Love Notion Celebration - Maggie Mash

Its no secret if you know me that I am a big love notions fan. I love Tami and her patterns, and I have had the immense pleasure of being able to test for many of her patterns since I started my sewing journey. Much of what I know now is because of Tami and her patterns.

Now I get to help share in the excitement of 10000 group members in Love Notions Pattern Support group on Facebook, her 50th pattern release and Love Notions birthday! This next week will feature many guest blog posts, competitions and more! So make sure you join the group if you haven't already and take part in the celebrations and win yourself some amazing prizes! Don't have any patterns? There are 2 that are free (join the group to find out how to get them) and also all patterns are 50% off on the website Love Notions if I didn't already own every single one.. I'd be buying them all!

You may or may not be aware of one of the soon to be released patterns, the Maggie and Margot Peplum top? I was one of the testers for girls version (Maggie) and when I was looking for inspiration of what to make for my miss 12 year old I came across a lot of peplums that were paired with a pencil skirt, and lots of high - low peplum tops and I thought.. I would love to make a high - low peplum dress! and with my current stash of patterns from love notions I had just the patterns to do it!

What did I need to make this vision a reality?

• Maggie pattern, size 14. I love the look of the princess seams and pleated skirt so I went with that one.
• Sybil Skirt my daughter fits the size small ladies (I wonder if we can convince Tami to make a girls version of the sybil???)
• Tutorial on how to make a high low skirt, this is what I used high Low tutorial 
• Material, I had some gorgeous zebra poly knit that my daughter loved, I bought it from spotlight here in Australia and ponte for pencil skirt part of the dress

Construction was pretty straight forward, I made the front of the peplum skirt as the pattern said, and modified the back part of the peplum following the tutorial .

I followed the instructions for the bodice and sewed that all together.

The only difference I made, was I sewed the side seams of the bodice together before attaching the skirts. I thought it would be easier to attach in the round for the peplum and the pencil skirt portion of the dress.

For the pencil skirt, I didn't include the waist band and was very happy to see that the pencil skirt size small matched up perfectly width wise for the bodice! its almost like they were destined to be sewn together.

To complete the dress Peplum skirt was lined up right sides together with the bodice, and the pencil skirt wrong sides together with the bodice. These encloses the seams of the skirt portion.. I love that finish.

I also roll hemmed the peplum skirt, because.. well lazy :P

Peplum skirt and bodice right sides together, pencil skirt and bodice wrong sides together.

Another little trick I did was top stitched the seam down under the peplum skirt, down onto the pencil skirt. Especially with the pencil skirt being ponte it helped to make everything sit much nicer. You could top stitch over the peplum skirt, but i'm not a big fan of how that looked.

And the finished result? are these photos. My vision became a reality and its all thanks to Love Notion patterns! The poly knit draped beautifully and the ponte holds its shape really well for the skirt. Its turned into the perfect tween dress, ideal for when they want to be dressing a little more sophisticated.

Make sure you check out all the blog posts this week, and join in on the fun in the support group! be sure to share your creations we would love to see them <3

Princess seams, even with the same fabric just add an extra touch!

Love Notions would like to thank all of the amazing bloggers on the tour. Please be sure to stop by and see what awesomeness was created! And don't forget the guest bloggers participating each day on the Love Notions Blog!

Monday: Handmade Boy Pattern Revolution

 Tuesday:  The Craftiness in Me The Wholesome Mama

Wednesday: Falafel and the Bee Pen Seb & Rox

Thursday: The Kisses Co. Ruby Rue Creations

Friday: Paisley Roots Sew & Tell Project

 

Love Notions {Summer Caye Pants} A Review

I've been a bit quiet lately, been swamped under customer orders, testing and life! that I forget to spend a few moment updating my blog with some of my sewing adventures! Then when Tami from Love Notions made the tester call for this one, I had to jumped at it. Even though its not something I would normally buy for myself, I took the opportunity to jump outside of my comfort zone and try something totally new to me. I've also been lucky enough to be selected to be a part of the Promo Team for Love Notions, which means not only do I get the pattern I test for free, but also a small payment to help cover the cost of fabric.

The testing process with Tami is always a learning experience, in fact the only pants I have ever made myself are these and the Sabrina Slims, i'm not sure if I would have made pants for myself otherwise! She makes sure we get the fit right, and her pattern shows us how to make sure we get that right fit removing those trouble spots that we might get in off the rack bought pants.

Here are some of the options we have! and like always with Love Notions patterns we have so many possibilities!

Girls Summer Caye Pants

• Sizes 2T- 16 and 8P-16P
• Shorts
• 4" Inseam
• 6" Inseam 
• Capri Length
• Normal Hem
• Tulip Hem
• Split Hem
• Full Length
• Normal Hem
• Tulip Hem
• Split Hem
• Front Pockets
• Back Pockets
• Layered Pattern (print only the size/s you need)
• Trimless Pattern (no need to trim the pages to tape!)

Size 5t Capri Length in Chambray Denim

Size 5T in Chambray Denim, pocket details

Womens Summer Caye Pants

• Sizes 0-28
• Palazzo or Wide Length legs
• Shorts
• 6" Inseam
• 9" Inseam 
• Capri Length
• Normal Hem
• Tulip Hem
• Split Hem
• Full Length
• Normal Hem
• Tulip Hem
• Split Hem
• Front Pockets
• Back Pockets
• Layered Pattern (print only the size/s you need)
• Trimless Pattern (no need to trim the pages to tape!)

Ladies size 10 Palazzo width, Linen Long pants 

Ladies size 10 Palazzo width, Linen Long pants 

These pants will make a great summer pants/shorts but also a great transitional piece for your wardrobe. These ones are going into my wardrobe capsule, definitely need to make me a pair of the wide leg version in either a tencel or a chambray!

The pattern does work best when you use flowy fabrics that have beautiful drape, but many testers used even quilting cotton in the girls pattern especially and they still looked super cute! I also tested the size 2 for Miss 2, but sadly she is in that I refuse to let you take nice photos of me stage

You can Purchase the Girls pattern on Sale for $6.00, Ladies pattern on Sale for $7.00 and the Girls/Ladies Bundle on Sale for $12.00 at the Love Notions website. Check out the Love Notions Pattern Support Group on Facebook to see more of the testers creations, and its a great place to get some help when making any of her patterns.

Until Next time!

Zoo Collection - Pattern Hack!

Its taken me awhile to get the courage to 'hack' patterns. To give them my own spins or slight modifications.

Jessica from Flosstyle mention the adding ruffles to the Romper. I'm not a big fan of ruffles, but I thought they would look totally adorable on the Zoo Rompers.

Ok so honestly its really easy to do!. Heres the process I went through (with some photos!)

Sew up the two back pieces of the Romper, and mark where the Shirt line falls on the back piece. I marked with a pin, and then just drew a line across. I did have to adjust the butt part so that the legs were straight.



Next draw another line 3/4" inch up from the shirt line, and then another line 3/4" up from that one. (for the bigger sizes you can add another line, or two.. its totally up to you how many ruffles you do!). The distance between each line is totally up to you! I wouldn't recommend having them any closer together, but you could easily space them out to 1"

Next its ruffle time, depending on how many ruffles your doing, cut your strips. In my case I cut up 3 strips. 3 inch wide, but 1.5 times the width of your back piece.  The 3inch wide, again, just preference, if you have your space between lines larger, you can make your ruffle strips wider.

The size 2 was 15 inches wide, so my strips were 3" x  22.5". This is just my personal preference, if you want fuller ruffles, make it twice the width of the back, if you want it less ruffly make it smaller :)

Next fold the ruffles in half and press, RTS (right sides together)

Now sadly, I hurt my wrist, and it was impossible to take anymore photos, I have been typing this out for the past few days! (Just a tip, don't go rollerblading, in the rain, on a gravel surface..) but its pretty straight forward from here.

After folding in half and pressing the RST, sew down one short end, and the raw edge, making a tube.

Turn the tubes right side out and give another press, this tubes mean you don't have to hem the ruffles!

Sew a gathering stitch down the side. A gathering stitch is a long stitch length down one side that you don't back stitch at the start or at the end.

Once you have done that too all the ruffles, you start to gather your ruffles by pulling on the bobbin thread (the one that was on the bottom). Spread your ruffles out evenly and make sure that your ruffles are the width of your back piece.

Starting at the lowest line, attach your ruffles along the lines that you have drawn, and sew them down. Repeat for all the ruffles.

Once attached yous should be able to remove your gathering threads from each of the ruffles to give it a really nice finish.

Now that your ruffles are done you can just continue to put the romper together as explained in the pattern instructions!

And this is what you get! How cute is she in This ruffled Stork Elephant??

Make sure you join the sew-a-long at Flosstyle Fair and you'll see a few more hacks, and a boat load more of inspiration. Don't be afraid of this pattern, once you get the first one done, you'll realise just how easy they are to put together!

Patterns 4 Pirates {Me Hearties Dress} A Review

This dress really excited me when I saw the tester call for it. It was something right up Miss 12 year olds alley, or as she would say.. "this is totally my style!" and it was.

I recently got some Ponte online, that I was going to use for some pants for me but thought it would be perfect for this dress! 

The Dress is very simple to put together, I was surprised at how quickly it went together of course the use of my coverstitch for the binding made it even quicker. There is an option to use Fold Over Elastic (FOE) for the binding, but i'm not a fan of elastic or how it looks/feels.

Instructions are pretty straight forward, and go together how I would do it if I wasn't following  any instructions.

The version I went with was a size 12 with the the sweetheart bodice, short sleeves and I used stretch lace for the upper bodice and sleeves, Ponte for the bottom bodice and circle skirt, and bound the neck and sleeve hems with a black cotton/lycra. I also did a rolled hem on the skirt, you can leave it un-hemmed because, knits to fray!

The skirt is a full circle skirt, so it gives a lot of twirl factor and we all know how little girls love this!

Its very easy to dress this dress pattern up or down, all depends on your fabric choices and the combination you select.

The pattern features
- trimless pages (how much do I love those!)

- Letter and A4 printing
- Layers (a must have for patterns!)

- 3 sleeve lengths (short, 3/4 and long)
- 2 Skirt lengths (peplum, and dress length)

The dress also has a mummies version! I'll be adding that one to my collection so I can make some really sweet mummy and me dresses. Christmas Ideas already?

The Me Hearties Dress is $9.00 but currently on sale for $7.50. Head over to the P4P website and purchase your copy here: Me Hearties Dress

Flosstyle {The Zoo Collection} A Review

Its 2016! and I have been a bit slack in the updating the blog department. I have been sewing, in fact I have been sewing lots, and Testing patterns lots! and even testing fabric strike off from Australian Custom fabric groups!

This one here, is a combination of both a Aussie Pattern designer and an Aussie Custom Knit fabric.

If your not aware of Flosstyle, then you need to be. These patterns have so many options included. I know it may seem overwhelming, but the instructions and step by steps make it a breeze! It would take me forever to list the options, so instead I will just include this image. Some options can be made in Woven, some in Woven and Knit, and some you can even use Lycra/Spandex to make swimwear! (turtle elephant, and turtle wombat!)

The possibilities with this are endless. There is also a section on mods, Flamingo (tie backs for the girls) Penguin (vest) and Puffin (puff sleeves)... and yes there is even a doll pattern, and applique templates included.

There is no hemming ruffles, not even a rolled hem! No bias binding, no bare backs, no bulkiness under the chin and no zippers.

The size range is from 0000 (newborn) to size 4.

You really need this pattern in your collection, Flosstyle is so unique with its pattern collection catering for both Girls and Boys in the one pattern.

It can be purchased today! at Flosstyle and its on sale until Saturday. Regular price is $14, but until Saturday you get 25% off! and thats in AUD! so if your a USA purchaser thats even cheaper thanks to our crappy exchange rate at the moment.

 Now Some Picture Spam! :)

Size 2 Stork Koala Flamingo (woven)

Size 2 Giraffe Wombat (Knit) and Size 4 Koala Stork Flamingo (Knit)
 also using the knit fabric from Jennilea Designs 

Flosstyle {Artiste Dress} A Review

Australian Designer Alert! Australian Designer Alert!

Now that I have your attention! haha. I recently was given the opportunity to test for Flosstyle. I have seen Flosstyle patterns talked about before (those in the pdf groups know I am talking about the jutebox hits collection), and when there was a tester call for a new pattern I jumped at the chance to give it ago. I'll admit I was a little intimidated at first, I knew that this was going to challenge my inner creative side, and seeing how many options there were can be very overwhelming. However the instructions were great, and take you through every process step by step.

I was actually surprised at how quick they were to put together, especially the Canvas version for a woven dress it was just as quick as some of the knit dresses! and the result is gorgeous. Seeing what some of the testers did with their versions was inspirational, and gives me so many more ideas to try.

The muse version was right up my alley, the second I saw that version, I knew I was going to sew that one up. I made up a size 5 for Miss A, and a size 12 for Miss K.. both completely different in the finished version. The size 5 is playful and colourful and perfect for an every day dress, while Miss K's version is classy and modern, and perfect for an evening out...and in her teenage words "Totes her Style".. safe to say "nailed it!"

There is also a pallete version, which can so easily be used to create fairy dresses for dress ups.

Honestly.. the possibilities are endless with this collection

There are Three Dress bases

- Canvas

- Muse

- Pallete

But what makes this dress collection even more special is that it can all be interchanged! Like the Muse bodice but the Pallete skirt? thats fine you can do that. Like the Pallete Bodice and the Canvas skirt? Go ahead, you can make that!

You have endless possibilities with different fabric combinations, there was even a tester who integrated her own crocheting into the dress, and in the words from Jessica the designer behind Flosstyle Patterns, "Every Artiste needs a blank CANVAS, a colour PALETTE and a MUSE to inspire them!"

Above is my version of the Canvas, size 12. I used snaps on the tabs instead of buttons, because I am lazy like that. Made with cotton wovens.

 size 5 Muse, and This dress is now Miss A bestest dress in the whole wide world! made with gorgeous knit fabric from Zaletasun. The pleats on the skirt of this dress really make it, and give it some twirl factor

This is probably my favourite out of all of the ones I made. I had a vision in my head, and this collection really allowed for this dress to come alive. I had been spending the week looking at formal dresses for miss K for her end of year 6 formal and wanted to integrate lace into a dress and I had just the lace too! The rest of the dress is a really soft and drape-y rayon knit, due to its nature pleats were not flattering to the design so I gathered it with clear elastic for stability, and instead of lining the skirt part of the dress I added a second skirt to add some more of the colour.

I really could rave about this pattern more.. but I will leave you here, and send you to the place to buy, get it while it is at new pattern price (25% off) for $9 at The Flosstyle Website