The Handmade Dress Review and GIVEAWAY!

The week before last, Little Monkey had a friend over, we'll call her Little G.  They had a grand time playing dress up, and playing "house" and all those other things little girls do.  While they were playing I was cleaning and going through my fabric stash.  Of course the girls had to come check out the fabric and were oohing and ahhing over different pieces.  I asked if they would like to have matching dresses, well of course they did!

We picked out a fabric I had just bought at Joann's a couple weeks before, I was glad I had gone ahead and bought 2 yards!  I then decided to try out a new pattern.  In February I was checking out Etsy stores looking for simple patterns for little girl dresses, I came across an etsy store called The Handmade Dress.  The shop owner, Samantha Caffee, has some darling dress patterns for sale!  I chose two, but have only made one so far.  I chose the Miss Madelyn dress for the girls.  Here is a photo from the dress pattern, and the description on the etsy listing.

This is sweet little peasant style dress with options for a contrasting waistband or apron. There are instructions for making an apron or you can use up your stash of vintage hankies or tea towels! What a beautiful way to use Grandmas hankies!

Size 5- 10 years

The bird embroidery design is included!

First let me say that this is a pattern that a beginner could make.  The directions are clear, and easy to follow.  For those who are experienced seamstress' you can make this dress in about 2 hours from start to finish.  The one thing I really loved about this pattern, it is true to size.  I made my daughter a 4 and it fit perfectly without taking it in or letting it out.  The only adjustment I made for her was to add 3 inches to the hem because I wanted the dress to be well below her knee.  Little Monkey is very tall for her age, so this is normal for me!
The dress for Little G was a size 2, and it fit perfectly as well, except that I did not measure the elastic for the arms correctly, so they were tight, that was all my fault!  I did add length to Little G's dress as well, just because I wanted it below the knee, I added about 2 inches.  I will definitely be making this dress again!!
Here is a picture of one of the dresses I made, sorry I don't have them both, I forgot to take a picture of Little G's dress before I gave it to her!

I really love this fabric!  It was so fun for the dress pattern.  I also made the girls matching headbands out of the left over fabric as well as a piece of antique lace.

Here are a couple of other dress patterns also available at The Handmade Dress.

Miss Alice Pattern (this is the other one I bought, but haven't tried yet)

Miss Lily pattern

Miss Skirt Pattern

Now that you have scene how great The Handmade Dress is you want some patterns of your own right?  Well, you can always go buy your own here, or you can enter our giveaway and win one free pattern for yourself!!

How can you win? (Be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry.)
(This is open to everyone, US, Canada, Europe, Asia, South America, Etc.)

1. Become a follower of Kensington Cottage and leave me a comment. (1 entry)
2. Become a follower of The Handmade Dress, and leave me a comment. (1 entry)
3. Go to The Handmade Dress etsy store and tell me which pattern you would love to have.(1 entry)
4. Blog about this giveaway, or place it in your sidebar and leave me a comment with a link. (2 entries)

That's all there is to it!  Oh, make sure you  leave me your email address too!  The giveaway will end Midnight Sunday night and the winner will be announced on Monday!
Melissa