It's always a pleasure to be invited to be a part of a blog tour, and I'm excited to share with you my review of the new Spring Lily Pattern by Ellie Inspired. If you'd like to purchase the pattern, you can use the code SPRINGTOUR to get 15% of in the ETSY SHOP. Be sure to enter our giveaway at the end of this post! Follow along for the rest of the blog tour stops at the Ellie Inspired Blog.

When I was pregnant with a girl after two boys, my mind was spinning with all of the beautiful heirloom dresses I planned to make to fill her closet. For the first few months of her life, my baby girl was decked out in the most beautiful, pristine smocked dresses, but as the newborn era began to wear off, and a little (spitfire) personality emerged, it became clear that there was no point in dressing this little one up, EVER.

Meet Abby. Little Miss Mud and Sunshine

I've sewn a lot of clothes for Abby in the last 2 1/2 years, but the majority of them are from what I like to call "quick and dirty" patterns, well, because my daughter is just that, quick and dirty. She can (almost) run faster than me and she loves mud. It broke my heart every time she launched into a puddle wearing something I had just spent hours making. Most of the patterns I've sewn for her use construction and finishing methods that are modern and more typical of store bought clothing. They look fine on the outside, but the inside is not what would be considered a high quality finish. While I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with those types of patterns, and they certainly have served me well, I need a challenge sometimes. I do want to occasionally make something that bears the mark of the highest quality finish inside and out (even if it ends in a trash the dress session with my crazy toddler).

So, before I show you how gorgeous this pattern is on the outside, let's take a peek at the inside.

It's fully lined. No need for a slip. The bodice lining is whipstiched by hand to the skirt. The hem is an invisible blind hem, which can be done by hand or machine; I did mine by machine. The back opening features a skirt placket, which, believe it or not, I had never done before. I found this VIDEO very helpful. The dress is as clean and pretty inside as out, and while that may not be important to everyone, it definitely is the standard when it comes to creating high quality heirloom pieces.

The pattern has timeless features like cap sleeves and box pleats. The simple bodice is perfect for embellishing with trims or embroidery, but I kept mine plain and decided to center the print to feature the beauty of the fabric. The pattern calls for a three button closure, but I chose to use Kam snaps instead, and I left off the optional back bow.

The pattern is 22 pages long and features line drawing illustrations to show the steps. Some knowledge of sewing is assumed, so if you are truly a novice, you may need to do a little looking outside the pattern for more detail, for example, in my case, I needed a bit more instruction making the skirt placket. That being said, none of the skills are hard to master and I would not have a problem recommending this pattern to a confident beginner.

Some of my favorite features in the pattern include a finished measurement chart, yardage chart, cutting layout, and easy printing and assembly instructions.