Thursday, October 22, 2015

Jocole Blog Tour--Skinnies and Skorts and a Giveaway!




First up, my baby girl's skorts.
It's funny how excited a 15 month old can get over new clothes. 
Must be her older sister's influence....ha! 


I used Jocole's Faux-Wrap Skort pattern. 
No adjustments were made to the pattern--they were sewn in a quilting cotton that I had in my stash from a couple years back. 
They're perfect for a little girl on the move, and even though it's heading into Fall here, I think we'll get enough wear out of these, even in the house, or with tights underneath to make it look even more skirt-ish. 


If you follow me on Facebook at all, you may have heard about my hot pink skinny pants. 
Well, here they are, and I'm thrilled with how they turned out! 


I used Jocole's Skinny Pants pattern, and did have to make a few adjustments.
The waist was too big and the hips were perfect (even though I had blended sizes according to my measurements.) 
So, I took it in a bit at the side seams, tapering into the regular seam at the hips. 
I also added darts on the back, just above the pockets, to take in any gaping so that it wouldn't look bunched and saggy while on. 
The fabric is a slightly stretchy twill that I bought off a destash site on Facebook. 


They are super comfy with the yoga waistband! 
I now want to make many more in different fabrics...we'll see if I ever get to it, but I'm super happy with them.

Hop on over to the Jocole blog to visit all the other bloggers! 

Enter the Rafflecopter below to win one Jocole Pattern of choice! 



Save up to 25% with Jocole's Fall Blog Tour.

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Starts: October 15th 12:01amEnds: October 26th 11:59pm PST. 
Use the code "FallBlogTour" during checkout.



Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Double Trouble--Brand Ambassador!

*Edited to update links!*


I'm excited to be one of the Go To Patterns Brand Ambassadors!
Every month I'll be sewing up at least one pattern from the Go To Patterns shop.
I get the patterns free and I also will have affiliate links sprinkled through-out the post--it's a great way to send me a percentage of your purchase in their shop without paying any extra!
All opinions of the patterns are my own.

The first pattern I chose is the Double Trouble Reversible Hoodie by Peek a Boo Patterns.
It is listed in the Go To Patterns Peek a Boo Patterns shop.
I'm often a very practical sewist--I have a limited amount of time, and I need to get certain things sewn up since I sew up most of our clothes.
Now that Fall is approaching, the kids needed new Sunday clothes, so I thought this would be a good option for that.


I merged sizes so that my almost eight-year old could have a shirt that was long enough and slim enough as he is quite slim.
I'm very happy with the results--the measurements in the pattern are spot on.
A cool thing about this hoodie is that it is reversible.
My son however was not in any mood to reverse it for me on this chilly morning, so I only have one view of it to show you.
Trust me that it is fully reversible, and the reverse side of the one I sewed up here is a light grey.


Both fabrics are from Girl Charlee.
The look is cool enough for an eight-year old and I can see myself making more of these for my other kids as well since the pattern has a wide size range (3m-12years).

Pattern available here.


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Itch to Stitch Birthday Tour--Angelia Shorts


Itch to Stitch Birthday Fun

(scroll to the bottom to enter to win!)

Welcome! 
First off, Happy Birthday to Itch to Stitch! 
It's amazing how many beautiful patterns you've put out in a year! 
I want to sew almost all of them.

I chose to sew up the Angelia shorts for the Itch to Stitch Birthday Blog Tour even though it is October, which means that the cold weather is upon us. 
Why? Well...I had meant to sew them up in the summer, but never got to it. 
I have one real pair of shots that are starting to come apart at the seams, and we are planning on heading to Cuba in November. 
So, shorts it is.


First of all, the fit is great...I love that they are high enough in the back that I'm not 'plumbing.' 
Second, the details. 
I chose to sew up view C, which doesn't have as many details as view B, but still. 
I also chose to leave the buttons off the pockets since I like a clean 'entry' into my pockets. 
But, there is topstitching, drawstring waist, drawstring cuffs, etc. 
I did a little bit of extra topstitching in the inseam, just because I'm a fan of topstitching. 
So, enjoy the slew of detail pictures I took! 



Third, the instructions! 
I've never sewn a nicer looking fly. Seriously--I love how neat and tidy this fly turned out. 
I've also never before needed to shorten a metal zipper. The pattern had good instructions for that as well, though I may need to invest in better needle-nose pliers. 


So, over all a great pattern. 
I think next time, I'll first pin the waistband to the shorts and then mark where I want the button holes for the drawstring, just to make sure they're perfectly placed. 

Fabrics used are a slightly thicker than quilting weight grey cotton. 
The drawstring is ribbon--ribbon that I still had from when we made our wedding invitations...

Modifications made include extra topstitching in the inseam and leaving off the pocket buttons. 
I had plans to free motion stitch a flower or butterfly design on the shorts, but was afraid to ruin them or make them look too kid-ish. 
I still think it'd be a cool thing to do. 

Follow these blogs to see their awesome creations from Itch to Stitch patterns:

Be sure to scroll to the bottom for your chance to win great prizes by these sponsors:
Itch to Stitch First Anniversary Sponsors
The Fabric Store - $100 Gift certificate
Elliott Berman Textiles - Fabric bundle from France & Italy
Craftsy - three online classes of your choice
Girl Charlee Fabrics - $25 Gift certificate
Indie Sew - $25 Gift certificate
UpCraft Club - $25 Gift certificate
Quarto Publishing Group USA - the SHIRTMAKING WORKBOOK by David Page Coffin
The featured designer of the day will give away 2 patterns to a lucky winner:
Follow Itch to Stitch's blog closely to win these patterns!