I heart pattern testing: Terra's Treasures Mayfair top/dress

I've been pattern testing again :) I already have a few patterns from Terra's treasures. First I bought the Suburban Basic T-Shirt pattern and boy have I got my money's worth out of that!? I have made at least 5 for Eloise and two for each of the boys and have so many more planned. It is a quick, easy pattern that fits beautifully. I have since bought the Streamline T but haven't had a chance to sew any up yet. I can't wait to do so though. And... I won the Provincial top on a blog giveaway recently :) 

So... When I saw a testing call for Terra's newest pattern I said "me please!!!" and I was so excited when I was selected. 

The pattern is the Mayfair top/dress. It is a lovely looking garment that includes lots of options (and I LOVE options). It can be a top or dress, have short or long sleeves, ruffles or no ruffles, straight collar or ruffled neckline. It can be made with cotton, woven fabrics or with a lace overlay. The options are endless. I made the top in the 18-24mo size with short sleeves and straight collar, using cotton fabric and anglaise trim. 

The sizing was perfect for Eloise. The pattern was easy to follow and had step by step photos. I was really happy with how it turned out :) 

Some close ups and the back

She wasn't really in the mood for photos so I got a lot of pouty model shots ;)

And some with her clearly chewing the foody bribes I was giving :/

An occasional smile :)

And... Trying to eat rocks :/

Look at those cute little puffy sleeves :)

I think this little top is very sweet and will be making more of them for Eloise.  Eloise is wearing the Mayfair top with the w-skirt I made last month.

The pattern should be released soon and as soon as it is I'll pop back to add in the links for where to buy it. 

Thanks for reading along, please let me know what you think :)

Kerry xx

Baby & E: Boo! Bubblealls

Eloise has started to enjoy playing with her Baby. "Her" baby was actually a little doll Linda bought for Xander when I was pregnant with Sethan. She has been loved by Xander, then by Sethan and now by Eloise. It is quite a basic doll and came with a pretty boring outfit. I have been meaning to make Baby some clothes for a while now. 

The other day I started by up-cycling some of Eloise's baby clothes into clothes for Baby. I used this pattern and this pattern. These are patterns best suited to people who have sewn with knits before and know some basic construction of these type of garments. They have fairly minimal instructions and no step by step pics. The pattern pieces are hand drawn. The end results were still close to what I wanted so I was happy nonetheless.  This first little set was made from a pair of 000 pink knit pants and some white knit fabric I already had.

This set was made from some 0000 ruffle knit leggings and some white knit fabric.

I love the idea of using Eloise's baby clothes to make clothes for Baby. It is a way of holding on to some special items, but them remaining useful rather than just taking up precious storage space.

Today I used the scraps from my first pair of Bubblealls (Design Your Own Overalls) to make a pair of Bubblealls for Baby. When I made the bubblealls for Eloise they were a bit big (she was just 1yo and I made the 2yo size) so they are actually fitting her better now that she is 18 months. I still need to move the buttons a bit so the straps stay on her shoulders better. 

For Baby's pair I just made it up as I went along. I drafted a pattern as I cut and thankfully it worked out and fit Baby (albeit a little snug). It even has little flutter ruffles on the straps. Eloise was so excited that Baby's clothes matched hers. She carried Baby around and cuddled her tight. 

We may need to have a conversation about safe ways to carry babies :/

I love this one... Eloise was making Baby "walk" along in the grass.

Eloise was a little distracted when I was trying to get some pics, her big brothers were riding their bikes and she wanted to chase them.

My little girl :)

This was a fun and super quick project. For Christmas for Eloise I am planning to to make up a lot of little clothes and bedding and get Baby a bed. My mum did this for me one year and it is one of my fondest childhood memories. I will do it low key this year because she is only little, but I'll go all out when she is 3/4yo.

I will do up a super quick post soon with some details from Xander's birthday party from the weekend. So hard to believe my big little man is 7 already!!

Thanks for visiting :)

Please let me know what you think...

Kerry xx

Flip This Pattern: Piet Mondrian Inspired Sunki

It's pattern flipping time again. I just love this series...have you noticed?? I love the idea of taking an awesome pattern and adding some personal pizzazz and then every day seeing how someone else flipped it their way and came up with something completely different. 

Frances Suzanne have impeccable taste when it comes to choosing the feature pattern each month. I'll be totally honest. I wasn't sure about this one initially. It looked so wintery and here in Queensland we go from winter to summer without pausing for spring in between. So it is pretty warm and less is more for toddler clothing already. But, like a true pattern addict, I jumped at the chance for a pattern with a discount code and purchased the Sunki dress and leggings. 

As with the other months of Flip This Pattern I started with the sketch of the dress as is. This pattern has a unique design. It is loosely based on an A-line dress but with cool features like curved contrasting pockets and overlapping neck line. My first thought was I'll just make it as intended to get a feel for the design but I'll omit the sleeves. But, when I looked at the lines of the dress, it reminded me of the artworks of Piet Mondrian. His bold primaries with white all separated up with black lines. So I sketched in some lines, grabbed some of the boys pens and started to colour. (I could only find a red felt pen, yellow crayon and blue pencil... we have since been shopping for refreshed art supplies for the kids). 

This was the design I settled on:

So the outline of the dress is identical to the original, minus sleeves, but I changed up some of the construction to fit with my design ideas.

• I omitted the sleeves
• For the pockets I cut off the seam allowances and constructed with bias binding rather than the way the pattern instructs
• For the neck line I again cut off the seam allowance and used bias binding to finish the raw edges and attach the facing to the main dress pieces
• I made the zip shorter. This was purely so I could have uninterrupted white across the top of the back and still have my black bias lines intersecting just below the zip
• I left the overlapping parts of the shoulders unstitched giving it a little more ease when I pull it over Eloise's head
• I made the main pieces from a patchwork of different colours to fit my design.
• For the extra seams (the seams I created making the patchwork) I sewed with the seams on the right side and then enclosed them within the bias binding. This way there were less seams on the inside to annoy miss E 
• And rather than hem it I used bias binding to finish the hem too
• I used 2" wide strips to make the bias binding for the pockets, neck, armholes and hem. I used 1" wide strips to cover the seams and divide the colours. So all the black parts ended up 1/2" wide :) (I love my bias binding maker).
• I also made up a pair of the Sunki Leggings, I didn't flip them, just made them 'as is' to complement the dress.

And this was my finished dress:

(In other news... my mannequin should arrive in the next week or two so my finished garment shots should improve considerably...I'm so excited)

Some of the details: The fold over shoulder pieces, the shortened zip and the inside view of the seams.

Eloise just loves bags at the moment so I made up a miniature version of the Paco Bean Dottie Bag to match the dress.

How cute is my little miss? Shame about the bump on her forehead :/

I'm so pleased with how this dress turned out and the fit is pretty good too.

Eloise was pretty happy with it too. I made up a simple headband from the same fabric as the leggings. It helped keep that wild hair under control.

I think I like the back of the dress the best? Though the curved pockets at the front are pretty darn cute.

Thanks for popping by. Be sure to visit Frances Suzanne to see all the other flips for this month.

As always, I love hearing what you think, so feel free to leave me a message :) 

Kerry xx

I Heart Pattern Testing: Titchy Threads Fancy Pants Leggings

I was so excited to be selected to test the bigger sizes of the Fancy Pants Leggings from Titchy Threads. These are a seriously quick sew and a great intro to sewing with knits. The pattern pieces are clearly marked, fit together properly when printed (I know I mention that a lot, but seriously nothing is more annoying than a pattern that doesn't line up, am I right?). I think my first pair of these took about 15-20mins to make (including cutting) and my second pair even less. Xander LOVES them. He wears them as PJs and if I let him I'm pretty sure he'd never take them off. He is about to be 7yo and wears size 8 in store bought clothing. I have been quite disappointed in the past when I have bought patterns that go up to a size 8 but are WAY WAY too small for him. This pattern is not like that. I made the size 8 and they fit perfectly.

If you already have the smaller sizes of this pattern then check your Titchy Threads account because... believe it or not... Laura is offering the extra sizes (5-10) as a free update!!!! That is so generous!!. If you haven't got it yet you can buy it here and it includes sizes 0-3mo - 10yo.  And... she is offering a discount code for  5TO10NOW to get 20% off for the next week!  For more information about it visit Laura's blog.

This is my second pair. 

My "big" little man. I can't believe he is turning 7 in just over a week!!

The little contrasting panel. It's great for up-cycling old T-shirts. I just used some fabric I had in my stash.

He loves how comfy and stretchy they are.

These are the first pair I made

I made them with fabric to match the T-shirt I'd made a while back... It didn't occur to me while I was making them that a red panel might look a bit odd. He loves them anyway.

These leggings are very easy and quick to make and my son LOVES them. I will be making some for Seth and Eloise soon too. I should add I was given a free copy of this pattern to test it but my opinions are my own (and Xan's). The T-shirts Xander is wearing are made from the Suburban Basic T-shirt pattern from Terra's Treasures.

Have you got a copy of the Fancy Pants Leggings? Who will you be making them for?

I can't wait for Laura to finish up the Small Fry Skinny Jeans pattern next (no pressure Laura ;)). 

Thanks for stopping by. Please feel free to leave a comment :)

Kerry xx

Cute Little Bubble Shorts

I saw these bubble shorts featured on Frances Suzanne and I knew I needed them. I really want to add the ruffle variation that they made but thought I'd better try them out as intended first. They are the Bubble Shorts by DoGuincho They are super quick to make and turned out pretty cute (even if I do say so myself).

I used this pretty purple hydrangea fabric. I love this fabric. I originally made a Boo! twirly skirt and Little Missy Bolero out of it. Then I bought more and made a Boo! Pinny with it and then yesterday I bought MORE to make these. It is one of the more expensive fabrics in the Spotlight quilting fabric section...but.. I was lucky enough to get it as a remnant this time! So the fabric for these shorts cost $4 and I have enough left over to make a few more things :) I LOVE a fabric bargain.

I had a rare non-work, toddler-free day today (thanks Linda) and I managed to sew these up in no time at all. Sewing in the day with no interruptions is certainly a novel treat. I had Xander (nearly 7) home with me and he mopped the kitchen floor while I sewed. How cool is that? And he made this little sign to warn me that the floor was wet :) 

Love my little man :)

And, of course, some shots of miss E modelling her shorts. Excuse the wet T-shirt, she'd been doing water-play just before I arrived.

I think next time I'll gather the outer shorts more at the outside edge and less at the crotch so they sit better when worn.

Thanks for stopping by. I will hopefully get some photos of the Prefontaine Shorts by Made With Moxie I've been sewing up over the past few days and share them soon. I also did a pattern test for the bigger sizes of the Fancy Pants Leggings by Titchy Threads so if I can wrangle some photos I'll do up a review. 

These bubble shorts have all the puffiness of a bubble skirt but the modesty and "playability" of shorts.

What do you think?

Kerry xx

Flip This Pattern: Up-cycled W-Mini Skirt

I couldn't resist joining in Flip This Pattern again. I WAS going to sit this month out. I have a lot going on at the moment in my "real" life and my whole family has just recovered from a nasty virus. But, I was sitting there on Sunday night and inspiration struck. I waited until the next day to make the decision and buy the pattern (the W pants from Blank Slate Patterns). I DID NOT need another pants pattern (don't tell my husband... I honestly only bought this pattern to join in this month's flip). 

The idea that came to me was a little denim mini skirt. I used an old, old pair of jeans I have had for years and they have been too big for most of that time. In fact if I remember back I think I wore these when I was pregnant with Xander...he is about to turn 7!!

Don't laugh at my rough sketch. I drew this when the idea came to me.

So, how did I "Flip" the pattern? I changed the W-shorts from shorts to a skirt. I made it a bit shorter than it would have been if I had made the shorts, I extended the side seams out to give an A-line shape and I used button hole elastic and made the waistband adjustable. My plan is for Eloise to wear this with leggings under it. 

I also kept the original belt loops from the jeans and used them for the skirt

I took some super quick photos this afternoon...

I did double rows of top-stitching for most of the seams

I chose the zippered welt pocket option.

I used a floral quilting cotton for the waist band facing.

And to line the pockets.

I love the look inside the welt pockets. They are totally unnecessary for an 18 month old but cute nonetheless.

Just a couple of shots of Eloise today... she was not really in the photo mood :/

I think it is pretty cute. I debated adding a cotton lace trim to the hem line...I still might, I can't decide?

Thanks again for dropping by. I'm glad I gave in to the little voice that told me I HAD to sew along.

Pop over to Frances Suzanne to see the other fun entries for this month.

Kerry xx