Burdastyle Jacket in Linen

I mentioned in an earlier post, that most of my older two childrens earlier clothes were made by me.  I blogged about my favourite overall pattern and the many uses it had over the early years.  Another of my favourite things to make was dresses for my daughter when she was small.  I can't find the exact pattern I used for the dresses pictured here but I do know they were all made using the same pattern.  My mother used to joke that my baby girl was my dress up doll and probably there was a little truth behind it.  Being a June baby, for the first 3 months, she didn't own a dress but once the spring and warmer weather came she was constantly in pretty dresses usually made in the same pattern.  All of the dresses except the last birthday one had matching bloomers to cover the cloth nappies which also played a large part in our household. The hot pink dress was made of a gorgeous knit with white teddies printed on it.  The blue dress which she had her Pixi photos taken in was a woven cotton check in royal navy and white also with a teddy print.  It was lightened up with a gathered broderie anglaise white lace trim on both the bottom of the dress and the bloomers.  The last dress was her birthday dress and was made of a cream woven with a teddy print (are you seeing a trend here) and long sleeves which were gathered at the wrist with a frill.  This dress was fully lined because it was June and this one she wore with tights and incidently the little patent leather shoes I wore at the same age.  Paired with the dresses was usually a head band sporting a bow which I also made.   When I did buy my children ready to wear clothing I usually preferred Pumpkin Patch because at that time they were made in New Zealand and the fit, design, colours and quality were fantastic.  I used to get a lot of my design and colour inspiration from these catalogues and when they came out each season I would spend hours pouring over these and my fabric stash working out my combinations.