A blog of Sewing Sweetness. Pattern Reviews, Tutorials, and More.
This is two posts for adult sewing in a row! Wow, I’m growing up these days. I definitely don’t sew for myself enough, but I’m trying to do better about this. One way to do better about this is to do some testing for designers …
It’s the Designer Stitch Anniversary Tour and I’m joining in to help celebrate. Nearly all my bestie blog friends that sew for themselves sew Designer Stitch patterns, so I thought it was time for me to put my big girl pants on and give it …
Woot Woot! I’m back with a second post for this week! Today I’m joining in with a plethora of bloggers showing off makes from Coffee + Threads patterns. There is so much awesome going on with this group of ladies. Be sure that you catch all the creations. They are all so different, yet equally awesome and there’s even more to come next week. Plus, a giant rafflecopter and a 20 % off sale at the bottom of this post.
I have to say that I have a Coffee + Thread pattern I won in a give away a while back, but have never gotten around to sewing it up. To be honest I wasn’t really familiar with Olga and her designs until recently. I went searching for some sewists to invite on a tour and came across the Coffee + Thread site. I sent Olga an invite and then she asked if I would like to hop on this tour too. So of course, I just had to do that. I chose to sew up a completely different pattern than the one I have for this tour and went with the Ania Tunic and the Wild and Free Lounge Pants. My girls have had quite a bit of fancy makes added to their closets lately so I knew I needed to give them something for everyday.
The Ania Tunic can be made in either woven or knit, so I jumped all over the knit option and paired it with the pants for a typical choice for one of my little ladies. She would say “comfy is my style” and sometimes when I make her things she is sure to tell me, “That is not really my style mom.” So… here I am making a little lady’s fashion dreams come true.
When this blue floral arrived at our doorstep it was immediately claimed as her own and she was begging for something to be made when it arrived. In fact, she requested that a shirt and the pants both be made from it to be worn together. I had to explain we weren’t making pajamas (matching top and bottoms would probably throw a PJ vibe) and we settled for the pink with white polka dots as a happy solution to preventing pajamas in public.
I was loving this tunic as I was putting it together. This top has a swing style look to it, yet it is fitted well in all the right places. I love the gathered capped sleeve as a bit of detail and feminine touch. I did add a touch of length to this top in hopes that I would be able to carry it through the summer months and maybe into fall. As a side note, the best part about the knit version is there isn’t a closure, so if you avoid those like the plague you can still make this pattern.
And how about that giant hair-bow? When I popped it in she looked in the mirrored and said, “I think maybe it needs to be a little bit bigger.” I reminded her we don’t live in the big bow south. 😛 Kids are just too funny sometimes.
For the Wild and Free Lounge pants I modified them by combining the front and back pieces to remove the outer side seam. I don’t mind doing this seam on leggings (actually my go-to legging pattern also has a side seam, but I just wanted to be able to whip these up without worrying about skipped stitches on my coverstitch machine. It is sometimes finicky when sewing over seams, so eliminate that let me hem first and then do the construction after without any issues. I hope you don’t hate me now that you know I hemmed before seaming. I would have hated me a few months ago, but I’ve had a change of heart since my coverstitch machine has arrived.
If you don’t know, The Wild and Free Lounge pant pattern has several view options. I stitched up the plain view, but if check out all the other bloggers you will see all the shapes and little animal options you can put on the front knees. They are so cute and I’m sure if you are one of those creative people you could think of even more ideas that you could do with the knee option.
20% off with the code “Coffeeandthreadtour”
Click the link below to get a chance to win some awesome prizes!
April 3
Enjoyful Makes || Idle Sunshine || ZowieZo Handmade || Angie BurgettApril 4
Handmade Frenzy || Replicate Then Deviate || Fairies, Bubbles & Co || Coral + Co
April 5
Made By Sara || Naeh-Connection || The Bag of Unexpected || Circle Meets Line
April 6
Skirt Fixation || Sewing Like Mad || Hello Holli || Buzzmills ||
April 7
Little Cumquat || Thread Bear Garments || Pearl Berry Lane || Plus 2 is 5 || Sew Chibi
April 10
Stahlarbeit || Knee Socks and Goldilocks || Bonnie and Lottie || Sew Sophielynn
April 11
Mouse House Creations || While She was Sleeping || Mix it Make it || By Dagbjort
April 12
Gaafmachine || Beletoile || LBG Studio || My Cozy Co || As It Seams
April 13
Moineau & Petit Pois || Just Add Fabric || Sweeter Than Cupcakes || Frances Suzanne || Sew Liberated
April 14
Stitched Together || S is for Sewing || Boevenbende || Lafolie Sewing Booth || Sew Pony || With Love By Eva
Thanks again for stopping by! I hope you loved our Coffee + Thread creation and will join the Facebook group to continue to see all the beautiful makes from Olga’s patterns.
Welcome, Welcome! I’m so glad you have stopped in to see my creation for the first week of Project Run and Play. Let me tell you, I spent way more hours putting together this first look than I ever imagined. I can’t really go any …
I’m so excited to get to share my review of Winter Wear Designs Magnolia Fit and Flare Dress and Top. I was drawn to this pattern for two main reasons. First, it is LOADED with options. This pattern doesn’t just include top and dress options, …
I’m finally back in the game doing some pattern testing for Striped Swallow Designs. This is one of my very favorite designers to work with (and now its two designers) working with the brand. You can see one of my other favorite SSD makes here. I just haven’t been able to make my schedule work with tests for quite a long time, so when I saw this dolman I just had to jump in.
The Highlander Dolman has several options to choose from. There are two sleeve lengths, two back options, as well as several features you can add to the back options. For my version I stitched up the long sleeve with the high back and tie option. The low back falls well below the bra line. I personally can’t pull that off in my 30s but I know a few of my sassy blogger friends who will rock that look all day long. Whether you choose the tie back option, the t-back, or the back strap doesn’t matter, but for sure you can not go without something. This shirt really needs the support of something to keep the shoulders up.
I love that this dolman is a perfect balance of batwing affect and fitted sleeve as it works its way down the length of your arm. Along with the sleeve length options there are also two styles of hemlines. I chose to use the curved hemline. The hem allowance on this top is a nice thick 1 inch. Have I had time to share with you my crazy love for wide hems, especially on knits? If not, I’ll put that on my calendar.
Total Pattern Scoop: Highlander Dolman
Sizes: Xs-XXL
Relaxed Scoop Front
Multiple back necklines with features including: high, low, t-back, tie back, back strap
Short and Long Sleeve options
Curved or Straight Hemline
For this version, I used a the Ruth Double Brushed Polly from Sincerely Rylee Fabric. I grabbed it for a great price during a sale a while back. The color tones are totally in my Autumn palette which I basically sport year around.
Alrighty!! One down and eight more to go on my #2017makenine adventure. For more detail on that, read my post here. Nine projects seems like a lot, but when you just decide to sit down and tackle one you may get the impression that it …
This week I decided I was going to be joining in on some maker fun with the fabulous people participating in #2017makenine. Basically, you select nine projects that you want to complete for 2017. You can find more information about the leader of this fun …
It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in the States and I’m joining in on a tours with some lovely ladies to feature Petite Stitchery & Co. If you don’t know this company that may because it is NEW. They will mainly be releasing patterns by collection, so be sure to be on the look out as seasons change so you don’t miss anything, you can even sign up for the email list on the homepage! Also, there is a giveaway at the end of this post, so be sure not to miss out on entering. I can tell you I have personally had a lot of luck with rafflecopter giveaways. 🙂
The theme of this tour is Everyday Wear. This works great with the Fall 2016 Collection as there are several foundation patterns that work great for daily wear. My big girl hasn’t really been popping up on the blog much lately, so I thought I would make her a little something that would be a great comfy set yet still have a bit of style. She is more into the world of Lego Ninjago than prancing around in fancy clothes, so this theme worked great for her. Of course she was trying to haggle the terms of the photo shoot, but I won because she owes me several from the last payout. She typically drives a hard bargain. (In the picture below she is counting down how many more photos I can take. Bahaha. I took more than three.)
For our outfit we used the Fawn Leggings Pattern and the Sapphire Layering Top. The Fawn Leggings offer an optional tuxedo stripe or a simple legging option. Since our top has a lot going on with the plaid, I chose the simple legging with the yoga waistband. I made the leggings with a double brushed poly that I ordered from fabric.com during a sale a few months back. It was not even close to the quality of dbp I’ve ordered from some Facebook groups, but still super soft so I know my big girl would be satisfied. If you are looking for some quality solid dbp, I’ve had luck with purple seamstress.
The Sapphire Layering top has several options with flutters and sleeve ruffles to create some fun looks to wear alone or as a layering item. If you recall, I mentioned Peyton isn’t really into the frilly stuff right now, so I went with the basic style of no flutters, no ruffles. The buffalo plaid is from PHAT QUARTERS. It’s a cotton/poly blend with not too much stretch, but just enough for a nice t-shirt. I also used it on a shirt I made for myself here.
I was very pleased with the fit on this top. The neck band is exactly the width I prefer. I am not a fan of thick neckbands and typically adjust mine to be smaller when I’m not testing. I cut the neckband on the bias and lengthened slightly to account for the stretch being slightly less than recommended. After I finished the top, I decided to add a little lace to the the hemline to fancy this up a tad. I’ve seen some tops hanging in the stores recently with pretty hemlines like this, so I thought I would be a total copy cat and use the idea. Obviously, it isn’t like this is actually a new concept, so maybe we are all just borrowing the idea from someone long ago. Now that it’s finished I really wish I would have added the lace before hemming with my twin needle. The finish would have been nicer than the zig zag, but I still think it works. I know for the next go around I suppose. I wish I had taken before and after shots, because the lace definitely changes the vibe of the top. What do you think about it?
Thanks to the Petite Stitchery Ladies for thinking of me and having me along. I’m glad I could join in on the fun. I hope you have liked my creations.
It’s finally my day to share on the Plaid and Boots Tour hosted by Laela Jeyne Patterns. If you don’t know it, I do a lot of work with Laela Jeyne Patterns, so I am around that group and the page a lot. If you …