Sewing Off some October Sews

Happy Wednesday.  Posts should go up in the morning, huh? Well I decided that I've been doing quite a bit of sewing lately, and I really just wanted to do a post to show off some of my favorites from the last month... tester and otherwise.

Inara's birthday was earlier in the month and she wanted a new dress to wear... I made these the night before (yay for mom fail procrastination moments).  The pink is the Playhouse Dress from Fishsticks Designs.  I modified the sleeves a little bit (no gather and no cuff).  The top is a yummy cotton lycra custom print knit from Sweet n' Charmed and the bottom is a cotton woven Skelanimals print.  I promise my neckline isn't wonkerdoodle... it just need to be pressed (so embarssing, but the dress was way cute).

This second one was just a simple tee pattern with the remnants of my Frozen fabric gathered and attached. But she loved it... I never know with her sometimes...

Then little man was feeling left out and asked for a Mario shirt, so I pulled out this fabric that has sat on my shelf for way too long and made him the Rockstar Raglan from Little Kiwi's Closet, with layered sleeves, so I felt like I out more effort into it lol.  He put it on as soon as he saw it and proceeded to spill his drink from dinner all over it. This resulted in a meltdown of sobbing *my mario shirt noooooo,* which was kind of funny... but it's washed and all better now.

And while showing my love for Little Kiwi's Closet... for Picture day Inara wore this Flutterby Top that I made in knit the night before pictures because we had an issue with the first picture outfit... 

Which was this... It's the Airy Ruffled A-line from Monkeysbug Patterns.  Now, the pattern itself was lovely... easy to follow. I ignored the size chart, which was dumb (it's totally accurate, you should follow it) and should have done the size the chart said, but it was easily fixed.

So here was the problem that I didn't consider and really felt like an idiot for... there is a seam at the top front where you flip the ruffle create the channel for the elastic.  For some absurd reason, once this part was gathered she found it to be insanely itchy.  Like freaking out, jumping around and crying because she picked the fabric and the pattern and was now heart broken that she couldn't wear it.

I've gotten a couple of suggestions about backing it in flannel/fleece, but i don't know if that will totally take care of it.  I was considering covering the front seam with FOE?  I don't know.. if anyone has any suggestions to save this dress for my randomly sensitive child, I will take any of them! The fit was great and it was just SO CUTE on, that I can understand why she was so sad that she  couldn't wear it. :(

And one last project, just because I want to tell people I won something... Whimsical Fabric does these cool sewalongs in their group, and I decided to jump in on the last one because it was for E+M Pants Pattern No. 2, which Inara has finally outgrown her size 5s, so she needed a new pair.  Anyways, in the sewalong group they post a daily album to upload your progress pics and you get entered for a prize each day that you keep up.  Well I won a $15 gift card to their shop and picked up some really cute fabric to use for another dress for Inara!

Here are my pants!  Aren't they cute? (Nar's top is the Elisa from Filles a Maman)

I did make Halloween costumes too, but I don't have modeled shots yet, so those will have to wait till another post!  Thanks for checking out all my pics!  ... and a funny one to end it:

Pattern Review: Flyaway Cardigan and Saucy Skirt from Dandelions 'n' Dungarees

Okay, so I went to bed last night planning on finishing up a smaller set this morning and then adding some quick pictures and posting, BUT then I got to looking at the smaller size range of this pattern and decide I would be doing a huge disservice to everyone with littles if I didn't show you how awesome the tiny size was too.  So here are the two newest releases from Dandelions n' Dungarees.

There are two patterns being shown here in size 6: Flyaway Ruffle Cardigan and the Saucy Skirt.

These patterns are available in three size groupings
Baby: NB - 18mo
Girls: 2 - 7
Tween: 8- 16

Can you tell how much she loves it??  As soon as photos were over it went right into her little pile of clothes to wear the next day.  Perfect for fall in the Pacific Northwest... just add leggings!  How great is it that this coordinates with her hair too?

It's such a lovely pattern, and here was the kicker for us... even with making the ruffles, the entire outfit was done in under 3 hours.  And, another equally cool aspect is that the skirt has multiple options included that make it so versatile.  During testing we had a Princess Party to go to and Inara wanted a frozen themed skirt to wear, so I grabbed the flannel lined satin from Joann's and some pink costume satin I had laying around and whipped up a woven one with a simple yoga waistband... (yes I left the serger edges sewing.. we were leaving in 45 minutes and I was in a bit of a rush lol)

The pattern is just so sweet, and we know how much Inara loves twirl, right? So how perfect is this:  

She may have twirled until she fell over...  I may have laughed a little.  

I also wanted to show you another way to to the ruffles... so here is the cardigan and skirt in a size 3 (for Connor's little girlfriend)... the tie on the skirt is done in grosgrain ribbon instead of the tie AND the ruffles on the back are done with ruffle fabric... so if you're in a big hurry for a super cute outfit, this saved even more time..

The skirt on this one is done with a semi-sheer shimmey slub knit, as are the sleeves on the cardigan... I was hoping they gave up a sort of shimmery fairy quality... we'll see what Evie thinks when she gets them!

AND, here is what decided to buy last night and cut out and sew this morning... (yes, I liked this pattern so much that I went out and bought another size grouping)  because I really wanted to show one more way to do the ruffles... and my friend has a new baby that NEEDS this outfit.  This is the Newborn size (HOW CUTE AND TINY) and the ruffles are made from an eyelet lace that I had in my stash.  It was already slightly gathered, so I just sewed the strips on as they were.  

So there are lots of great options for embellishing the back of this sweater, and they each give it a unique look.  

ALSO, you can do different neck closures... which is a cool way to personalize the pattern as well.  For Inara's a did a button and loop as the pattern is written.  A couple of testers extended the neck binding and used it to make ties at the neck.  And for Evies I did a pom-pom to look like the one's on Tink's shoes and for the baby one, I extended the binding to make a tab on on side and used KAM snaps. 

I just cant gush enough over this pattern, and I really wanted to show off the tiny size BECAUSE right now there are some awesome sale bundles going on in the Dandelions n' Dungarees Craftsy Store.  For only $9.00 you can get 2 size groups of the Flyaway Ruffle Cardigan and for $13.00 you get from NB through size 16.  And the same sale is on for the Saucy Skirt as well.  So while they are on sale for the release, you should definitely grab the bundles as the savings are HUGE.  (Sale ends Sunday!)

And after you grab your patterns, please come join the Dandelions n' Dungarees Facebook Group to show off your sews!  

Thanks for stopping by to see what I made!  

Happy Day & Boho Beauty Pattern Review and Giveaway

Okay, so let me start with I AM SO HAPPY TODAY!  <yup, totally yelled that>  Last month my darling little Angel...

(Don't let the sweet smile fool you) had an epic tantrum during which he pushed my laptop onto the floor and shattered the screen.  After staring in confusion at what had just happened, I swore under my breath and sighed loudly.  For the last month Justin has been graciously letting me use his as laptop to print patterns/edit pictures/send in feedback/etc.  BUT the *man cave* is not very conducive for blogging success.  So I've been going through a bit of withdrawal.. get ready for lots of posts... and I'll try to work some giveaways in there as well!

So I saw the tester call for the Boho Beauty Swing Top from Monkeysbug Patterns.  I had never tested for them, but Inara has a stack of underwear I made her from their hipster/bikini pattern, so I showed the tester to Inara.  I wasn't sure how she would react, since she wears a lot of knits lately, but she saw it and loved it, and ran off to pick fabric.  Then I sat here for a day anxiously hoping to hear from Kate, and I was very excited when she emailed.

Why is she always turning her head like that lately???

The details:
Sizes 2-14
2 Sleeve lengths
2 sleeve hemline widths
2 shirt hemlines
Made for woven fabrics
Tutorial for making your own bias tape included!

After a bit of discussion about these fabrics being kind of dark, here is what Inara picked for her first top.
This one is the long sleeves, hi-low hem and gathered long sleeves.

I also took the few minutes to make my own bias tape for this one... here's why.... store bought bias tape always seems so scratchy, and this pattern calls for three pieces of bias tape... In Inara's size they are all under 20", so there was no sewing together of strips required.  I just cut my three bias strips, and ironed them and I was ready to go.

Seriously, I brushed her hair RIGHT before we walked out the door.  After this first one, we discussed some minor changes... I'm pointing this out, because when I show you the second one, you will notice the neckline isn't quite as wide.  Either way, this one stayed on for the rest of the day while she declared herself to be a flower fairy.  (weird kid)

When I told her we were going to make another one, I sent her off to pick fabric again, and I think she is getting really good at this.  This print was a red tag from Joann's a few months ago that has sat on the shelf waiting for a project... this one was perfect...

This one also has the long gathered sleeves, but I did the traditional curved hemline on the shirt.  I was a little iffy on the button choice, but It really pulled in the colors in the bias I think.

The pattern itself is a very straightforward sew.  It took me about 90 minutes, including making the bias and cutting out the fabric.

If you are new to bias tape, this one shouldn't worry you! The bias tape is attached sort of differently than normal so as long as you are good with pins it will have a very nicely finished look at the end!  For us, this is great, as less small seams to itch means she is super happy to wear it!

Can we not discuss that my pretty fence needs to be painted?  It's rainy season here and if I could just get 48 hours of dry, I would do it, but its like a lost cause in the PNW until May or June!

I totally love how the fade out looks on this top.  AND she is currently wearing it in school as I sit here typing, which is a definite sign of how much she likes it, as she dresses herself for school... I would show you pictures to prove it, but some of them are a bit embarrassing (last week she wore a Minecraft shirt, Powerpuff Girls skirt and cheetah leggings...). 

This entire testing experience was really a great one.  Kate was receptive and friendly.  She asked opinions and was fun to work with!

So this top is out today, AND you should run off and grab it now from the Monkeysbug Patterns Shop while it is ON SALE!!

AND, after you've bought it, please enter my giveaway for your own copy of the pattern!  If you purchase the pattern now (because, well its ON SALE and you should get it now), and then win the pattern, I will send you the cost of your pattern OR purchase a different Monkeysbug pattern for you!  So entering is worth it!

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