Natalie Top

 (This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase from those shops after clicking through my link, I get a small commission which doesn't cost you any more! Thanks for using them!)

*Edited to update links!*

This month for my Go To Patterns Brand Ambassador pattern, I chose the

Natalie Top from Liola Patterns in the Go To Patterns shop.

I used a lovely voile from Canadian National Fabric.

It was a bit of a bigger print than I had expected but I still love it.

It's the first time I've sewn with voile and it sews up really well.

I found the pattern to run a little boxy around the natural waist, which may be intended with the blouse-y look. But, I made a small mod and did three short rows of shirring to pull it in a little.

I also left off the optional pocket as I thought this print was busy enough without a pocket.

The rolled up sleeves are really comfy--I haven't worn them unrolled yet! 

And, I braved the cold (-15 Celsius) to get my husband to take a couple of pictures.

This from the lady (me) who is always cold and does not enjoy cold very much. In fact, my husband looked at me rather incredulously when I suggested it.

I'm glad we did go with the outside pictures--the snow makes a lovely backdrop.

Dungaree Dress, a Raglan, and a Sale!

Merry Christmas yet!

 

 It feels like it's been a while since I've posted any new outfits.

I have been busy with some, but it has been rather slow in my sewing area!

I thought I'd share this dress--I made it a little while back now, but never blogged about it yet.



 

It is the Cassidy Dungaree Dress by Modkid.

I used a denim I had in my stash, and since I had no purple topstitching thread, I used regular thread.

It is a lot lighter than it would have been with topstitching thread, but it does the trick in a pinch.

 

I love the details on the dress, the pockets, the front seam, and the topstitching.

I did not like the buckles I bought. They keep slipping open, even though I've tried bending them in a little tighter.

 

The top is a raglan from an Ottobre--the Rascal Raglan which I've also used here.

The fabric is from Girl Charlee a while back now--they have it in a different color way but I haven't seen this purple for quite a while now. The grey is also from Girl Charlee.

 

 

My daughter loves this outfit, even with the unhitching straps.

And, it's a sturdy denim so it should outlast her time of wearing it!

(Many of her dresses have been patched, either because they get caught on barbed wire, a tree, or in her coat zipper, even!)

 

Oh, and have you heard of the sale yet?

It ends on the 28th (and I don't know if it ends in the AM at 12 or in the PM at 12) but in my Etsy shop, you can get 25% off using the code BD2015 for Boxing Day.

Enjoy!!!

Giveaway! Patterns and Fabric!

Welcome to my little place on the internet! 

This is where I share about the things I sew, new patterns I've designed, and every now and then, a giveaway.

First of all, I'd like to share with you my Etsy shop where you can find my patterns listed.

If you prefer, I do have them listed on Craftsy as well! 

I enjoy designing these patterns, though it's slow going as I try to fit it in between life as a wife and homeschooling mom of five kids 8 and under. 

Also, a little more about me:

I grew up in a very Dutch family and still love droppies, stampot, and taai-taai. (plus many more Dutch goodies!) Plus, I can still speak a bit of Yankee Dutch. 

I was the worst at sewing of all my sisters (there are 5 of us) during Home Economics class. Seriously. 

But, I am now the only one who actually sews. (And, I've improved significantly since then!) 

I live on a dairy farm with my husband and our 5 kids. 

I love to garden and can all the delicious produce from our garden. 

And, I love baking a good batch of sourdough bread. 

So, there's a little about me.

Now, on to the giveaway!

This week, I'm giving away 2 patterns of choice (see shop above), and two pieces of fabric that are 1 yard each. 

To enter, please follow the directions on the Rafflecopter below: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway is open internationally.
Winner must respond within 48 hours or a new winner will be chosen.
Void where prohibited.
Must provide valid email address so I can contact the winner.

Make sure to check out the other giveaways over at Sew Mama Sew! 

Black Friday Sale!!!

I don't often hold a sale, and here's the biggest sale I've had yet, so make sure you take advantage of it.

Hop over to my Etsy shop for 25% off the entire shop! 

No coupon code needed. 

November 26 Midnight to November 28 Midnight MST. 

Lullaby Line Sleep Sacks--Some Baby Gifts!

*Updated to change links!*

(This post contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, I get a small percentage of the purchase price. Thanks for shopping through these links!!)

A lot of friends have had babies. And, a lot of girls.

I am waaay behind in sewing up baby gifts, so when I had to choose another pattern for the Go-To Brand Ambassador program, I thought I'd hit two birds with one stone.

I'd sew up some fun baby gifts while sewing up a pattern available in the Go-To Patterns shop!

I chose Peek a Boo Pattern's Lullaby Line Sleep Sack available at Peek a Boo Patterns Go To Patterns!

I sewed it up in size 12-24 months, using flannel for the main part and a cotton/lycra for the neck band and arm bands.

I only had two separating zippers that were long enough, otherwise I would have made a couple more!

I let my 16 month old try them out and she had fun pretending she was napping.

The fit is pretty good--the only thing with the fit is that I'm used to sleep sacks that are a bit longer, only because my kids are usually wearing ones that they can 'grow into.'

This pattern has to have the fit spot on so that the footed sleep sacks can be used properly without tripping up the child.

It's a pretty quick sew. The zipper is the most time consuming part!

I think I'd seam finish the front center edges before I inserted the zipper, the next time.

It would provide a cleaner finish, I think.

Again, you can get the pattern in this shop, or here.

Coffee Shop Lace Dress--Make that a Double-Double

(Contains affiliate links--I get a small percentage of the purchase price if you purchase through my links! Thanks for using them!)

When I saw the Coffee Shop Lace Dress from Bella Sunshine Designs, I knew I wanted to make one. 

No, I knew I wanted to make two.

Two dresses--one for each of my girls.

I figured that they'd make perfect Fall/Winter Sunday dresses, especially since the pattern has a long sleeve option.

 

My girls were both pretty thrilled with them--even the youngest!

I think I'll be lengthening my older daughters dress a bit yet by cutting the bottom of the skirt off, adding a contrasting strip of fabric and sewing the bottom back onto that. I feel it's a little too short, and that is my own fault since the pattern has finished dress measurements--I just didn't look closely enough at those.

 

The dark fabric is from Art Gallery's Tule line that I bought a couple of months ago at Canadian National Fabric. The other fabrics are a Ty Pennington line that I picked up at Stay Home Fabrics some time ago as well.

 

You can pick up a copy of this pattern here.

 

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! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

Your entire shopping cart, no restrictions.

Starts: October 15th 12:01amEnds: October 26th 11:59pm PST. 

Use the code "FallBlogTour" during checkout.

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.

Itch to Stitch Birthday Tour--Angelia Shorts

(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:

Scruffy Badger Time | Call Ajaire | Wally and Grace | Sew Wrong | Bella Sunshine Designs Seaside Notions | Made by Jaime | Sweet Little Chickadee | Inspinration | Friends Stitched Together Stoney Sews | Just Keep Sewing | My Little Sewing Dreams | Allie J. | Creative Counselor Love, Lucie | Girls in the Garden |  FABulous Home Sewn | Goddess of Sewing | Rebel & Malice The Telltale Tasha | House of Estrela | Made by Sara | Sew Shelly Sew | Red Knits

Be sure to scroll to the bottom for your chance to win great prizes by these 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:

 Baste + Gather

Straight Stitch Designs

Megan Nielsen Patterns

Jamie Christina

Hey June Handmade

Wardrobe by Me

Filles á Maman

Follow Itch to Stitch's blog closely to win these patterns!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Momiform MAKEover

This is an exciting post for me.

I've often struggled with dressing in a somewhat stylish fashion...

And, then in comes, 'Momiform MAKEover.'

 

My plan was to make somewhat of a wardrobe that was stylish, yet comfy.

I want to look put-together at home, while I take care of my rambunctious brood,

and when I head out to town with them in tow!

First up, is the Katie Dress from Greenstyle Creations, along with a new bag pattern, the Buckle Me Up Beauty.

Here I am with my 'Mom-mobile,' all ready to go.

I sewed the Katie Dress up in a lovely cotton knit from Canadian National Fabric.

The flattering gather in the bodice takes it from being just another knit dress to being something fun and stylish.

The Buckle Me Up Beauty is sewn in a brown twill type fabric from my stash with a cotton lining from my local-ish Fabricland, with hardware from Emmaline Bags.

This is the small version, which is great if you're out without the kids...no diaper bag...yay!

I couldn't keep it at one...

The second outfit I made is Jocole's A-line Yoga Skirt and the Willow Wrap Top from Love Notions.

The maxi skirt is sewn with an amazingly soft and comfy knit from Canadian National Fabric.

(Can you tell I really like that shop!)

The yoga waistband and the fitted skirt make for a super comfortable, yet stylish look.

And, the top is sewn from a very drapey knit from Fabricland.  

I sewed the top with the higher neckline, and I love how it turned out.

It's modest, yet stylish--perfect for running after kids!

Plus, the asymmetrical style with the pleated side takes it up a notch from being a plain old shirt.  

The pattern is easy to follow, and the fit is spot on.

Yes, two wasn't enough either...

Here is number three!

The Kinaco Skirt from Waffle Patterns, sold at Go-To Patterns, with the Women's Cowl Neck Tee from Sewing Geek Patterns. And again the bag is the Buckle Me Up Beauty, but a large version this time!

 

The Kinaco Skirt is sewn with a drapey grey fabric that I have absolutely no idea what it is.

It is a thrift shop purchase, but I love the softness and how ideal it is for fall!

The skirt's design is really neat--I really like the asymmetrical design and the fit is spot on.
For the lining, I used the same knit I used for the shirt--it is super soft and comfortable!

 

The Women's Cowl Neck Tee is sewn with a nice eggplant colored knit that I bought through a Canadian destash group on Facebook.

The shirt is comfortable, yet flattering. And, again...it's not just a plain t-shirt!
It is a super fast sew with an elegant cowl and an optional banded hem.
Also, the sleeves are a nice fluttery sleeve instead of the 'normal' tighter sleeve, which is a neat feature.

The Buckle Me UP Beauty is sewn with quilting cotton from Walmart and the accents are Essex linen from Fabric.com. Again, hardware is from Emmaline Bags. It's definitely large enough to be a diaper bag, for which I'm super excited--now I can have a stylish diaper bag as well for taking the kids out and about.

Thanks for stopping by my Momiform MAKEover!

REMEMBER: Scroll to the bottom of this post to enter the two separate Rafflecopters! 50+ winners will be selected! Get 10% off your fabric order from now through October 1 at Michael Levine/LowPriceFabric.com with code: Makeover10

Get 20% off your pattern order now through October 1 at UpCraft Club with code: MOMIFORM Are you MAKE-ing over your Momiform? Join the fun on Instagram with hashtag #momiformmakeover

 

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Be sure to check out all the awesome series participants to get lots of momiform inspiration!

Reyna Lay Designs | Call Ajaire | Golden Rippy | Love Notions
Sew Not Perfect | Scientific Seamstress | Rebel & Malice
Creative Counselor | Mabey She Made It | If Only They Would Nap | Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy Crafts Shaffer Sisters | FABulous Home Sewn | Fa Sew La | Baste + Gather
Lulu & Celeste | Swoodson Says | Phat Quarters | Hey June | Stitch Upon a Time
Climbing the Willow | Everything Your Mama Made & More | Näh-Connection | 110 Creations
A Jennuine Life | Straight Stitch Designs | Sew Straight & Gather | KZJO'STUDIO
Wild & Wanderful | Mae & K | Handmade Frenzy | HattieLu Handmade

 

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Sponsors

 

Special thanks to these major sponsors who generously donated the following items for the giveaway:

(There will a different winner for each line item so we can spread the love around!)

Janome - One Skyline S5 Sewing Machine* Indiesew - Four $50 gift certificates (four separate winners) Michael Levine / Low Price Fabric - Four $25 gift certificates (four separate winners) and 10% discount for readers through October 1 - code: Makeover10 UpCraft Club - Two $25 gift certificates (two separate winners) and 20% discount on patterns through October 1 - code: MOMIFORM

And the following pattern designers who graciously provided patterns for the series participants and/or contributed the following items for the giveaway:

Grainline Studio - Two patterns of your choice True Bias - Hudson Pants & Southport Dress patterns Colette -Two patterns of your choice Closet Case Files -Two patterns of your choice Sew Much Ado -Two patterns of your choice Sew Straight & Gather - Three patterns of your choice Golden Rippy - Two patterns of your choice 110 Creations: A Sewist's Notebook Patterns for Pirates - Two patterns of your choice Itch to Stitch - Two patterns of your choice Mouse House Creations - Two patterns of your choice Hey June Handmade -Two patterns of your choice Peekaboo Pattern Shop - Three patterns of your choice Go-to Patterns - One women's pattern of your choice GreenStyleCreations -Two patterns of your choice Puperita - One pattern of your choice Sofilantjes - Two patterns of your choice Charlotte Kan - One pattern of your choice So Sew Easy - Two patterns or one bundle of your choice OUSM Designs - Women's Thumbs-Up Tee pattern E-Beth Designs - Two patterns of your choice Muffin Head Patterns - Any pattern of your choice up to $10 GrayDay Patterns - Sandpoint Top or Athena Top pattern (your choice) Scientific Seamstress - One pattern of your choice Stitch Upon a Time - $20 gift card 5 out of 4 - Two patterns of your choice Frianki Patterns - Two patterns of your choice KZ Jo Studio - Two patterns of your choice Straight Stitch Designs - Full collection of patterns Sewing Patterns by Aivilo Charlotte - Two patterns of your choice Striped Swallow Designs - Two patterns of your choice Rose and Lee Designs - Two patterns of your choice Sewing Geek Patterns - One pattern of your choice Filles a Maman - One pattern of your choice Bella Sunshine Designs - One pattern of your choice Liola Designs - One pattern of your choice Cali Faye Collection - One pattern of your choice Tinman Patterns - Orbit Skirt pattern Felicity Sewing Patterns - Two patterns of your choice Winter Wear Designs - Two patterns of your choice Ellie Inspired - Three patterns of your choice Love Notions - One pattern of your choice a Sparkly Baby - Two patterns of your choice Terra's Treasures Designs - Two patterns of your choice

*Janome giveaway winner must be located in U.S.A. and is therefore on a separate Rafflecopter below. Machine must be picked up at a local dealer; it cannot be shipped.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This second Rafflecopter includes all the other sponsor items since they can be awarded internationally! You must enter both Rafflecopters in order to be entered to win both the sewing machine and the rest of the giveaway items. All patterns awarded will be in PDF format. Enjoy!

a Rafflecopter giveaway