Little French Dresses: Albertine

PATTERN: Albertine, from Citronille
SIZE: 2
FABRIC: I think it might have been from Knittn Kitten but I'm not totally sure

Well, I think I've finally found my favorite sewing patterns in the whole-wide world. They are from the French web shop Citronille and they are lovely. This is Mlle. Albertine. Elle est jolie, non?

I stumbled upon Citronille several weeks ago via the blog of one of my very favorite Ravelry knitters, Ittybitty. (She makes the most beautiful knitwear and sewn clothes for herself and her kids. Her color sense is so sophisticated and amazing to me.) From her blog I managed to click on a link that took me to Citronille and then I fell in love. I'd never heard of these before. Get ready for a flurry of little French dresses!

My dad's name was Albert, so I had to make this one first. All of the designs are so simple and sweet and lovely. They all look so comfortable and swingy and easy to wear (and easy to take in, or hem, or gather at sleeve-bottoms, if necessary, once they're put into use). The patterns are written entirely in French but also illustrated a bit, so that helps with the directions. I've made two so far (I'll show you Suzanne [my mom's and sister's and Andy's mom's, and come to think of it my middle own name] tomorrow), and I had no problems figuring out what to do (but I've sewn a lot of dresses by now, so I already kind of knew what to do; if you are inexperienced, you might need some help).

What I love about these dresses is that, although the shapes are so simple, all of the lines seem so right. That is, the "cut" of the dress just feels a little bit prettier and a little more poetic and a little more . . . French. When something is gathered, it's really gathered. Where something could be straight, it has a poetic curve, or a lovely fullness, or a unique angle. My friend Brooke and her family were over for dinner on Friday night. In telling Brooke about these patterns (while cooking in the kitchen, i.e.: away from the computer so I couldn't show her the web site), I tried to use the analogy I'd thought of (just minutes before the doorbell rang): I said that sewing them was like cooking something really simple but with really good ingredients. Because when you have so few lines, you want them to be just right. (This is me, trying to justify spending the money on the shipping, ahem.)

After following some links on the Citronille site, I saw that finished clothes (as well as matching doll clothes!) made from these patterns were being sold at Nils & Happy to See You. (I'm not really sure how these are all related to each other.) There are also patterns for women's, doll, and baby versions. It was exciting. I can see that these are going to keep me very happily occupied for a while. Until I have to take my sewing room apart for the new flooring. Which I should be doing right now, and not sewing. Choices, choices . . . hrmmm.

Comments

[Veronika]

Oui, Tres tres jolie!!

[Melissa L.]

Do I sense a mother-daughter wardrobe in your future?!

You could probably make the sleeves a little bit shorter and still preserve the line of the dress.

[Sally]

OMG! Just looked at every adult pattern. Want them all. Want my whole wardrobe to look like that. And while I'm wanting, can I be as tall and willowy as their sketches?

Can't wait to see the other dress you made!

Did you order the pattern online? How much was shipping?

xoxox

[VerteAdelie]

I think someone already talked about it in another comment: if you enjoy Citronille, perhaps you will enjoy C'est dimanche as well! I was astonished the day I discovered that those patterns are designed by... a nun (Yes, an authentic nun. In a convent). :)
http://cestdimanche.canalblog.com/archives/2009/08/24/14833075.html

You may appreciate this blog too: http://shoobidoowap.canalblog.com/ She doesn't post very often, but when she does, she generally shows a whole collection she sewed for her children and herself, based on japanese patterns, Citronille, C'est Dimanche, and so on.

[Annette]

I love the drees and wow those patterns are amazing! I may just have to order a pattern for myself. Fortunetly I blessed to have a French friend who can help me with the directions. Can't wait to see more French dresses.

[Jacqui]

What a gorgeous little site - the clothes look so cute and the names! Trés jolie! I might even be tempted away from my love of Japanese pattern books and I do actually read French to a degree which would be a step up on the Japanese situation :) It's probably a good thing the shipping is nuts expensive or my willpower would be sorely tested!

I was thinking about the sleeve situation for Albertine because as Kary and Susie said, they will drive a child nuts - well mine anyways, she _hates_ wide sleeves. My thought was wouldn't they look lovely with an elastic casing in the bottom to gather them in to the wrist? Maybe not quite as lovely as the original but if it means it would get worn without protest (always something to aim for!) it might be worth it.

[Deb]

Alicia, I'm about 500 blog entries behind in reading through my Google reader so I rarely stop to comment but this post totally caught my eye and my imagination.

Perfection! Thanks for introducing me to Citronille! They're exactly the kind of simple clothes I aspire to make and wear for my daughter and myself.

[Elizabeth Mackey]

Cute!! When I was in France last summer I bought their baby pattern book. It is super adorable, and all the patterns are included.
Now I have to wait for someone to have a baby, so I can make one of the cute little garments.

[Courtney]

Nils et Happy to See You is the doll company, Citronille is the clothing pattern company. But, I think Citronille might make the clothes for the dolls. I have several of the doll dress patterns and I just adore them. I have the doll sleeping bag pattern too, which is to die for, although I haven't made it yet.

By the way, addressing the comment above-- my toddler would have worn that beautiful dress just fine. In fact, she is 3 now and she saw this over my shoulder and said "you buy me one of those?" in her sweetest voice.

[Beth]

oh great you have done it now... led me to French patterns... on no..... I must go and look. Funny how I love the lines and the way French and some japanese clothes just flow... flow with life, but in a sophisticated way. I must go check it out!

Thank you!

[Kate]

That dress is lovely. Thanks for the link to those patterns.

[Beth Lehman]

Good lord, I can't wait to see more -looking at those patterns was almost intoxicating!!!! What lovelies!

[jess (fushmush)]

adorable! I'd love to give it a whirl but as a beginner sewer I fear that patterns in French would be a tad difficult.

[Heidi Ha]

Alicia--those patterns are delightful!!! Thanks for sharing! I love the dress you made. As an experienced mama (I have four little ones), I think the sleeves will be fine. If they cause you trouble at mealtimes, you can just roll them up into sweet little cuffs. I've no doubt the dress will be adorable on your daughter!

I was wondering if you could post about how you purchased patterns from Cintronille? I went to their website and was rather flummuxed. (Is that a word?) Do you have any pointers about how European sizing relates to U.S. sizing? How much did the patterns cost with shipping? I tried to go through the ordering process just to get an idea, but the United States wasn't an option in the pull-down menu for the address. Any info you could share would be greatly appreciated!

[Everton Terrace]

All I ever want to say is please make one in my size. I love them all so much but this one is swoon worthy indeed.

[Annika]

If you like French patterns like this you'll love those books:
"Intemporels pour enfants" and "Intemporels pour bébés" both by Astrid Le Provost and Paul Bertin. A friend is showing several on her blog www.motsdenfantsage.blogspot.com.

[Deedee]

Why is it that I don't seem to see the united states listed on the shipping options! I checked "les États-Unis", united states, america. Hmmm...

[Deedee]

K, never mind, it's under "etats-unis" for the usa.

[kirsten]

Tres jolie! And just in time for Bastille Day...

[CathyC]

The Dress is soooo pretty, who cares if the sleeves get dirty or if it's not practical, your girl will look beautiful and it's fun you dress your kids in cute dresses. If I were to worry about dressing my Twin baby girls in "practical" clothes ALL the time they'd never have cute photos to show for it or delight people with baby eye candy cuteness...you'll see :)

[Amber]

I just had an epiphany - I can see that your next book should be BABY CLOTHES and little girl dresses!!! :D You do them so perfectly, and they are like little storybooks each one :)

[Gloria]

Very French! So adorable!!! Love that fabric. It would look very sweet done up as kitchen curtains and ruffly chair pads too!! :)

[Sugarpetite.blogspot.com]

so lovely!!!

[Amy]

Oy, we're being party poopers aren't we? Yes, you might find yourself putting elastic in those cuffs at some point. I would also caution you to be ready for rejection after age 2 ... my heart has been broken a few times lately, with clothes I so lovingly chose or made resulting in screaming fits. "I don't LIKE greeeeen!!" And so on. I refused to allow pink into her wardrobe for the first two years, because I knew that was all she would wear, eventually. I was right.

All of that said -- these clothes are so beautiful. I hope you prove us all wrong, and gets loads of wears out of each and every one, yogurt-crusted collars or no!

[Barbara]

Completement adorables tous les deux!
Please excuse lack of accents - too hi tech for me.
Plain fabric is so magical isn't it? and Linen ... always works, even a little bit in a quilt is good, I find.
So lovely to find someone else who loves IttyBitty blog - one of my very favorites, after yours of course! Enjoy your wonderful new studio ...