Lilly Giggle Cecille Pattern

I made my 3rd outfit from a pattern in Pattern Revolution's Bundle Up.  I made the Lilly Giggle Cecille as a dress.  I had never used a Lilly Giggle pattern before and found the instructions to be good and there were tons of options.  This pattern uses knit fabric or a combo of knit and woven for the dress.  You can make a shirt or a dress.  There are also 3 sleeve options (short, 3/4 and long).  There is also an option for a sash (waist band) with the dress.

I choose to do the dress version and incorporated knit with woven.  This can also be made with all knit.  I made short sleeves because in Southern California we really only have about 2 weeks when we can wear long sleeves.  For the fabric I used a blue snowflake knit I got on etsy a while back from another seller.  I got 1 yard and this is the 3rd thing I have made with it.  Knit really goes a long way.  For the neckband and sleeve cuffs I just used a solid white I got from Purple Seamstress on Facebook.  For the skirt I used Frozen Ice Skating Toss with glitter.  Usually I do not like fabrics that have glitter in them.  But, I actually like this one.  Due to the background color of light blue the glitter does not overtake the fabric but gives it nice sparkle.  I have it on sale for $7.99 right now too!  For the waistband/sash I used Fairy Frost in Cobalt.  This color goes perfect with the color of Anna's dress and breaks up the similar blue colors in the bodice and skirt.

The pattern has instructions to sew the sleeves flat (easiest) or in the round (harder but better finish).  I choose to do them in the round.  That way there weren't any uncomfortable seams at the cuff and the finish is more professional.  If I can find cute snowflake buttons I am going to put them on the sleeve cuffs.  She loves this dress and wore it all day today.  Even though she is 10 she is still majorly into Frozen.

Tie Dye Diva Potato Chip Skirt

My 7 year old loves My Little Pony so I decided to make her a skirt using the Potato Chip Skirt from Tie Dye Diva.  This skirt is available in the Bundle Up from Pattern Revolution.  This is the second pattern I have made from the bundle I bought and so far I have loved both patterns I have used.

What is so great about this pattern is you can make the skirt with either one fabric, lined or reversible.  I choose to make it reversible and used 2 My Little Pony fabrics.  That way she has 2 skirts in one!  The skirt also features pockets, a flat front waistband and elastic back.  It has a timeless A line shape and is super simple to sew because there are no gathers, ruffles, buttons or zippers!

For the main side of the skirt I used my favorite My Little Pony fabric called My Little Pony Names.  It features all your favorite My Little Ponies (including Rarity!) amongst a dark purple background.  There are so many colors you can pull from to match coordinating fabrics with.  I choose to bring out the pink and used Fairy Frost Love for the waistband.

On the front of the main side it features handy pockets.  You can even decorate the pockets with piping or in this case bias tape.  The pattern has directions for piping but I had this super cute crochet trimmed bias tape that I used to decorate the edge of the pocket.  I got this bias tape in a previous month's box from Stitch Box Monthy.  When I saw this pattern I knew this would be the perfect trim to use for the pockets!

On the reverse side I used My Little Pony Ombre fabric.  This is my daughter's favorite so I knew I had to use this fabric as well.  For the waistband on this side it is also the Fairy Frost Love.  The pattern includes directions to use a one fabric waistband (what I did) or a waistband with two different fabrics in case you wanted a different fabric on each side of the reversible skirt.

This skirt was a quick sew and I will be making more!

Jocole Wideleg Pants

First let me apologize for the horrible photos.  It was 2 minutes before time to leave for school so I didn't have much time.  It also rained here all day yesterday and was still gloomy outside, thus the inside quick photos.

Right now there is a pattern bundle sale going on at Pattern Revolution.  There are 11 brand new girls patterns for sale and you can get them starting at $4.50 each.  But you must pick at least 6.  The more you buy the more you save.  I ended up buying 9.  I sat down with my girls and they liked just about every one of them.  They are super picky these days so when they like something I go for it.  They are not into big frilly ruffle dresses anymore (which is fine with me) and are more into the ready to wear look that you would find at stores.

The first pattern I decided to sew up was Jocole's Wideleg Pants for my 10 year old.  Now she is super duper skinny but average height for her age.  So, it is hard to find pants that actually fit her.  She can fit into her little sister's pants but they are always short.  If she wears pants that are long enough for her they always fall off of her.  It is nice to be able to sew her pants and change it up for her measurements.  I made a size 8 but extended the length a little bit.  I probably could have even made a smaller size since her waist was measuring smaller but I didn't want the rise to be too short.  I used a stretch french terry knit that I had originally bought for my son but decided to make these pants instead. 

I choose to add inset pockets.  Next time I make them I am going to serge around the curve of the pockets before I construct them.  I found it impossible to do this with my serger when the directions stated to do it so I just left the seam raw.  Since it is knit it won't fray.  I could have easily done it with a zig zag stitch but after using a serger for so long I don't like the look of a zig zagged seam very much.  When you are putting the pockets on make sure you pay attention and put them on the top of the pant leg where they belong and not the bottom (don't ask me why I know this).

For the waist I choose to do the skinny band.  I decided to also put elastic inside to give it more stability and so they wouldn't fall down.  I just left a gap when I attached the band and then inserted the elastic.  Then after securing the elastic together closed the gap.  I topstitched it with my coverstitch and it looks like I need more practice with that.  I have only had it a month so I have much to learn!

Finally, I hemmed it with my coverstitch as well.  I love the way this looks!  I used 1" fusible hem tape, ironed it up and hemmed it with my coverstitch.  Easy peasy.

The bundle up sale is going on only until Febuary 2nd.  You can find it HERE.  Happy sewing!

Frozen Outfit

This past week I participated in a sew along in the Made for Mermaids facebook group and made this top.  It is the rose ruffle top made with knit fabrics.  This was really easy to make, especially with my new coverstitch machine.  I don't sell knit fabrics (yet anyways) so I bought the fabrics used in the top retail.  The white is from Purple Seamstress, whom I think is just awesome.  This is the highest quality solids I have seen and reasonably priced.  The snowflake knit I got on etsy from another seller.

The hem on both the sleeve ruffles and the shirt hem I did with my Janome coverstitch machine I got for Christmas.  A coverstitch is different from a serger because it doesn't have a knife to cut off fabric and has double straight lines on the front and chain stitch on the backside.  This stitch still allows the fabric to stretch so it is the ideal way to hem knits.

I also made a coordinating skirt.  I used the Katie John pattern from Cole's Creations.  For the fabric I used Frozen Ice Skating Toss and Fairy Frost in Cobalt.  I have the Frozen fabric on sale right now!  This skirt has a flat front with elastic back, pockets and a contrasting hem band.  I hope the birthday girl loves her new outfit!

Giveaway!

It's time for a giveaway!  Enter the rafflecopter giveaway below to win one of 3 prizes.  You can win a $25 gift certificate to the website or my most popular baby blanket kit (Karavan) or 2 yards of Frozen fabric!  Starts now and ends at midnight on Jan 4th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FREE SHIPPING on US orders over $50!!!!

I am pleased to announce that I now offer FREE domestic shipping on all orders over $50. Shipping on the website is a little different then before. For US addresses it will automatically be free when you spend over $50 in merchandise. On etsy I am also offering free shipping but you must use the coupon code "freeship" at checkout. To get the free shipping on etsy you must remember to use the coupon code at checkout. I will not be refunding shipping if the coupon code is not used.

International customers: sorry due to the high cost of shipping internationally I am not able to offer free shipping at this time. The shipping costs are now by value of your order instead of how they were before. This may result in a higher shipping charge then it should be (it is very difficult to do international shipping by value and get an accurate price). Don't fret, if shipping charges you paid is more than $2 over my actual cost of postage you will be refunded the difference when your order ships.

To visit the website click HERE

To visit etsy click HERE

Lazy Susan Frozen Dress!

 

I made this dress for a 2 year old relative that loves Frozen.  It is going to be a Christmas gift so hopefully the mom does not see this!  But, I just had to share because I love how it came out.

Last week I got a shipment of brand new Frozen fabric.  I had pre-ordered them several months ago so there was lots of anticipation in this house waiting for these fabrics to arrive.  Frozen is very very popular here.  My girls were excited to finally get these fabrics and wanted me to make stuff for them right away.  But, I told them I have to get Christmas gifts done first.

Now for the details!  I made this dress using the Lazy Susan pattern from Brownie Goose.  I did the split bodice and skirt hem band options on this dress.  The directions to do this are included but the skirt hem band requires a little bit of simple math.  For the fabric I used Frozen Ice Skating Hearts Framed and the accent fabric is Michael Miller Fairy Frost in Fancy.  These two fabrics pair together perfectly!

The back of the dress has buttons.  My original plan was to do use fabric covered buttons using the fairy frost fabric.  But, all I had was 1/2" and 7/8" buttons on hand.  I tried to cover the 1/2" ones but I have always had a hard time with that size and it wasn't working for me again.  All I ended up with were sore fingers.  3/4" would have been perfect but I didn't feel like going to the store.  So, plan B was to use wood buttons that I have in my stash.  I bought a bunch of these and usually use them on my son's button up shirts.  I think they look OK because they kind of match Anna's hair.  I would have preferred a fancier button.  But again, I did not feel like packing up my 3 year old and going to the fabric store so these will just have to do!