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Category: baby
Hello fabric friends!
I am thrilled to be included in another one of Sharon Holland’s fabulous blog tours. I promise you that you are in for a textile treat if you stop and visit the other makers. I love the fabulous banner tutorial Dritz shared with us last Friday, and I’m happy to be the first maker on the tour this week.
Make sure you visit Sharon Holland on Instagram as she is hosting very cool weekly giveaways featuring the tour’s sponsors: Dritz Sewing, BlocLoc Rulers, and Fat Quarter Shop. She is also hosting a similar giveaway on the weekly recap blog post.
The pattern is designed for almost any type of knit fabric so it is suitable for all seasons. There is the option to partially line it or make it fully lined and reversible. I made this one out of a lovely rayon spandex from Raspberry Creek Fabrics and partially lined it. I had originally bought the fabric to make baby girl a swaddle for her newborn days, but time got away from me. It makes my heart happy to see her snuggled in this fabric I so painstakingly picked out for her before she was born.
I only partially lined this sleep sack because I wanted it to be relatively lightweight. A cream cotton lycra from Peekaboo Fabric Shop was perfect for lining it. I added tiny squares of interfacing on both layers so that the snaps could be attached securely. (I knew there was a reason I’ve been saving small scraps of interfacing!) I used one snap on each shoulder attached with my KAM snap pliers and so far baby hasn’t been able to unsnap them herself. The Birthday Brownie Sleep Sack pattern also has the option to add snaps along the bottom to edge for easy diaper changes. Perfect for tiny little ones, but not recommended for mobile babies.
Well, baby girl now has a lightweight sleep sack for this transitional fall weather and I’ve already made her a slightly warmer cotton lycra one as well. I’m already planning more for upcoming baby shower gifts!
To get your own copy of this FREE pattern, you need to join Candy Castle Pattern’s facebook group and the code is in the pinned post. You can find it here.
If you aren’t familiar with Candy Castle Patterns, you need to check out some of the other designs! My personal favorite is the Peppermint Swirl Dress, which is such a gorgeous and unique dress. I made a couple of them a few years ago that were used as flower girl dresses in a wedding and the results were simply stunning. So perfect for twirling!
Here is Genie’s daughter in the cuffed pants and long sleeve options. These are cotton interlock with cotton lycra bands. Genie chose the half zip option as well. The zipper assembly on these pajamas is straightfoward and a video tutorial is linked in the instructions to help with any tricky spots you might find.
I (Alisha) made two versions of the Classic Zip Pajamas during testing. The cuffed shorts and short sleeves are a great option for summer. My son has hardly taken these off since I finished sewing them. I used interlock with cotton lycra bands like Genie did with the half zip option. The shorts were slimmed down slightly after I made this version.
My seven year old has been begging for fleece zip up jammies for months so he was so excited when I made him some. I appreciate that Amy includes the torso length measurement in this size chart for this pattern because I needed to size up for his pajamas. If using fleece, I recommend double checking that measurement since fleece has no vertical stretch. Just like my other son, he’s been wearing these a ton even though it is 90 degrees outside. I’ve decided that’s a battle I’m not willing to fight!
If you have previously purchased Amy’s zip up pajama pattern, you can simply redownload this version from your account. If you don’t have a zip up pj pattern, we recommend the Classic Zip Pajamas. They’re a fairly quick sew with a variety of options that work great year round.
We put together this special post today with some of our favorite patterns in case you decide to stock up during the Fourth of July Sale!
To take advantage of the sale visit Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop and place your order! All sewing patterns are buy 4, get 1 free! No code necessary!
Need inspiration to fill your cart? Check out what the Sew and Tell Project team has made and loved!
Mariposa Dress and Top. Sewn by Alisha.
Swan Lake Leotard. Sewn by Eleri. (Make sure you also check out our tips and tricks for sewing with swim which features the Sun n Fun Leotard!) This one was made with swim supplies from the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop! 3. Rocky Mountain Raglan. Sewn by Genie and Eleri. Let’s not forget the MEN in our lives. Stock up on affordable knit solids and the Rocky Mountain Raglan pattern and whip up a pile for your favorite guy!
4. Bahama Mama Swim Wear PAB has a nice range of mama-friendly swimwear to keep you sporty and cool all summer long! See what Alisha and Eleri made below!
5. Sun Kissed Dolman and Little Miss Sunshine. Sewn by Eleri.
6. Bridgeport Jacket. Alisha made the black one using board short fabric from the shop!
7. The Lullaby Line Cardigan bodysuit. Check out Genie’s adorable cover model!
9. Marilyn Swimsuit. Made by Emily10. Dream Land Nightgown made by Emily. Keep it cool on hot summer nights in a breezy nightgown! 11. Lullaby Gown. Perfect for all the babies in your life! Made by Alisha. Check out the entire Lullaby Line for every baby’s need!
12.
Pocketful of Posies.
I decided to sew for two of my kids this year-my baby girl (who’s really more of a toddler) and my 9 year old. Sly Fox Fabrics was kind enough to send each of us bloggers some yardage to use during the tour. They’re a new-to-me company, but I was so impressed with the quality of their fabric and the speed of their shipping. Make sure to check out their Americana collection here for your own patriotic sewing.
First up, my 9 year old…I chose a baby French Terry in mottled denim from Sly Fox to make Coastal Craze Baggies from Peek a Boo Pattern Shop for his shorts. Somehow each of my boys are in dire need of shorts in their closets this year! I sized up one size so hopefully these will still fit next year.
I used a navy cotton lycra from Peek A Boo Pattern Shop for the waistband, and as soon as he put these on, he told me they were the softest shorts I’ve ever made him. He’s already worn them several times which is always a good sign! For his tee, I used Katy’s Stars and Stripes design for HTV over at Thread and Grain and ironed it on a ready to wear t shirt.
For my daughter, this beautiful blue and white rayon challis stripe jumped out at me. I started out making a Baby Mia from Simple Life Pattern Company, but after I completed the skirt, I decided to alter my plans and mashed the top tier of the skirt with the Baby Bella woven bodice. I used a red Kona cotton from Joann’s for the accents.
My favorite part of this dress is the straps of the Bella in the back. I love using the v back and straight straps to add visual interest. I paired the tunic with the Tammy Tulip shorts I featured in my Baby Skyler post, but I used the inside of them since they’re reversible.
Thanks for stopping by my stop here for the Sew Americana tour. I’ll leave you with the best picture of the two of them I could get. Toddlers are hard to photograph! Make sure to check out the other stops on the tour as well. There are some beautiful makes!
Monday, June 25:
Wild + Wanderful | Marvelous Auntie M | Handmade Boy
Phat Quarters | Call Ajaire
Tuesday, June 26:
Musings of a Seamstress | Sea of Estrogen | Sew and Tell Project5 out of 4 Patterns |
Little Heart Threads
When a big box of knits arrives at my house (not very frequently if my husband is reading this), two of my daughters immediately start claiming fabrics and asking for dresses. To be honest, they have been a bit “mama-made” starved the past several months. I am nearly 30 weeks pregnant now and have taken a bit of a pregnancy and long winter-related hiatus from doing a lot of girls’ sewing, blogging, and shooting. The new Skyler dress pattern was perfect to get my “sewjo” back and also take advantage of utilizing some fabric cuts that I loved but had been sitting for several months. And if you haven’t seen the news on Instagram, I am having another girl, so I promise more girls’ sewing is coming!
I love sewing with knits, particularly high-quality cotton lycra/spandex. I made this version in one of my favorite Art Gallery Fabrics prints by Sharon Holland Designs.
I chose to do the large bow back view for this version and had just enough fabric for the circle skirt. This is a straight size 4.
One of the variations of Skyler’s top and dress includes small side bows. I made 3 sets of hairbows to coordinate with her favorite Skyler dresses as you can see in this picture. Just follow the tutorial to make the bows and hot glue to your favorite clip of choice. Due to the thickness of her hair, I used french barrettes so they would not slip out.
For my next Skyler, I combined one of my favorite fabrics, Art Gallery Yellow Stripes, with a large remnant I had leftover from sewing for the Printemps Fusions Lookbook earlier this spring. I just cut the fabric to length to the width of fold due to the limited yardage I had. Luckily, with knits you can get away with removing a few inches on gathered skirts. This pattern is also suitable for using woven fabric for the SKIRT ONLY but I prefer to make all-knit dresses for ease of washing and comfortable wear.
For this version, I chose the simple square back. The instructions were clear to make a fully-lined and unique bodice.
I also used my time during testing to get Little Miss’s 4th of July outfit created! Doesn’t she look like a little firecracker? I did another large center bow for her and used the circle skirt for maximum twirl! The fabric is a custom print I picked up last summer that is no longer available. I’m glad I saved it for the right pattern!
During testing this Little Miss also had a 4th birthday! I pulled every gorgeous floral and every whimsical print I had out of my stash to let her choose! She kept saying, “Nope. Not enough colors.” Until we arrived at this stripe which is still in stock here! Momfession: I tried one more time to get her to choose a tossed print so I could do the speedy circle skirt. But, seriously, even if you use all the options, my first Skyler took me less than 2 hours even with careful stripe matching and needing to follow the instructions step by step.
She wore this to her birthday party and got soooo many compliments!
Finally, I want to share my very favorite Skyler!
My nearly ten-year-old daughter helped me find these beautiful fabrics in my stash. I combined Art Gallery sleek mint stripes with another older AGF print from the Geometric Bliss collection. My daughter wanted a circle skirt and simple square back done on the modest cut line with short sleeves for summer events. The pattern also includes full-length sleeves so I know it will transition well for back to school. I sewed her a straight size 10 bodice and lengthened the skirt to a 12 due to her height.
The dress had the tween-friendly, retro look we were both going for. I usually avoid cutting a circle skirt on directional fabric, but since these were vertical stripes in short bursts, I thought it would be fun to play with the print’s orientation within the circle skirt. It kind of looks like a colorful disco ball to me!
Last but not least, I have a bonus Skyler to share! 3 of us 4 over at Sew and Tell Project participated in testing the Skyler. We all loved it! Here is Emily’s beautiful version in a size 7/8L on her little girl. I love the colorful use of chevrons to showcase the pattern.
I hope one or two of these beautiful dresses has inspired you to add the Skyler’s Square Back Top and Dress to your pattern stash and more importantly, get sewing! Tell us what you think below!
I made two versions of the Baby Skyler during testing. The first was the simple open back cut out and gathered peplum length top. This Riley Blake Idelwild knit is perfect for this summer tank.
I paired my Baby Skyler with a pair of Baby Tammy Tulip shorts. I love that they are reversible for two different looks and work great with this peplum length top.
The Fourth of July is fast approaching, and for my second Baby Skyler, I decided to run with the red, white, and blue theme. I made the short sleeve circle skirt peplum length top with the big bow on the cutout. I used royal blue and red cotton lycra from Peek a Boo Pattern Shop, my favorite place to buy cotton lycra solids (and most other fabrics!), and a woven fireworks fabric I’ve had in my stash from Joanns since last year.
This top is perfect for those hot summer days and parades on the Fourth. The woven skirt still fit perfectly over my daughter’s head and tummy and makes for a great casual top for the parade we’ll be attending. The red bow on the back makes for a fun surprise when she turns around and runs away which is so common these days!
Thanks for checking out my versions of the Baby Skyler, and make sure to subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss Emily and Eleri’s versions of the Skyler for their big girls!
You can buy the baby Saylor here! And you can grab the girls’ Saylor here!
The Saylor is a versatile, sleeveless dress and top with several backview variations and optional cap sleeves. One of my favorite features is the accent bows for the dress with bonus hairbow tutorial.
Alisha and I both sewed the SAME back view! Don’t you love it when you share similar tastes with a friend? It makes helping each other choose fabric and patterns so much more fun!
I love how sweet Miss M looks with her beautiful square back and romper bottom outfit!
I think Miss M likes her outfit, too! Now, let me share what my own Miss M thinks of her Saylor dress!
My little miss has been on a serious growth spurt as we approach her 4th birthday! I made her a straight size 5, so even with the deep 2″ hem in the pattern instructions, her dress hits below the knees. I’m okay with this since it will mean it should fit most of the summer. But if she grows, Saylor is a very quick and enjoyable sew! I think many more of these will be in her closet this summer!
To make her look I used some of the gorgeous new Tallinn Fabrics collection by Jessica Swift! This gorgeous red print is Odessa Traditionale and it is one of my favorite prints from the collection. I actually just backed an entire quilt that I will share with you at the end of the month in the alternate colorway!
Once I made my first Saylor and realized how quick it was, I decided that my big girls needed their own Saylor dresses. I used one of my favorite prints from Maureen Cracknell’s Soulful collection. I realized last week when we had a fancy family dinner outing, that my big girls have grown A LOT over this winter. I made Miss E the size 10 and added 0.5″ to the bodice length and 2″ to the skirt. Saylor is designed to fall just above the knee, but with how quickly the girls are growing these days (and with snow still on the ground) I wanted to make sure this was long enough through the summer.
One of my favorite things about the Saylor is the classic silhouette. It is a wonderful beginner sew that has several details so you can make Saylor many times without making the same design twice! I can’t wait to share more Saylors with you through this summer.
I was very excited to be invited to sew-a-long because I have been keeping a secret: I’m expecting a new baby at the end of this summer and my ability to sew has been limited. It was wonderful to start this Hideaway Quilt and finish it as I was transitioning into the second trimester.
One of the features of the Hideaway Quilt is the large blocks which make this a quick sew. The feature blocks are from Art Gallery Fabrics beautiful Capsules: Nest collection. Nest is the perfect collection for the modern nursery. The Hideaway Quilt Kit available HERE at Fat Quarter Shop utilizes Nest fabrics and coordinating AGF Pure Elements fabrics. You can also order the recommended Creative Grids ruler at the same time as the kit.
I was very glad I picked up a Creative Grids 12.5″ ruler for fussy cutting the Nest Panel set and making quicker cuts for the 12.5″ blocks. I debated adding another ruler to my collection but I was so impressed with the non-slip functionality of the Creative Grids ruler, that I also replaced my 6×24″ ruler with a 6.5″ x 24.5″ ruler from Creative Grids.
For the quiltalong, I of course featured the Nest Fabrics Panel set, and a few of the main prints from the collection. I really wanted to showcase how well all the Art Gallery Capsules collections coordinate with one another, so I pulled favorite prints from Le Vintage Chic Fabrics to mix with Prisma Elements for the contrast fabric in my blocks. You can also find a splash of the Denim Studio in my quilt blocks.
I had a hard time deciding what fabric to use for my background. Ultimately, I decided to go with PE-471 Sweet Macadamia for my quilt background. I wanted to have a warm neutral to stand out against the modern grays and whites and baby pinks and blues throughout the quilt.
I used Amy Sinibaldi’s Playground Fabrics for my quilt’s background. I actually picked this backing up during a Fat Quarter Shop 24 Hour Flash Sale. Make sure you sign up for their newsletter to get great offers!
Finally, I decided after working with such a geometric quilt, that I wanted something circular for my quilting. I tend to gravitate toward traditional quilting patterns when it is time to finish a quilt, but wanted to celebrate the modern look of the Hideaway Quilt. I had my quilt longarmed locally and she had just the right pebbles/bubbles pattern to achieve the look I wanted!
Make sure you head on over the Fat Quarter Shop blog on 3/15 to check out the other Hideaway Quilts in the quiltalong and search #hideawayquilt and #fqsquiltalong on social media for more inspiration!
I started out with B&T’s Bodysuit Dress: 82 and used navy cotton lycra from Peekaboo Fabric Shop. Usually when I sew with knits, I opt for patterns that have a band option, but I tackled the binding on this pattern and I definitely felt like I had the hang of it when I got around to making the second dress. This project gave me lots of practice because there is binding around the neck, around the lower edge of the bodysuit, as well as on the sleeves. I love how this little dress has the coverage of a bodysuit – even when she pulls up her skirt to play with it, her belly won’t get cold. The waist seam is thoughtfully designed so that it is between the right side of the bodysuit and wrong side of the skirt and so there isn’t a seam to rub against baby’s belly. The waist seam is high enough that the bodysuit dress can be paired with leggings for warmth.
These Drawstring Leggings: 22 paired with this dress perfectly. One thing that I especially appreciate about both of these patterns is that they are both generously cut in such a way so as to accommodate a fluffy cloth diaper bum without needing to size up. All cloth diapers seem a bit bulky at this age and clothing that fits well with them makes us all happy. She was a bit short on the size chart but I went with her chest and waist measurements and made her the size 6-9 months anyway. The fit was spot on with some room to grow.
I made a little bandana bib to match using a free pattern from Sew Journers and it is perfect for helping keep her clothes dry. I love how it changes the look of a solid colored dress! I’m sure I’ll be making more of those. I used the same style of snaps on the bib as I used on the dress and with my snap pliers, construction was super fast.
I made another bodysuit dress and paired this one with tights and little baby shoes. I’m glad the pattern has a short sleeve option and goes up to a size 3t – I plan to make many more of these versatile dresses over the next couple of years. And the leggings pattern goes up to a 6T so those will last even longer!
You know a pattern passes baby’s test when she immediately snuggles up and goes right to sleep while wearing it. She barely made it through a few pictures before this happened. Comfy clothes and her favorite swing are the perfect combination for naptime. A big thanks to Brindille & Twig to providing these patterns for the blog tour!
Thanks for stopping by the Sew and Tell Project and feel free to check out the rest of the bloggers who were also trying new things and breaking ground this week! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
Monday March 12- mahlicadesigns, Sewing Vortex, Sewing A La Carte, Little Heart Threads, The Sewing Scientist
Tuesday March 13- Musings of A Seamstress, A Custom Clothier, Octaves of Color, Aurora Design Fabrics, Sew Altered Style
Wednesday March 14-
Flaxfield Sewing