My daughters and I are SO excited to be sharing new looks today featuring Simple Life Patterns. We are ready to dazzle and shine for our holiday season. If you haven’t started sewing yet (or still need to shop for patterns), SLPco is having it’s last sitewide sale of the year. Sale runs from 11/11-11/25 and EXCLUDES svg cut files.
For my tour makes I decided to showcase that SLPco now offers women’s patterns. I’ve made so many for myself so far (Sapphire is my favorite right now for our cold weather)! My gorgeous 11-year-old daughter is now 5’8″ and measures into the size 00 on the SLPco women’s size chart. I decided to make her a glittery stretch velvet Samantha dress. I wanted something that she could feel comfortable and stylish in for Christmas Mass and relaxing at various relatives’ houses throughout the holidays. Continue Reading
It’s fairly safe to say that every sewist/quilter/fabric collection curator has a favorite fabric designer or two. Crystal Manning is definitely one of my favorite designers! I’ve now made garments or quilts using each of her 4 unique and colorful collections released by Moda Fabrics. Make sure you check out her Instagram feed for a daily dose of color and inspiration! You’ll want to keep reading to see the Growing Beautiful fabrics designed by Crystal that I’ve chosen for this post. Continue Reading
One of my favorite parts of quilting is trying out new blocks. When I was invited to participate in the latest Classic and Vintage quiltalong with Fat Quarter Shop, I was a little hesitant since I knew some of the skills required would challenge me. However, my quilty word for the year is build as in skillbuilding.
As soon as I saw the gorgeous sample quilt pictured below I decided that I needed to participate! Continue Reading
This beautiful a-line skirt only has 4 seams plus a hem – it is the perfect project if you are just venturing into the world of sewing with knits! You can choose a regular waistband or a wider fold-over waistband. To add to the options, there also is a choice between knee-length and maxi-length. For testing, Eleri and Emily both chose to make the knee length version with a regular waistband. Eleri used a gorgeous floral liverpool and Emily made hers using simple yet lovely dark fuschia cotton lycra . The pattern is drafted for an average 5’5″ height – one of us it above that height and one of us under that height and yet the pattern length worked great for both! The length is also very easily adjusted to suit your preferences.
We’d like to congratulate Made for Mermaids on reaching 15,000 members in their facebook group and we’re thrilled that they are offering the Chloe Skirt pattern for FREE! In addition, they are currently offering 30% off their patterns as part of the big SALE-A-BRATION!! So hurry on over, grab the patterns for both women AND girls, and start sewing!
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So last week, I was finally able to share pictures of my Sun Kissed Tee by Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop in a gorgeous Art Gallery knit. If you scroll through the blog, you can see that I’m a HUGE fan of PAB. I have sewn over 100 garments made with PAB patterns in the last 22 months.
There are a few reasons for that volume of sewing (not that I have to justify sewing excessively to my readers, I imagine).
I’ve been quiet on the blog recently but not this week. THREE patterns that I have been testing over the last few weeks are all releasing today! Have you checked out Alisha’s post on The Sotnos top we tested together? I sure am glad that I got my daughter’s First Communion dress done early so I could kick back and do some fun and less stressful projects!
Next up on the blog today is the fabulous new women’s Sun Kissed Dolman tee from The Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop.
I love everything about this pattern. I tested the women’s size large standard hem version. The only modification I made was my usual addition of an extra 2″ of length at the waist since the pattern is drafted for the standard 5’5″ and I am 5’10.”
One of the things I love the most about this pattern, is I feel it is flattering from all angles. I have four children and a large bust line. I like my clothes to be fitted but not clingy. I like my necklines to be stylish, but not too revealing. I love the cap/dolman sleeves that hit at just the right spot, so I can be cool but covered.
I want to be able to live in my clothes. I want to wear clothing that makes me feel beautiful but that I don’t constantly feel the urge to suck my tummy in a bit more, pull down my shirt, or pull up the neckline. I know I will live in these this summer as we play at the park, hike, and camp. I have even made one in french terry to use as a swim cover-up!
This shirt is perfect for me, and I cannot wait to share the different colors and one exciting mash-up I made over the next few weeks as life allows!
Here are my top reasons for declaring this pattern a perennial winner:
Guess what? This is the first time I’m participating in a link-up! I still have so much to learn about blogging, but I am really enjoying sharing my creations with all of you and appreciate all the support and feedback!
I don’t sew a lot for myself… I mean with four growing kids, I can fill every minute at my sewing machine making stuff just for them. At 5’10”, I am tall, but it is also not impossible to find store bought clothes that fit me well…. or well-enough.
But as I’ve worked on taking better care of myself, I’ve found joy in making my own clothing that fits just the way I want it, too.
To have a nice theme to this post…. and because my other shirts are in the laundry, I’m going to dedicate my Sew Yourself Some Love 2016 post to three me-made raglans in my wardrobe!
The first raglan I want to share is the Ranier Raglan and Hyde Park Hoodie mash-up I made last fall (Sh! 2015!). It took me a couple tries to get exactly the look I was going for, but this is one of my favorite pieces so I hope you don’t mind me sharing it with you today.
I made it out of the jade french terry from the PAB Fabric Shop. My measurements were spot on for the Large sizing in my bust and waist so I pieced with a slightly smaller seam allowance to accommodate for the thickness and lower stretch of the French terry.
I used the XXL Hood Piece of the Hyde Park Hoodie and extended the tails to make a crossover hood. It was cold, and I forgot to ask The Man to take pictures of the hood which I lined with stretch lace. It is also a little snug vertically since the neckline of the Hyde Park Hoodie is higher, so if I make it again I will add another inch of height to the hood. I also added a bottom band to make it look more like a sweatshirt.
The Show and Tell team and I have been lucky enough to kick off 2016 with testing several new releases. In between tests, I decided to really spoil myself. Last week, I decided to sew two raglans for myself using some of my favorite fabric in my stash.
::Raise your hand if you remember the release of the Riley Blake Idle Wild Collection!::
I was able to score 2 yards of the pink floral and 2 yards of the multi-color floral. I had initially planned to spoil my little girls with the beautiful Idle Wild florals and was saving them for summer outfits.
But I decided that I deserved some fabric love and made myself a Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan using the pink floral colorway and the dark coral cotton lycra from the PAB Shop.
I loved the fit of my Ranier Raglans that I made last fall, and I had also seen the original P4P Women’s Raglan and add-on pack. I loved the concept, but I did not care for the loose-fit of the original raglan for my body. I have a few kids, and I always feel looser fit shirts invite “Time for another one…?” comments. On the flip side, shirts that are too tight around my midsection also make it look like another one is already in the works… but I digress.
As soon as I saw the tester album of the P4P Slim Fit Raglan, I knew I had to give it a try even though I already had a tried and true raglan in my stash.
I am glad that I decided to give a new raglan a try! It has the perfect fit and several options to mix things up for me. I made the Large 3/4 length sleeves option with the tunic length. I did not add any additional length to the tunic. The result was fitted and body skimming where I wanted it, and forgiving where my body is still blooming from four beautiful children. I particularly like how the pattern is drafted between the arms and bust line.
Since I was so happy with the fit of this, I decided to use my beloved fantasy floral and “Have Courage and Be Kind” panel from the PAB Shop. I have never used an adult size panel before. The panel was not tall enough for me to do another tunic, so I added a little bit of length to the banded cut line on the P4P Slim Fit Raglan, and then added a band to get the length I wanted.
This has been my favorite fabric and it is still a limited quantity in stock if you want to get your hands on it here. I have four more outfits to share with you (hopefully next week) that I made from this fabric and panels for the pint-size ladies in my life.
But sometimes, Mama just needs a raglan, so here’s to sewing more for us!
Now Sew Yourself Some Love!
In my years of sewing patterns created by independent designers, I have never seen such anticipation of a pattern release! I was lucky enough to be chosen to test the pattern and I can honestly say it is my favorite thing I have ever made for myself.
I decided to use some red fleece from my stash, gray knit for the lining, and some gorgeous Monaluna Folk Flowers for my hood accent. The only mods I made to my first sew were adding 2″ of length to the pattern since I am 5’10”.
When it comes to Amy’s patterns, I have a hard time sewing just one. This pattern was no exception, and I headed to the fabric store the day after I finished my red vest.
Since I purchased a bit of extra yardage of this double layer quilted knit by Doodles, I decided to play around with my pattern pieces to make a collared version of the hoodie.
I followed the pattern (with 2″ length added like my red vest) and tutorial as written. The only update I made was to the hood pattern piece!
Would you like to make a Hyde Park with a shawl collar, too? (I have not used this method on any other patterns, but I believe it would work on many hooded options!)
You will need:
The Hyde Park Hoodie pattern by Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop
A ruler
An existing shawl collar if you have one you like. You can measure how deep your collar is and add seam allowance and use that as a starting point on your pattern piece. Continue Reading