Oliver + S Summer Picnic Blouse and Shorts: Modern Yardage Fabric Giveaway

So now that I have finished my last four patterns, I am in back-to-school sewing mode for my girls. We start back in the middle of next week, can you believe it? I wanted to share this little outfit that I made for Matilda who will be in her second year of preschool this year. Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the post because I have an incredible fabric giveaway for your as well!

I have so many patterns in my stash that I have been just dying to try. I have had this Oliver + S Summer Picnic Shorts and Blouse pattern in my collection for about three years now. And seeing as though the version of this pattern that I have only goes up to size 4T, I figured I better get this sewn (since Matilda is currently wearing size 4).

Matilda's favorite color is blue. So when April (owner) from Modern Yardage asked me if I would like to sew some projects with their fabrics, I knew that 'Poppy Hop' by Cindy Lindgren for Modern Yardage in the Turquoise color-way would be perfect for this little outfit.

You might not have heard of Modern Yardage before, but they are a fantastic fabric manufacturer and to be honest, they are new to me as well. But I would like to tell you some things about them that set them apart from some other manufacturers in the quilting cotton fabric market.

All fabric designs available from Modern Yardage are available in three different scales. Seriously, this blew my mind. To me, one of the MOST important parts of designing a children's outfit with patterned fabric is scale. Many times I'll have pieces I want to put together, but if the scale isn't right for the piece then I just can't put those designs together. So you can choose just the right scale for each part of your garment.

All designs are printed on 100% pre-shrunk cotton (yes, I said PRE-SHRUNK) and for garment sewists, this is an amazing feature. No pre-washing....yay! The fabric is slightly heavier than traditional quilting cotton and has a wonderful feel (or hand). The fabrics are printed with environmentally-friendly, water-based textile pigments and they do not use any harsh acids or chemicals. Again, perfect for garments.

Finally, the fabrics are printed on demand. So when I got the three prints I selected for this garment, they were all printed out on one continuous piece of fabric. The fabric design is 44" wide, but is printed on 58" wide fabric, meaning the extra 14" has maybe a new craft project idea, a message from a designer, a coupon for your next sale........you never know.......it's always a surprise.

Here is little miss thing wearing her new blue outfit. I really should show you all the faces she gave me during this photo shoot........she was working it.

I didn't alter the pattern at all, which is kind of strange for me. But it's such a great design, I didn't want to detract from the look with too many embellishments. And the fabric was pretty busy as well. The only thing I added was some white piping in the seam on the blouse in the front and the back and then the two little white buttons.

I always add a 'The Cottage Mama' label to everything I make for the kids. If you are looking for garment labels, you can read more about mine here.

I thought the fit was absolutely perfect. Matilda is spot on in a size 4 commercial clothing and I don't think these pieces could have fit any better. The only thing I would do differently is that I don't think I will finish the back elastic waistband the same as the pattern calls for next time. I wasn't a big fan of being able to see some of the elastic on the inside of the shorts, but it was a great technique if you wanted to use adjustable waist elastic.

Oliver + S instructions are so easy to understand and follow. They come with black and white illustrations that are very clear. I'd say this pattern would be great for an intermediate or confident beginner.

And here is one more shot of Miss Matilda. Just so you know.......80% of my pictures of her end up with her in this position. Apparently she thinks this is her best pose. Silly girl.

So how about some fabric?

Would you like to win 5 YARDS of fabric of your choice from Modern Yardage?

If so, please enter in the rafflecopter below. Giveaway open until Sunday, August 11 at midnight (CST).

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Matilda's Easter Dress

We are flying down to Texas next week for Spring Break / Easter and I've been working on the kids coordinating Easter outfits so they are all ready before we leave. I decided to start with Matilda's dress and use a pattern I've been dying to try!

This dress was made using the Harper Dress pattern by the Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop. I changed a few things here and there, but for the most part followed the pattern instructions and design. I love how this dress came together. There are so many different elements that I think are so sweet for a little girl.

The Harper Dress pattern is PDF printable pattern (size 3 months - 8 years) and was very user-friendly and easy to follow. I would say this is an intermediate level pattern. I probably wouldn't attempt it as one of my first dresses. Like I said, the instructions are fantastic, but it will be a lot easier if you have some of the basic skills down such as buttonholes, applying bias tape and gathering fabric for ruffles. Once you feel like you've got those skills down, then I would definitely give this pattern a try!

The fabric for this dress was from 'ABC 123' by American Jane for Moda. This sweet little flowers just stole my heart. American Jane always has such adorable fabrics with a slightly vintage vibe.

 

I decided to use a 1/4'' bias binding instead of a 1/2'' just because I thought it would be little and sweet. Also, I chose to use six buttons on the top of the dress instead of the four shown in the pattern.

I made the bias binding from a green gingham cotton fabric from Fabric Finders. I have a handy dandy little bias tape tool that you use with your iron, but it did take me a little bit of time to make all of the bias binding.

I also used the bias binding and attached it around the waistline with a little bow. The pattern includes a wider waistband with button closure, but I wanted something a little more petite. I love the way this turned out. I'm thinking of incorporating something similar into one of my next patterns that will be released in May.

For the ruffles, I used a rolled hem on my serger. I'm not always a fan of the rolled hem. Sometimes I don't think it looks as professional, but because the main skirt is a single layer of fabric, I didn't want the ruffles to be too heavy, so I thought it would lighten them up by using the rolled hem.

I adore this dress. I can definitely see myself making more of this one. Often I make a pattern and never make it again, but I think this sweet little pattern will be used again for sure. I have some visions of other fabric combinations that would work so well with this design. If you've never visited the Peek-a-book Pattern Shop, you should head over there a take a peek, they carry so many cute patterns!

PS: Peek-a-book Pattern Shop is running a 25% off site wide sale through 3/23/13 on all patterns with the coupon code: DRIPDROP. Click here to check it out.

Here's what's up next on my Easter sewing to-do list........

 Can you guess who's outfit this will be?

Yep, next up.......an outfit for the little man.

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Sun & Surf Pattern Tour ~ Beachy Boat Neck and Santa Monica Cinch

This weekend I had the opportunity to sew up two of the pieces from Pattern Anthology's first collection of sewing patterns called the 'Sun & Surf Collection'. Pattern Anthology is a collaborative effort of four different pattern designers coming together to create one cohesive pattern collection. Pretty fun, right? I think so.

So my original plan was to create one outfit with these two patterns; however, the knit fabric I ordered never arrived, so one outfit became two. Not a problem. I sewed the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from 'Melly Sews' and the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from 'See Kate Sew'. And let me tell you, I really challenged myself by stepping away from my normal quilting cotton fabric and sewing with something a little more outside of my comfort zone.

Beachy Boat Neck

Savannah has been difficult about her clothing lately. She is going through this.......'that doesn't feel right', 'it's too tight', 'it's too itchy' phase......let's just say, it's been a challenge. So I knew the Beachy Boat Neck by Melissa from 'Melly Sews' would be a great pattern for her because I could use a super-soft spandex knit that would be incredibly comfortable and hopefully avoid some of her recent clothing complaints.

I had purchased three spandex knit prints from Joann's and I let her choose which one she wanted for her shirt. She went with the most subtle print of the three, but I think it looks really pretty on her.

The pattern was SO easy to follow and the results were perfect! I was a little nervous about using such a stretchy knit, but it worked out great. I think you could also use a knit interlock and that would be nice and soft with a little less stretch. The pattern comes with step-by-step photographed instructions, so you won't have any problems following along.

The Beachy Boat Neck is a wonderful pattern if you are new to working with knits or want to give them a try. I would say it's a beginner level. The only part I had to pay careful attention too was hemming the bottom edge. It is on a curve, so you really have to work the curve with your iron to make sure the hem turns out nicely. Also, I did use my serger for the majority of the shirt and just used the sewing machine for the hemming and topstitiching (though a serger is not required).

When we came inside after taking these pictures, this little lady asked if she could wear this shirt to school tomorrow. Yay! Success.......something she actually wants to wear!

Santa Monica Cinch

When I saw the Santa Monica Cinch by Kate from See Kate Sew, I just knew I had to make this for my little girlies. It's a sweet little coat that is perfect for spring. You can play around with the different fabrics used to construct the coat too for a different look. I decided to finally cut into some Heather Ross cotton canvas fabric (Far Far Away II) that I have had for years now. It seemed like it would be a really nice weight for this little coat. It's actually 80% cotton and 20% linen with a light-weight canvas feel.

 

Probably the cutest part on the coat is the bow on the backside (although I do really like the collar and the bottom part of the coat). The pattern calls for a ribbon to be threaded through the casing, but none of the ribbons I had seemed like they would go with this thicker fabric. I decided to make a ribbon from cotton fabric that I already had and I think it ended up working with the look of the coat. I also shortened it by quite a bit since I didn't want the tails hanging down too far.

I had never sewn a 'See Kate Sew' pattern and it was a treat! The pattern had very clear photographed instructions which were very helpful. The writing style was easy to understand and I never had one of those 'huh, what are they talking about?' moments, which if you've ever sewn from a pattern, you know can certainly happen. I would say this is an confident beginner -  intermediate level pattern with a lot of great sewing techniques involved including sewing pleats, a collar and buttonholes as well as setting in sleeves.

So here's where I make a confession. I cut the pattern wrong. It was not any fault of the instructions, it was just me. I wasn't paying attention and ended up cutting the front lining pieces the same as the front exterior pieces and by the time I noticed, it was too late. But if you watch Project Runway, you know what Tim Gunn says......'make it work' and so I did. And to tell you the truth, some of my most creative moments have come from my mistakes. It really makes me think outside the box and well, get creative.

The front of the coat is not supposed to have a contrast placket on the front, but I quite like it. I also added an additional two buttons to the front (the pattern calls for one) and made them smaller so they fit within the contrast placket that I created.

There is a piece of bias tape on the inside of the coat that encases one of the seams, I decided to hand sew this to the interior of the coat so I didn't have to run a line of stitching on top of the pleats on the bottom part of the coat. Oh, and the fabric on the inside is Rapunzel......but that's Savannah's little secret when she takes the coat on and off.

And one last little addition I made to the coat was some understitching at the collar to help it lay nice and flat.

I just think this coat pattern is darling. It's girly and feminine, yet still practical for everyday wear. The coat took me a day to sew......probably six hours total. There are a lot of pieces to cut and setting in the sleeves takes some time, but I think the end result is well worth it!

So do you like these patterns? The Santa Monica Cinch is being sold as part of the Sun Collection (four patterns) and the Beachy Boat Neck is part of the Surf Collection (four patterns) or you can buy the full Sun and Surf Collection through Pattern Anthology and get all eight patterns that are included. But here's the catch, the collection is only available until March 24th, 2013. After that, the patterns will be sold on their own through each separate designer at their full retail price. So make sure you get them before the collection is no more.

If you want to check out what some of the other bloggers on the Pattern Anthology Sun & Surf Blog Tour are sewing, you can check out the links below!

Sun & Surf at Sew a Straight Line | Sun & Surf at It's Always Autumn | Sun & Surf at Elsie Marley | Sun & Surf at A Girl and a Glue Gun | Sun & Surf at Mama Says Sew | Sun & Surf at Girl, Inspired | Sun & Surf at Groovybaby and Mama | Sun & Surf at The Cottage Home | Sun & Surf at Craftiness is Not Optional | Sun & Surf at Skirtastop | Sun & Surf at Straight Grain | Sun & Surf at Me Sew Crazy | Sun & Surf at Delia Creates | Sun & Surf at Max California

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Sweetheart Dress Pattern

How sweet is the back of this dress? I am kind of in love with the little heart cut out. I just think this could not be more perfect for Valentine's Day. This is the Sweetheart Dress pattern by Shannon Cook from Luvinthemommyhood. She has several blogger's sewing up her adorable pattern for a mini-pattern tour that she is doing and she invited me to join along. So fun!

The Sweetheart Dress pattern comes in size 2T - 6. This pattern came together really quickly. It is a pdf pattern, but thankfully there are no paper pattern pieces to tape together. You get the bodice pieces and the heart and the skirt is given in measurements so you can just cut it out yourself.

I'd say this pattern is for a confident beginner. There are lots of tips and tricks throughout the pattern and many encouraging words to keep you going. Surprisingly, the bodice is constructed in very much the same way as most basic bodices even though it has the heart cut out. I actually did the armholes a little bit differently, but that's just because that is the way I'm most comfortable sewing a lined bodice. There are 2 - 3 different methods that will work great.

There are no buttonholes in this pattern either (for those of you that get nervous about buttonholes). It's just a little hand-sewn loop and button closure.

The most stunning part of this dress has to be the heart cut out in the back. So sweet! It's a little chilly here in Chicago right now, so we will probably be layering this dress for several more months, but I think this would make a such a cute Easter Dress as well. And maybe, just maybe it will be warm enough for us to wear this dress as is.

I added some cream colored piping in between the gathered skirt and the bodice. I considered adding some green gingham piping, but I decided the cream would pop a little more against this busy fabric.

Along the hem of the skirt, I added some cream picot edging that I think really works with the cream piping.

Here is my sweet Matilda Jane wearing her new dress. I made her a size 4T and she is currently wearing a size 4T in commercial clothing (just so you get an idea of the fit and length). She actually picked out this fabric herself and I just picked out the lining and trims. It was definitely a joint collaboration!

All in all this dress probably took me about two hours after cutting, so it's definitely a doable afternoon project. A great little dress for the sweet little ones in your life. 

If you are interested in checking out the Sweetheart Dress Pattern, you can find it HERE. 

Fabric: Homespun Chic (Stitched Roses Pink) by Melody Ross for Blend Fabrics.

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