Hi it’s Marnie from Horris and Deedle sharing a review today on a pattern from one of my favourite patterns - it’s the Litore Dress and Tunic from Sofilantjes Patterns.

The Litore Dress is a fantastic Summer dress, sized from 12 months to 14 years. It has a really unique strappy bodice, and then options galore for the skirt - with either a circle skirt with pockets and a high low hem (perfect choice for all the twirling fanatics out there), a handkerchief skirt, or an aline skirt. All skirts come with different length options and and dress loving girl would find an option to her taste.

I made a size 5 for my daughter to allow for a little room for growth over the upcoming Summer, as she measures in between the two sizes.. My daughter has lots of Sofilantjes in her wardrobe and I have found the sizing to be absolutely spot on for her measurments. Because this dress has a form fitting bodice, I highly recommend taking a quick chest measurement before cutting. That is one measurement I have found can change very quickly on my daughter and the dress sits much better when the bodice fit is accurate. I chose the knee length aline skirt, and Katy’s photos below show you the maxi length version of the dress in the A line skirt.

Both Katy and I found the dress surprisingly easy to sew and put together. I should have not been surprised actually, because Sofilantjes instructions are so reliable, but I thought it would take longer to do the bodice and the straps than it did. I found the sew to be very straight forward and totally suitable for an advanced beginner.

aty and I were both on the same wavelength sewing this one, and although the pattern is sized for cotton lycra knits, we both sewed in poly spandex from the Boo! Designs webstore. I have found spandex to be a great option over summer, especially for strappy dresses. Summer here involves lots of water - not just swimming, but there always seems to be a fountain or a sprinkler or something going and my daughter cannot help herself and has to get wet. No matter how closely I watch her, she manages to escape in an instant when she sees water and always ends up wet. Spandex dries within minutes of the hot sun being on it here, so it was perfect for this dress. Plus it doesn’t need hemming which is always a bonus.

My absolute favourite thing about this dress is the gorgeous back. In a heavily saturated PDF pattern market, it can be hard to find patterns that are unique and interesting, and this one definitely ticks that box. The Litore dress gets the big thumbs up from me!