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. 

Designer Talk: Dandelions n' Dungarees

I've decided to try something new, and once a week I am going to chat a bit about designers whose patterns I find myself going back to more than once...  And, because they are so fresh in my mind, first on my list is Dandelions n' Dungarees.

The design team behind the name totally enchants me... April (mom) and Elise (daughter) are amazing.  I love my mom and all, but I can't even imagine working with her!! I did that in high-school, and she fired me more than once.  These two though, totally encourage each other and keep each other focused, and some how they keep coming out with these beautiful patterns that each have their own flare to them.  Elise is kind of a night-owl, so when we're both up late I make her ridiculous memes to keep everyone motivated...

The first pattern I sewed from DnD (as I will now be abbreviating it as), was the Old Tyme Baseball Shirt, which is available in three size groups (Baby, Child, and Tween), so if you buy the bundle, you can totally outfit all of the kiddos.  Connor loves Curious George, and I had a couple small pieces of fabric left after making a birthday gift, and it was just enough to make him this awesome top. 

Then came the Retro Frock (available in sizes 2T-10).  Testing this pattern with Elise gave me a new appreciation for what designers do.  I have no idea whatsoever how drafting patterns works, but when it wasn't working the way she was envisioning it, she stuck with it and we ended up with this totally awesome patterns (pockets, can we talk about how much I love pockets???)

I love the ruffled sleeve option on this one, and am definitely adding in on to my "back to school" sewing list.

And, in case you didn't know, DnD has what may be the most fantastically vintage swimsuit pattern available... The Vintage Bikini.   I was REALLY nervous about testing this one, because, well after two kids, I'm definitely not bikini material, right?  And I don't have a ton of experience sewing with swimsuit fabric, but I followed very carefully along the instructions, and I am totally in love with this pattern...  I *may* wander around my house in this, just because I can... 

Then there are the Baby Girl Bottoms, which is one of the most versatile patterns I've seen.  It runs sizes NB-24mo, and has 2 skirt options, bloomers, pants, shorts (all with two waist options and cuff options), and a diaper cover.  Really, all the bottoms you need for your tiny angel, all in one.  I don't have a tiny girl anymore, but I borrowed one just to make the shirred front skirt and diaper cover... and a pair of pants

Connor was VERY concerned with making sure that Baby Katie was okay.  How adorable are these??? The diaper cover can be standalone, like I did, or it can be done attached.

I even made a little skirt for Katie's big sister too! 

And most recently... <swoon>  The Ruffle Whimsy Tunic and Dress.  If you didn't know, making ruffles is not really my favorite thing... but man do they totally make this look fabulous.  I picked the tunic, because I have grand plans to make the Perfectly Pleated Pants to go with these for a stellar outfit.  I just need to find the time!

 Of course Inara had to choose her own fabric and out came the My Little Pony Print.  Then, miraculously, she said "mom, just make the ruffles pretty colors," and ran off to play.  So I got to pick the ruffles...  I decided on a pink variegated thread to do a rolled hem on them, just to make them a little more girly (like it wasn't girly enough??) and  I am totally thrilled with the result.

That just leaves the Perfectly Pleated Pants for me to sew up, the Vintage Bikini Bottoms (give me like 15 more lbs, and I'll let you know how those go!), and the Classic Ruffle Dress I am going to pick up for my back to school list as well... So then I will have all the DnD patterns, lol.  I have a lot of patterns, from a lot of designers (if you haven't noticed), but there is something that just draws me to the classic look of all of these patterns.  I've seen some sneaks into what's coming up too, and you'll LOVE the classic feel!!

If you're still on the fence, come join the Dandelions n' Dungarees Facebook group and see all of the gorgeous creations people are making with these patterns.  You definitely want to try them out!