The Sew and Tell Project

Hi friends, old and new! I’m excited to be participating in the Sew Fun Blog Hop hosted by Faith and Fabric today! If you’ve never visited Sew and Tell Project, make sure you stick around and follow us on Instagram here and me (Eleri) here! Thanks, Jen, for having us today! Make sure you read through the post and visit the other makers on the Blog Hop at the bottom of the page.

Can you believe Halloween is just around the corner? It sneaks up on me every year. This year, I am headed to International Quilt Market in Houston (in 10 days!!!) so I want to be sure my kids have their costumes ready before I go so I can just enjoy the festivities when I get home.

If you have children, you have probably now seen the hit Disney movie “Moana” a few or a dozen times. I LOVE so much about the Moana movie so making my 3-year-old a Moana dress was super-fun for me.

I have a few rules about sewing costumes for children:

1. The fabric needs to be quality. If I’m going to take the time to make something, I don’t want it ripping the next day like the polyester satin dresses in Big Box stores.
2. I need to enjoy doing it. (This is a good rule for sewing in general). If I’m not going to enjoy sewing something, we can buy it at the consignment store or party city.
3. They can’t change their minds once I start.
4. I prefer it to be wearable long after Halloween.

How did my Moana-inspired dress live up to these rules?

Fabric: I purchased this fabric from Spoonflower. It was my first time ordering fabric from there. Like all digitally-printed fabrics I’ve used, it’s crunchier than my designer quilting fabrics, but I would order again for a special project.

Enjoyment: Because I ordered custom-printed fabric for this project, I was able to focus on simple print matching and choosing trims. Embellishing any project is fun and I loved using my 100% cotton crochet trim from Hobby Lobby to finish the garment.

Certainty: She’s only 3. She can be talked into and out of being Moana ten times a day. As you can tell in the pictures though, she loves it!

Wearability: I used one of my favorite simple patterns, the Patricia from Simple Life Pattern Company.  The only alteration I made was adding the ruffle length to the skirt piece since I didn’t want a ruffled hem. I also made it a touch longer than the typical size 4 so hopefully she can wear this as a sun dress when it warms up again next spring.

The Patricia has a unique bodice that curves up in the front and down in the back to give extra shape to the garment. It is a garment that I can sew in about an hour which is nice since I have FOUR costumes to make this year.

I also experimented with adding crochet trim on the neckline of the bodice by topstitching it. It flips up which is mostly-intentional to give it a textured look. I imagine I will remove this if it either bothers her, or she starts wearing it for regular play wear in the spring.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting me on today’s Sew Fun Blog Hop

Here are the other talented makers on today’s hop. Enjoy being inspired for Halloween! Boo!

Jen ~ Faith and Fabric

Bernie~Needle and Foot

Audrey ~ The Cloth Parcel

Anita ~ Daydreams of Quilts

Laura ~ Slice of Pi Quilts

Miranda ~ I Have Purple Hair

Jen ~ Patterns by Jen

Suzy ~Adventurous Applique and Quilting