Pattern Review and Giveaway: Rockstar Raglan from Little Kiwi's Closet

First, a quick congratulations to the winner of my first giveaway!  Dr. Shelley, you should see an email soon with your pattern!  If you didn't win, its totally worth going to pick up your own copy of the Katchi Katti Skirt.

Now, moving on to a new pattern review!  I've been doing a TON of sewing for Inara lately, so when Lydia of Little Kiwi's Closet posted the sneak peak and tester call for this top, I jumped on it in Connor's size.  He's been eating like non-stop for the last few weeks (seriously, we've gone through like 4 cartons of Strawberries, two bags of those weird puffy goldfish, and 6 Bananas in the last week!), so he's a growing toddler.  Which also means, he's outgrowing most of the clothes he has.  I'm attempting to hold out for warmer weather to make him a bunch of shorts, but he really needed some shirts...

This top, The Rockstar Raglan, is totally our style, and I had so much fun testing, I may have made more than one...

The details:
Available in sizes NB - 12yrs
Short or long sleeves
Cool side panel detail that makes this top perfect for upcycles.  

If you're newer to knits, this shirt will come out much nicer if you use a nice quality ribbing or cotton/lycra for the neckband.

Here is the first one, don't worry, he's fine... just pretending to sleep on the playground.

I decided it was finally time to cut into my yard of knights from Fabric Stache. 

The sleeves are a pique knit from Joanns, and the side panel is a cotton/poly blend from a destash,
I think. 






He's a total goof.  But as soon as I get the camera out he is like no-way mom.

On the other hand, if I am taking pictures of his sister, he'll run up and push her out of the way and yell CHEEEESSSEEE.





Next I made up this one, because I wanted to test out how it would look if I topstitched the panels.

 Mickey fabric from a destash and the accent print is from my parents' last trip to Peru.  

Here are my thoughts on the side panel top-stitch -- it does make it lay nice and flat, but I iron as I go and had no issues with the others.  I think it adds a cool detail with the contrasting colors.  **If you choose to top-stitch, it is REALLY helpful to use a stretch thread (ie wooly nylon) in your bobbin.  If you don't, then you may pop the stitches when putting it on, since the shirt is meant to be a slimmer fit.
 

Do you like his bandaid?  He took a dive into the corner of the coffee table and was a sad sad baby.  But the shirt cheered him right up!

I actually made three more after these two as well... and I just have to show them off!

Upcycle!!  Ninjago (kid's current favorite show) t-shirt, cut for front and back panels, plain yellow shirt cut for sleeves and side panels, and black ribbing for neckline.

 Fabrics: Retro Gamer from the Bamboo Hemp and Reprints Custom group with green interlock for sleeves and side panels, and white ribbing for neckband.

And this one .. I used a Tee Fury shirt for the front and back panels.  And the Dr. Who print from The Fabric Igloo as the sleeves and side panel.

I'm posting the flat pic below too... so you  can see where I *oopsed*.  This NEVER happens, but somehow when I was doing the double needle hem, my machine decided to eat it...



There was no fixing the hole, and I moped for a bit, and then decided to hack off the bottom inch and cut a 2 3/8" wide band and fold it in half and sew it on to the bottom... and ta da!

I'm sure he'll be embarrassed if he sees this when he's older, but he wasn't feeling well, so we went to the doctor's office.  He LOVES Jellybeans, and kept begging for the "Jey-bea skirt," and hey, whatever keeps the sick kiddo happy, right?

By the last couple, I could get start to finish in maybe 35-40 minutes.  The top is cute, fits well. and the accent panels are just different enough to make it fun for upcycles, or to highlight some of your favorite prints!

As with all of the Little Kiwi's Closet patterns that I have the fit is perfect, and the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

And please join her Facebook Group if you have any questions, or just to post pics of your awesome shirts!

You can get it here AND the code "ROCKSTAR" will get you a sweet discount!

Now I'm super excited! Lydia has generously agreed to let me do a giveaway of her pattern here on my blog!!!   So take a moment to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway