s a children’s sundress, loosely based on our best-selling (and soon to go out of print) pattern the Tea Party Sundress. But it’s a sundress with some interesting twists and a different silhouette.

This is a close-fitting dress. It’s a sundress, not a jumper. A jumper has extra room and lower armholes so you can fit a blouse or shirt underneath. This isn’t that jumper. It’s slim and flattering when worn alone as a sundress. I really dislike it when a sundress gapes under the arms, and this one doesn’t do that.

The Seashore Sundress features simple button straps that come to a gentle point at the ends. This interesting little detail makes the straps easier to sew and gives the finished garment a little more visual interest.

It might be a little bit difficult to tell from these photos, but there is also a slight “V” at the front neck of the dress that echoes the gentle points at the end of the straps. It’s a simple solution to finish off the dress’s neckline, but I’ll be honest. This was one of the hardest details to finalize when I was designing the dress. I played with a large number of options for the neckline before settling on this one. This is the simplest and most elegant option of everything I tried. Much of the time, the simplest solutions are the hardest to find. They seem obvious in retrospect, but they’re anything but during the design process.

The dress has princess seams at the front and back. It also has a subtle drop-waisted silhouette with gentle gathers at the sides and back and a flat front to give it the slim and flattering fit I wanted it to have.

But my favorite feature of this pattern are the tiny little “treasure pockets” at the waist. I’ve been calling them treasure pockets because they’re smaller and positioned lower than a regular pocket. They’re not intended for hands. They’re intended for stashing the little pebbles and seashells that get picked up while spending a day the seashore.

And if you don’t live anywhere near the ocean? That’s OK. I’m sure the little girl you sew for will find tiny treasures of how own to stash in the pockets of the Seashore Sundress that you make her.

This pattern, as well as our other new spring styles, will be available for sale on our website starting next week. You’ll see copies of all these patterns showing up in your local fabric store shortly thereafter.

It’s finally time to take the wraps off our new spring and summer collection to give you a preview of the line.

This season, we are releasing three new patterns: two dresses and one blouse and shorts outfit.

So, without further ado, here we go.

The Family Reunion Dress pattern is a classic dress featuring pintucked pleats at the front and back, a choice of button tab or ruffle embellishment at the front, and a sweet neckline. The dress has gently gathered short sleeves, our signature hem facing with a sweet topstitched detail, and buttons up the back to complete the look. The dress can also be shortened into a blouse.

The Seashore Sundress pattern features button straps, princess seams, and two almost-invisible little pockets at the dropped waist which are perfect for stashing tiny treasures. The smaller of the two size ranges (6m-4) also includes our favorite bloomers pattern.

The Class Picnic Blouse + Shorts pattern will let you sew a comfortable and cute pair of elastic-waist shorts that include contrast trim, mock-wrap styling, and a faux fly. The matching raglan-sleeve pull-on blouse includes gathers at the yoke, elastic at the shoulders, three-quarter-length sleeves, and wide hems.

The patterns will be available in stores worldwide and on our website during the first full week of April. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified when the patterns become available. Wholesale customers can place pre-orders now by downloading the form from our Wholesale page.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be publishing more detailed posts here that highlight all the options included in each pattern. Check back frequently to see what we have in store for you this season.