Little Kiwi's Closet Pimp That Pattern Blog Tour: Day 3

Hi! Welcome to Day three of the Little Kiwi's Closet Pimp That Pattern Blog Tour.  I'm very excited to have you!

So let's start with the pattern.  There were two options for patterns for the tour and I decided to sew for Inara, so meet the Flutterby Romper. (On sale at that link for 30% off during the tour).

I tested this pattern as well, and had a lot of fun playing with all of the options during testing...

So let's talk options first.
Available in sizes NB through 12yrs
6 sleeve variations in 4 lengths
4 leg variations in 2 lengths
Crotch snap option
Made for woven fabrics (but that pink one on the left is knit shhhh)

The fit on the pattern is fantastic, and the instructions have tons of pictures to make it easy to follow along.  And if you find yourself confused about anything... there are loads of helpful people in the Little Kiwi's Closet Facebook Group.

I danced around a bit trying to come up with some cool inspiration to pimp the pattern, and finally decided to honor the geekery of this household... Have you heard of Gamergate?  It's causing quite a stir lately, and though I think some of the treatment of females in the industry is awful, I never really considered the character representation, until last week... when after two hours of searching we finally picked a game character that met three conditions... (1) Inara thought they were cool (2) They served a big enough role in the game to be known and (3) they wear enough clothes that I could modify a romper to work.   That last one was rough.   So... here are my fabric choices....

No idea where I'm going with this, huh?  I wasn't totally sure either.  Let's start with the bottom one....

This one was a super pimp... lol.  SO I used the short sleeves with elastic for the top, and instead of attaching the pants or shorts from the pattern, I cut a full circle skirt for the bottom, and attached it the same way the pattern called for.  I also added a little Pokemon ribbon trim to the bottom, in case her outfit wasn't obvious.  Though, with Piplup on her head, I think any fan would get it.  **She's Dawn from Pokemon**

I originally cut three front bodice pieces to make the V in the front, but I didn't consider Inara's seam issues, and she flipped, so I ended up started all over with the front bodice and just taking a solid front and stitching the triangle onto it.

*Beanie is the For All the Family Beanie from Filles a Maman
Best part?  She picked it out to wear to school today! So its inspired enough that she loves it, without being too costume-y for daily wear.

And... now we move on to our video game character... are you ready?

Meet my little girl appropriate, not quite so skin tight, perfect for fighting off bad guys Lilith inspired Romper.  (from Borderlands if you are staring blankly at the picture).

I did the same V on the front as I did on the first one.  I narrowed the legs on the pants a little from the crotch point down, and then pieced the legs using a faux-distressed jegging fabric paired with a distressed (fake?) suede like fabric.  I was going for a more girl appropriate version of the outfit Lilith wears in the game.  Inara was totally excited about it.  Though her Lilith smirk needs some work...

Lilith is up there in her favorite characters, so she is totally thrilled with her outfit. And I am excited that she gets to play as a cool, strong female character... because she never wants to be rescued, she wants to be the hero.  I'm actually really grateful for this blog tour, because it gave me a chance to help her highlight qualities she admires in the females she sees on TV and in games.

The pattern itself is a fast sew, no matter which options you choose.  The pattern pieces print in color, but if you are a black and white only printer, they are laid out so it's easy to just highlight the size you want before cutting.  The pieces go together easily, and the only measurements on the pattern are the elastic for the neck/waist and arms/legs if you choose those options.  The pattern takes about 90 mins - 2 hours to sew (I think I am just really slow at pressing casings because I am paranoid they will end up crooked).

So here are the links to BOTH of the patterns you will see on the tour (grab them during the tour while they are on sale:
Flutterby Romper
Flutterby Playsuit

AND please take a few minutes to check out the rest of the posts for the week, and the awesome creation from Bethany posting today as well.

3rd November

2girls1orca1pukeko.blogspot.com

www.gingerbear.wordpress.com

4th November

www.sewoutofcontrol.wordpress.com

http://dribblepotsandtots.wordpress.com

5th November

www.calmandcarrion.blogspot.com

Sew-not-perfect.blogspot.com

6th November

www.conversasdehermanas.com

fairykissesboutique.blogspot.com

7th November

http://anapprenticehousewife.blogspot.com/?m=1

www.mendandmakenew.co.nz

8th November

Www.rebekahsews.com

https://www.diy-crush.com/blog/

Thanks for stopping by!!  And check out the linky too!

An InLinkz Link-up

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!