First Days of School

It's been a big week for our family.  Both girls started new schools:  B in preschool and S in Kindergarten.    And of course I had to make them something new for that first day of school.

 

 First up is B.  After waiting for two years, she was incredibly happy and excited that it was finally her turn to go to preschool.   The dress that she is wearing is from a pattern by Dandelions n' Dungarees, the Classic Ruffle Dress in size 3t.  I had the pleasure of testing this sweet pattern.  I love how the ruffles frame her face and the gigantic bow in the front.  I wanted to keep the vintage feel of this pattern and opted for the red calico print and the white on white trim.    We jazzed it up though, by going with the diamond buttons.  She looks like a doll in this outfit, don't you think?   

 

My busy little B settled right in and got to work straight away.  Honestly, everything with her is so much easier.  Maybe it's a second child thing?

 

I actually made S's First Day of School dress in July,   She is wearing Peek-a-boo Patternshop's Jackie Dress.  I left off the piping detail on the collar and went with a pre-pleated fabric.  The houndstooth is a quilting cotton weight by Riley Blake.  I found it in my sister's online etsy shop, LiMa Sews. 

 

 

 

The hem of the dress hit her right above the knees in July when I made this dress.  She must have grown a couple of inches since then. 

I made B the same dress in a different colorway.  I did have the forethought to make this in a 4t, so now it fits her perfectly.

 

 

They both came home tired, but excited about school.  Hoping your first days were successes too! 

 

 

Summer Sewing: Sporty Shorts by Rabbit Rabbit Creations

Remember that pleated skirt that I made for the first ever summer KCW?  Jasmin Walsh, the designer of Rabbit Rabbit Creations just released these Sporty Shorts,  They are such a quick and easy sew that I made 2 of them.    

 This first pair was done in a medium weight ribbed knit that I think I bought from the Fabric Fairy  ages ago. The waistband and bias trim is from quilting cotton from JoAnn's DS Quilts.  I love how cute and simple they are. 

 These shorts can be made from any combination of knit and woven.  For the second pair, I used chambray and quilting cotton again for the waist and trims.  This time around though, I added a little (self-drafted) pocket to jazz things up in the back.

Cute, right?  I just love everything in Jasmin's shop.  I think I am pretty close to owning all of her patterns.  

.By the way, that's a size 6 that S is wearing.  How did she get so big?   We have the first day of Kindergarten coming up soon too.   I'll keep you all posted on the first day of school outfit. 

Pattern Testing: Blank Slate's T times 3 and A Line A la Mode

Have you heard?  Blank Slate Patterns just came out with their fall line.  This is the Tee Times Three.  The pattern has plenty of options including 3 different neckline options.  Looking ahead to fall and winter, I chose to test the peter pan option with long sleeves. The fabric for this little top is a cute birdie print I found at Girl Charlee.  The white polka-dots look line snowballs, yes?  I kinda messed up on the peter pan collar though.  There's a neck band that is supposed to stay on top of the collar.  Since I was testing, I figured that it needed to be sewn down, and that Melissa just missed a step in the directions.  Either way, the shirt looks pretty darn cute.     

The back has a keyhole button closure for easy on/off.

 

This pattern is so versatile; there's also a plain t-shirt neckline as well as a hooded version.  The fit is easy and relaxed and the directions are clear and simple.  I would certainly recommend it as a wardrobe staple.  

 Next up is the A-line A la Mode Dress.   Can you tell I love me a peter pan collar or two?  The fabric is coordinating prints from DS quilts for JoAnn's.

The fun detail here is the exposed zipper.  I would say that Blank Slate Patterns has more of a relaxed fit, so you should probably size down if you prefer a more fitted look.  The great thing is that I can see S fitting this into next spring.

 So that's it.  Another great collection from Blank Slates.  Now I'm off to check out the Zippy Jacket.

Pattern Anthology's W Pants

Have you seen Pattern Anthology's new fall collection?  It's called the Alphabet Collection and has some pretty cool mix and match separates.  I was lucky enough to test the W pants, designed by Melissa Mora of Blank Slates Patterns and Melly Sews.

I was asked to make the size 5 shorts option.  Unfortunately, they ended up being too big on S, but we have a neighbor that was able to fit into them.

That's a working zipped fly there.  My first.  It takes a little bit of effort, but Melissa explains it pretty well. 

And this is the reason these pants are called the W pants.  The pattern has options for 1 or 2 zip pockets, or welt pockets in the back.

 I love these shorts.  I'm planning on making a pair of the pants for S pretty soon.   

The Alphabet Collection is only available for the next couple of weeks at a discounted price and includes all four pieces.     Besides the W pants, the collection includes a jacket, a raglan tee, and a vest. 

And thanks to our sweet, goofy, neighbor girl for modeling.

Summer KCW: Origami Skirt and Nelle Dress

The last day of  the first ever summer KCW snuck up on me.  There's big changes with this season's KCW, a new interactive website, which I tried out for the first time today, and 2 additional seasonal challenges.  I'm not really sure if the old Elsie Marley flickr pool is still in use or not, but I kinda miss the blog links on people's projects.  Hopefully this feature will be added with the next challeng.

So anyway, I was pretty busy with a couple of selfish sewing projects, but I did manage to complete 2 items for S.  First up is the Origami Skirt by a new designer, Rabbit Rabbit Creations.

 

I absolutely love this skirt, so much so that I made the adult version for myself, in exactly the same fabric and everything, but more on that later.   It's a pretty simple A-line skirt with a flat front and elasticized back.  The peek-a-boo pleats just off center, though, is what makes this skirt truly unique.

 

So onto my next project: the Nelle Dress by Brownie-Goose.  This was my first Brownie-Goose pattern, and let me tell you, it will not be my last.  I loved the simplicity of this little dress. 

 

So that's it for Summer 2013 KCW!  Now to explore the website some more and see what other people have posted.