Little Black Cat Dress

Hooray! My little lady's first (of many) handmade dresses is complete. I've had a hunkering to try and make some block printed fabric and I had this idea in mind for a little lady dress. I used an old simplicity pattern I had on hand, but added pleats and shoulder straps with a smaller back bodice.  

The straps are adjustable with two buttonholes on each end and a hidden button on the inside of the back facing. I can't wait to see what it looks like with little tights underneath come next spring when the little lady will be able to fit into it. 

I hand carved the stamp using a soft linoleum block and glued it to an old wooden stamp back I had laying around. For the fabric I used black screen printing ink on kona cotton and free-formed my placement of the stamp. Once the fabric was dry I heat set the pattern with a very hot iron, a cover cloth, and steam for a few minutes on each side of the printed fabric.

I learned a thing or two about the printing process along the way. Next time I will cut the excess block a little closer to the image itself as I found after multiple times stamping the ink would end up falling in those little creases and get onto my fabric around the pattern. I also found with using a small stamp I had better luck sponging the paint directly onto the stamp rather than rolling it on with the brayer.

I love the idea of creating my own patterns on fabric and have many more ideas in mind....stay tuned!

Kate