Today it's back to sewing with my own patterns. I've been playing around with a pattern for a summer top, which is a late entry into the upcoming summer range.

When Adelaide wakes up she can try this on for me. If it passes my critique, then it's on to grading the bigger sizes. Henri will have to try on the size 4 and 6, and Tom will have to try the size 8 - sorry boys. As always, chocolate will be involved to bribe them to model girl's clothes.

This top is a variation on this dress. The construction was troubling me, so I've been fiddling around with various options for finishing the sleeves neatly. Facing in the back was the solution.

It won't appear in this pretty blue in the summer range. I'm saving this fabric for my own personal stash. Not everyone loves blue on girls as much as I do. I used a favourite Liberty to bind the armhole. It just happened to be ready made and within easy reach of my sewing machine from an earlier project. This top will feature in the range in white, pale pink and watermelon. (I managed to source a pretty good replica of my favourite swiss cotton so I'm excited to have it back in the range.)

Oh, and here is the top with the ever-present cuffed pants again. These will be available in white in the new summer range. It's a safe bet to say Adelaide will be wearing this outfit frequently.