Welcome baby Jack!

I'm so thrilled to tell you our son Jack Connor Alexander was born November 17th! We both are doing amazing, and I'm soaking up all the newborn cuddles.

I will be taking some time off to truly enjoy the blessings of having a new baby (and those tiny toes!), but I will be checking and answering my email once a week. Please forgive any delay in responding to messages over the next few weeks.

If your question doesn't concern payment details, order information or your account information, you can also post it in your pattern group! Here, you'll find 13.000 Candy Castle fanatics posting daily Candy Castle inspiration, and there's always someone up if you need a hand!

The ombre Peppermint Swirl Dress that was posted in our group by Maria Vince went viral. This might be my favorite color combination to date! The story behind her dress is so beautiful, too - had to share!
She pieced the bodice together by using fabric strips - brilliant!

Maria said: "I recently took a Peppermint Swirl dress that I made for my daughter a few years ago to South Africa, we currently live in Dubai. The dress was for my sister's little girl and she loved it. So did my granddaughters and they all immediately asked for rainbow dresses.

I still wanted them all to have a very special dress that was all their own, and that's how this one ended up not rainbow but ombre. My inspiration for this bodice was pure and simply born out of love and my desire to give them individual dresses.

It's difficult living so far away from those you love and I just wanted to give them something that would make them know and feel that Ouma loves them, everytime they wear it. I have 4 granddaughters, two in South Africa and two in Australia and the fifth dress is for my sister's daughter who is the same age as my oldest granddaughter.

I've made a few dresses over the years, but this one, this pattern is special, it never fails to make a little girl feel like she's on top of the world. I thank you for sharing with us your talent in this pattern, and the may other others you have created."

Dale made a beautiful Cotton Candy Dream Dress for her friend's daughter. So divine with the soft shades of pink!

And this is so sweet; Alyssa's sewing for her whole family. She made her mom a Cappuccino Cardigan! Mom looks amazing!!

This is so sweet, look at that little girl having the time of her life!

Sarah Oliver sent in this gorgeous dress, and she told me:
"My first venture into sewing was about 5 years ago. When I was pregnant with my now-4 yr old, I couldn’t find anything I liked for her nursery. Eventually I thought, “it can’t be THAT hard to make this stuff....” So, I borrowed my mom’s sewing machine and I took to the internet and found online tutorials for things like a crib sheet, curtains, a changing pad cover, crib skirt, I even made a diaper stacker!

Her first Christmas was the first time I tackled an article of clothing. I had decided I wanted to make her Christmas dress. I found Candy Castle Patterns on Facebook and fell in love with the Peppermint Swirl Dress. It was literally the first article of clothing I had ever sewn!! Now that she is 4, she requests “twirly dresses” all the time. I’ve made her the Christmas one when she was a baby, a cherry one, a rainbow trolls one, and a Minnie Mouse marshmallow hack. I’ve also made several of the Cotton Candyeveryday dresses, and two Princess dresses."

Gayle McDonald also tackled the Peppermint Swirl Dress and sent me this picture with a lovely story. I love the contrasting colors - such a striking picture!
Gayle said: "My daughter and grand daughter are only 12 months apart. Zalainah saw the pattern open on my laptop as I was procrastinating, I had lost my sewjo in July when my partner of nine years walked out on me. She said “Mimi, are you making me a pretty pink dress”? How could I resist? It was then that my four year old Lilianah asked for a blue one. I had the fabrics ready but still felt a little down so I didnt do anything with them for a while, but kept the pattern on my laptop to guilt me in to it. Two days ago I got up, dusted off my machine and got to it. Two days work in total, one for cutting out both dresses and one day to sew both dresses. The girls were so excited that they were just twirling and twirling. When they wear their dresses they love to twirl and show how beautiful they are. I am going to possibly make Christmas versions too. "