Ava
This sweater was for my niece Cindy's first child, little Ava. This is repeating the wavy stripes and dots in Leif's Ave sweater: Ave/Ava. There are simple white flowers on the bodice and soft green lace at the hem.
Ava was an amazingly brave girl who died of brain cancer when she was five. Cindy has channeled her photographic skills to found a wonderful nonprofit organization, the Gold Hope Project, a group of photographers aiming to gift families battling a pediatric cancer diagnosis a free portrait session for their little warriors.
Flowers
The inspiration for this dress is from Small Sweaters. Dark red flowers at the hem give way to tiny flowers that fade in color as they rise on the skirt. The bodice dots and squares fade back to darker red as they rise. The neck and armhole openings picot trim and the lace pattern at the hem are variegated purples, blues, and green. Two pewter clasps make this dress easier to fit on a wriggly one year old!
Roses
These are variations on the same theme, a very simple repeating roses pattern. The roses make the skirt of the dress and crosses make the bodice. It is easy to adapt the bodice for a placket and pewter clasps. The neck and armholes are picot trim and the hem is lace.
Swirls
Two different swirls make up this dress pattern. The swirls travel up and down the skirt, in red on a periwinkle background. The bodice is sideways spirals in periwinkle on a red background. The hem trim pattern is red to yellow stripes and triangles on a light blue background. There is also a simple yellow dot trim pattern on a dark blue background, the same dark blue that is used for the picot trim and the lace trim.
Is it too much? I remember a version of a statement by Robin Williams from his Mork days: If you can't wear one pattern, wear them all!
Tulips/Pansies
I don't think the first two dresses work. In the first dress, the bottom is a direct application of a pattern from Small Sweaters - that part works! The bodice colors just don't mesh with the bottom.
The second sweater fails at the bottom tulip pattern. The pansies on the skirt are too far apart, or maybe it needs dots or crosses or similar small feature to fill the space.
The third dress works. Here there are more of the tiny flowers, subtly changing colors from dark red to light red. The bodice also works, in lighter blue with simply red circles and squares. It is hard to see the darker green flower stems at the hem; that could just be lighter green. The placket, neck, armhole openings and hem lace are variegated light blue.
Water Lilies
This is adapted from patterns in Small Sweaters. I love how the periwinkle background and the variegated red flowers contrast one another. I know this color scheme has already been well represented! The bodice is a simple dots and squares pattern, with the variegated red on a lighter blue background. The neck and armholes are red picot trim, as is the lace pattern at the hem. The bodice closes with two pewter clasps at the placket.