Desert Roses - for Sisters!

When I was planning Lisi Loo's spring wardrobe and looking for a new pattern or two, I had a few criteria: it had to layer well under a cardigan (no fancy sleeves or bodice embelishments); have length options (shirt/tunic/dress); be simple enough in design to be made multiple times in different fabrics and with small tweaks so that the multiples didn't scream "This is my mom's favorite pattern and she made it 10 times!".

Top of my list was The Desert Rose Dress and Tunic by Caila Made.  Once the Garden Girl collection came out, the package deal was just too good to pass up, so I put the Desert Rose on hold - until Crafterhours made it the Friday Fiver a couple weeks ago.  I snatched it up and haven't looked back!

The pattern starts at 3 months, and once I realized that I knew what I had to do...

Desert Roses - sister style!  Now, I don't think I'll end up dressing my girls in matching clothes very often, but once in a while it's just gonna be fun.

I made the little one in the 3 month size, tunic length.  It looks really short to me, and I wish I had cut the dress length, but I also think it'll be adorable with little baby leggings or a diaper cover later this summer.  Plus it may turn out to be the perfect length - it's so hard to wrap my mind around tiny baby proportions without a tiny baby in front of me.

Big Sister's is a size 2 bodice, based on the size chart, but I did cut the tunic to a size 3 length which is something I need to start doing more often since she only appears to be growing up, not out.  The fabric is from a sheet that I also used for this top last summer.

This is a very full skirt...and I totally love it.  You know what else I love about this pattern?  That it's very feminine (see full skirt) and I can't wait to see how twirly she feels once I make a dress version, but it's not overly girly.  The simple bodice and the (genius!) buttons in the front make it still feel simple and somehow both classic and modern.  I can't quite put my finger on what it is that makes it work so well for me, but I don't really need to, do I?  I just have to make it, and that will be a pleasure.