J'adore!

I'm a bit of a blog and Flickr junkie - always looking for something new to inspire me. A few months back I saw the most gorgeous little top on Flickr and fell in love. After a bit of investigating I discovered a range of kids' patterns I had never seen before. Uh-oh... Dangerous. Within half an hour I had ordered one of the patterns to try it out. Nothing wrong with that, except that it cost $35 and it's French. As in all the instructions are in French.

Fast forward a few months and I finally got brave enough to give it a go. I actually studied French for a number of years as a child but typically, it didn't come it handy when it came to deciphering the instructions. However, the pattern was fairly straightforward and intuitive, and I was able to bluff my way through (using some of the techniques I have learned from Oliver + S patterns). I also relied heavily on other blogs to figure out things like whether the seam allowance is included (the jury's still out). I also learned that the sizes run small, so knew to upsize for my daughter.

Speaking of sizes, these patterns start at sz 2 and go up in 2s, so I made a sz 4 for my (very tall) 2.5 year old. It fits, and with plenty of growing room.

The pattern itself it very simple. I read somewhere that Citronille patterns are like cooking a very basic meal, but with top notch ingredients, and I have to agree. The lines of the top are lovely with everything sitting 'just so'. The pattern was interesting in that it didn't have a lot of the sewing marks I'm used to, like fold lines/grain lines.

I used some of my precious Liberty stash for the yoke. My husband gave it to me for mother's day. It's a seasonal print called GiGi Garland and I adore it. I matched the pale blue stripes of the print with a blue cotton ticking. The top has a simple button down placket at the back.

The pattern is called Apolline (it can be made as a tunic or dress) and the company is Citronille. I like this company very much, quirks and all, and will buy a few more of their patterns. They also have knitting patterns, patterns for babies, women's patterns and a small range of (lush) fabric. Their website is in English (although again, the patterns are NOT!)


The finished tunic. I do own an iron, I just don't like it very much.


I matched the blue in the yoke to a blue ticking for the bodice.


Yoke detail. I adore adore adore this Liberty print.


The armholes are finished using a very narrow bias binding.


Sweetpea - she likes it!