Women's Bundle Up Blog Tour: Jillian and Clemence

Have you seen enough BundleUp awesomeness yet?? No, of course not!

Seriously though, this bundle has been one of my all time favorites... so here I am to show you a little more of the bundle up on me.

Here I am wearing my Jillian Top from Greenstyle Creations and my Clemence shorts from Filles a Maman.

Let's start with the details.  First the Jillian.
Sizes: XXS to 3XL (bust 32" - 47")
wrap style racer back outer tank can be made in knit or woven
Inner tank, can be done as a tank, sports bra, or bandeau and is made from knit
REALLY fast to sew, and not a big fabric hog at all

And the Clemence:
Sizes: 00 to 24 (hips 33.25" - 52")
Short or Bermuda length
3 different style accents: 2 scallops and 1 flap
Made for wovens, and look really nice in a stretch woven. 

 

How am I doing at not looking awkward?  Justin is out of town so I hired Inara to take pictures for me.  She's not a half bad photographer for being 6.  She tells me that I'm "super weird" in front of the camera, though lol.  

I'd say that the sewing time on the Jillian was probably about 90 minutes for both pieces.  I did the bandeau for my inner tank, using a plain black cotton/spandex performance knit.  For the outer... This is exciting for me... I dyed my own fabric!!  The print is a custom knit from The Fabric Igloo, but because I never remember to order pre-orders when I want them, I actually got it from the host's Hyena Cart (Knits & Giggles).  I ordered one of the dyeing kits she stocks and got my fabric, gloves, mask, dyes, and soda ash all in a nice little package.  

Kind of neat, right?  So I took this pretty innocent looking white and black fabric and gave it a very *me* twist.  I'm kind of addicted to dying things now, and I really love the personal touch it gave this shirt, without it being over the top.

Jillian What I loved: I will definitely be wearing this shirt a lot this summer (I like how my tattoo shows, hmmmm.. I feel like that's an awesome trend with this bundle too!), and I love how it fits, an I definitely love all of the options that are included in it.

Jillian What I'd change:  There is only one thing that I would probably constantly change when making this.  The waistband is cut on the fold, so there is only one seam when its sewn.  I put this seam lined up with one of the side seams, but the obsessive part of my brain wants the seams to be symmetrical, but I feel like that is just me being a bit weird.  

And my awesome shorts.   I actually pre-tested this pattern.  I made the Bermudas for the pre-test because I am a bit self-conscious about my thighs, and I will tell you that SO much care went into making the fit just right on this pattern.  There are instructions on how to adjust the waist, so if you're like me and your hips are significantly bigger than your waist, your shorts won't fall down!  (Don't laugh, the struggle is real :p)

So for this post, I originally was going to make another pair of Bermudas, but it's been warm, and I really want to own a couple pairs of actual shorts... so I went for it!  And I really like them.  I used a stretch denim with a sort of tie-dye looking print on it that I found at Joann's. 

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm pretty, bottom heavy, so I HATE making bottoms for myself out of anything other than knit for PJs.  I can only fit a couple brands of store bought jeans that will fit over my hips and not be all weird and huge at the waist.  These shorts fit amazingly well.  I followed the instructions for adjusting the waist that are included in the pattern, and I am 100% sure that they aren't going to show my underwear when I sit, and my hips fit!

Clemence What I Love: I love how easy it is to adjust the shorts to make them fit nicely at both the hip and waist.  And I love how easy the pattern was to follow.  And that there are multiple lengths included.

Clemence What I'd Change: I think my next pair, I may cut them just a little longer than the short pattern calls for.  But, the pattern does have a length chart, I just didn't measure myself first!

And just to crack you up... Photographer Inara choce the pose.... She said I wasn't being cool enough with my awesome outfit... so here you go... BundleUppers UNITE!  (She calls is the Superhero pose)

 

So the bundle is almost over, but there have been lots of blogs of all the different patterns... so check them out!!

 

Mimi's Mom - Baby Fish Designs - The Wholesome Mama - Gloria June - Sew Happily Ever After - Manning the Machine - Sew Like My Mom - Sproutign Jube Jube - Keep Calm and Carrion - Friends Stitched Together - Thread Riding Hood - Gingerbear Hibbadorary - Pensebrox - Sew Starly - If Only They Would Nap - Handmade Boy - All Things Katy - Bunch-o-Berries - Bee Quilted BeautiesSew Thrifty - Made by Sara - Feathers Flights - Mabey She Made It - Mae and K - Sugar Plum Cuties - Rebel and Malice - House of Estrela - Phat Quarter Blog - Sofilanjes


And then... make sure you BundleUp! 

Extraordinary Girl Blog Tour Day 2

Hi and welcome to Day Two of the Extraordinary Girl Blog tour (hosted by the awesome Deb of Sprouting Jube Jube)

Let's start with stating that I love these patterns... Both the women's and girl's version of the Filles a Maman Extraordinary Girl are fantastic, and I am happy to be part of the tour to show you ours!

Connor on the other hand is mad that I didn't make him one as well...

For this round I left the pockets off, at the decision of the boss (Inara).  She also chose the fabrics.. The main print is a rayon blend knit.  The red is a really soft modal, and the green is an interlock - which works out well for a collar that doesn't stretch too much when putting the shirt on and off.

This is what happens when Inara chooses the poses

The women's version runs from sizes XS - XXL and the fit is spot on with the size chart.
The girl's version runs from 12mo - 14.

Both are made for knits, have a light high-low hemline, boat neck, optional pocket, and 3/4 or long sleeves.

It was such a gorgeous day for pictures too!

I made the 3/4 sleeves for myself and the long sleeves for Miss. It's 50 degrees and won't wear her coat on the playground and complains that it's cold... (aka Inara).  I love how the neckline lets my tattoo peak out, without being so wide that my bra straps would show.

And the un-cropped version... Connor is not amused!  

Now, the fabric I used was a bit too floral for Connor... BUT I have actually made this pattern for him too.  To make it slightly more boyish in style, I made the bottom hemline straight across instead of high-low.  

And don't mind her mis-matching here... but Connor took this one, so I had to show it!  He did great!

 **affiliate note**
Over at Filles a Maman the girl's pattern is on sale for $7.00 through the tour and the bundle is on sale for $13.00!  The bundle is an AWESOME deal, and I highly recommend grabbing it while its on sale!!

And make sure you enter the giveaway for a chance to win an awesome pattern bundle:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And then follow along with the rest of the awesome bloggers on the tour:

Monday Feb. 16th

   Call Ajaire -  The Crazy Tailor - From a Box - Sew Out of Control

Tuesday Feb. 17th

Lulu & Celeste - Keep Calm and Carrion - Sprouting JubeJube - Sofilantjes

Wednesday Feb. 18th

Sew Starly - Rebekah Sews - Rebel & Malice - Isn't That Sew

Thursday Feb. 19th

Thread Riding Hood - House of Estrela - Project Destash

Friday Feb, 20th

Sew Cool for the Tween Scene - Phat Quarters - Pienkel 

 Shaffer Sisters - La Casa Cactus - Mabey She Made It

Thanks for stopping by!!

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:

Mimi Blog Tour - Day One

Hi!  Welcome to day one of the Mimi Blog Tour.   I am so excited to be part of this, because I absolutely love sewing Mel's patterns. 

The Mimi is a darling pattern from one of my favorite designers, Filles a Maman.  Mel's tester calls always make me excited - her patterns are well written, easy to follow, and always have this sort of special flair that I feel like really shows off the cool side of her personality.  I tested the Mimi and Inara totally loved it...

 So when Mel said "blog tour?" My reply was YES!  Then it came time to decide what to make... and (get ready to laugh), I planned this entire post around a button.  Yup.  One button.  The neckline of the Mimi is really unique and the asymmetrical neck closes with a button.

See my cool button?  It's sparkly and Inara totally loved it, so I had this cool button, and then I spent a week staring at it before realizing that I had no fabric that was going to work with such a fancy button... So I actually got to go shopping to pick up some fabric... and I used a nice soft light blue cotton/lycra for the facings, since the texture of the main print might itch Inara.  And here is my first Mimi for the tour...

Don't you just love her sass?

This is the size 5, as I wanted to go for a tunic length with a slimmer fit.  By the size chart, she falls outside the size 5 (the Tinkerbell one is a size 6), but she's still pretty slim, so the size 5 was perfect for a slim fit tunic.








This one is the short sleeved version, which, adding an even cuter detailing, has a cute cuff detail on the sleeve.


I totally love this look - And even with all the cool little details that this pattern has, it took about 90 minutes start to finish.










After finishing this one, I realized (much to my surprise), that I had a little extra time.  So I decided to make a shirt version.  After staring at the pattern options a bit, I decided not to do the collar option, but that I really wanted to do one with the tassel detailing.

For this one I used the shirt length, size 5, tassel detailing, and took the long sleeves and made them into 3/4 sleeves with a cuff detailing.  The fabric on this one is lightweight thermal, so I think it will be perfect for cooler summer nights.  The tassels are actually FOE, as is the button loop, since the rainbow print was just too perfect to pass up And check out the button!

Oh!  The details!
The Mimi comes in sizes 12mo through 14yrs
Two sleeve lengths: short or long
Two body lengths: dress or shirt
Three collar options: simple keyhole, asymmetrical peter pan collar, and fringe front

Can you tell how much she likes it??  The pattern calls for grosgrain ribbon for the fringe, but since i used FOE I tied little knots at the bottoms of the pieces to weight them down a little.

I really can't say enough positive things about this pattern.  As with all of her patterns, the pattern pieces go together easily and are clearly labeled.  AND the random cool note, that always impresses me... they come in both English AND French!

Also, Mel is generously doing a giveaway with the tour... so make sure you take a moment to enter to win patterns of your choice from her shop!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

And lastly, make sure you check out all of the other bloggers who are showing off their Mimi's for the tour!

 
Thanks for stopping by to check out my Mimi's and if you haven't picked up the pattern yet, I highly recommend you do - its totally year round perfect and there are so many fun ways to make it reflect your child's personality. 

Crafting Con Blog Tour: Everyday Mulan and Shang

I am SO EXCITED for this post.  Like dancing around my room, been geeking out to BBC shows while writing, singing Viral Song  in my head...  Okay, well that is pretty clear.  In case you were wondering, we are a family of nerds.  I have as many books as I do fabric, and I keep buying them, because e-books don't have that *smell* that real books do.  Inara and Connor get their names from characters on shows that we love, and if you've seen some of my tester pics, you've seen peeks of the very geeky Dr. Who and Sailor Moon tattoos...

So now that's off my chest - welcome to my post on the CraftingCon - Is My Geek Showing? - Blog Tour.  I am honored and excited to be part of this event.  It is totally up my alley, if you hadn't noticed by the ... Series of Geeky Rockstar Raglans or maybe the Zelda Inspired flailing attempt at quilting.   So when Amy and Tasha of Friends Stitched Together and Maegan and Karen of MaeandK announced their plan for this competition I knew that I had to be part of it.  And to help introduce all of the amazing themes, I have decided to introduce you all to my Disney Heroes...

Meet Mulan and Baby Shang (who are seriously impossible to get into a picture together).
We were going for every day wear, with some Disney flare, and I am so excited with how it all turned out.

For Inara's tunic I used the Harper from LittleDressPattern as my base.  I flipped the facing to the outside and used a silver piping to give it the neck detail.  I also decided to skip the elastic at the waist and used the sash to tuck in at the sides, giving it a more Mulan-like look.  I also left the ruffle off, since it is much easier to sword fight in a tunic than a dress. 

And then I decided that little man needed in on the geek action too.  So he got a comfy every day Shang outfit.  The pants are the Agathe and Theo Slouchy Pants from Filles a Maman and the top is the the Omigami from Opulent Monsters.  He probably could have gotten away with the 18mo in the top, but I keep secretly hoping that he's growing, lol.

Mulan and Shang clearly needed to train by fighting each other.  He hasn't quite learned how to outwit her all the time.  Usually he just sneaks up behind her and bashed her in the head with a Minecraft sword, so his head on attacks need work.

All good warriors have some team bonding time too - and these two are no different.  They go from full out war to best friends in seconds.  And they totally loved their outfits.  Everyday geekery is something we strive for around here, so this was so much fun for me to get geek them out when given a theme to work with. 

My warriors also took a quick training break to tend to their garden boxes with daddy too.  Even though it rained that morning, they insist on watering their garden boxes every day.  And it was clearly more exciting than taking pictures!

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Make sure you check out the other awesome bloggers who are showing their geek off!!  And I'll be back in CraftingCon mode in August with an Avengers themed tutorial!

That's-Sew-Kari | Two Novembers | Swoodson Says | Manafest | Sew Maris | GYCT Designs | Calm and Carrion | Create 3.5 | Crazy Crafty Haute Mama | Paisley Roots