Here are my thoughts on the Claire....
Apron Dress: I did this one first and honestly thought the pattern directions were full of errors. Small errors but errors none the less. If you aren't at least a little experienced (or great with directions) I wouldn't start with that one. I thought their bias tape tutorial was just ok and there are much better ones available online. There are lots of different mistakes like pieces shown laid out wrong or without enough detail, pattern pieces printed with the wrong labels on them (but the correct number), etc. This kind of thing makes me crazy, especially when I'm paying WAY more than I would for a pattern normally. There are also a few missing directions that a more experienced seamstress would intuit but would throw a new sewer. It's also slightly confusing because some parts are *extremely* detailed both in picture and written direction and then other parts are just as brief and confusing. The dress does come out *adorable*, though, and the fit it pretty good. If you are newer to sewing and want to tackle this one, contact me privately and I'll share with you my list of corrections and tips.
Knot Dress: I'd start with this one. It was quite easy, nothing tricky. The directions were excellent. The trickiest part is the gathering which can be more time consuming than tricky if you haven't done it before. I'll probably make the apron a tiny bit longer in the future but other than that, I loved this pattern.
Peasant Dress: this was my least favorite pattern in style but it was another good starter. It's super fun to shir (sew with elastic thread) and really easy. It doesn't have a gathered skirt but does have a gathered ruffle at the bottom so you still end up doing some gathering. The end result is way too long for *my* taste. I think it ends up looking more like a nightgown. I took 4 inches off the skirt body. Sorry for the not-great picture...
As for picking fabric, it is not my strong suit!! If you live near a Hobby Lobby they often group fabrics together in natural "sets" (the knot dress I posted is from fabrics my HUSBAND picked out from HL and trust me, if HE can do it, anyone can!!! LOL) but the fun of these patterns is you can really go crazy and totally not match at all and they'll still come out adorable.
Portabellopixie patterns
