Hi, it's Marnie here, and I have a confession to make. When we are talking about fans of Sofilantjes sewing patterns I feel like I am the president of the fan club! So when I first saw the Foliis dress and jacket I was pretty excited and felt like high fiving Anne across the Internet for such a clever and cool looking pattern

The Foliis dress and jacket has three different versions, and this pattern was pretty popular with the team, so we are showing them all today. I chose to make the cropped jacket, and it is also available as a dress or a long jacket as you can see below.

This pattern really offers great value for money - not just because of the variations, but also because of the big size range - 12 months to 14 years. My daughter is measuring between a four and a five at the moment, and height wise is now closer to a five, so I made the straight 5, as it is summer here and I want a little growing room so that it still fits when Summer is over. I used a European sweaty for my version, which is basically the same thing as Frency Terry that has a small percentage of Lycra in the content. I found the sizing to be perfect, however for bulkier fabrics like fleece you may want to size up width wise for the dress version.

The instructions on how to sew are clear and easy to follow, and for more experienced sewers, the summary pages at the end make this a very straightforward sew. For the less experienced sewers, the step by step tutorial is concise and clear. The pattern pieces are easy to put together, and for those who detest taping, there is a copy shop file included also.

My absolute favourite thing about this pattern - besides of course the excellent Euro style - is the hood. I've never see one shaped like this before and it's really clever.

The hood has this really cool circular piece on the front that is sewn onto a flatter back piece. It's fabulous because it not only makes the hood big enough to fit over big hairdos without wrecking them, but it stays on when moving and in windier conditions.

It is clearly not cold here at the moment, but for those who are experiencing the chill of winter, the warmth factor on the back of the neck is important. There is nothing worse than a hood in winter that pulls the fabric down with it at the back that when it's not being worn and let's the cold air in. This one sits nice and flat and high against the upper back. Genius really

So in case you haven't worked it out already, I highly recommend and love this pattern. It's the only good reason I can actually think of for the fact that I will have to deal with winter at some point next year.