Polina Dress from Coffee and Thread

I’m delighted to be able to join the Coffee and Thread blog tour! I’ve given a fair amount of love to the Ania Tunic this year, like this one I made for Charly’s Kindy clothes, and this one I made for Caroline’s first day of preschool.  Olga’s patterns are well done, and she’s got so many adorable dresses!

The blog tour is two weeks long and began on Monday- be sure to check out the list of participants at the bottom of this post! There’s lots of inspiration to be had!

In conjunction with the tour Olga is hosting a giveaway for a great haul of patterns and fabric. You can enter by following the link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AND there’s a discount code for any pattern in the Coffee and Thread shop– get 20% off with code ‘coffeeandthreadtour’!

SO what did I make for the tour? While I’ve got several Coffee and Thread patterns on my ‘to sew’ list, I saw her newest pattern, the Polina Dress, and just couldn’t get over the adorable flounce. There are two flounce variations, but my favorite is View B, with the flounce following the curve of the neckline. It is such a fun feminine detail, I knew my girls would go nuts for it as they love anything “girlish” these days.

And boy is it girlish! (See what I did there ? 🙂 While the Polina dress is drafted for woven fabric, I hacked the pattern to sew it in knit. My sister in law is getting married this summer so I’m working on making my girls dresses in the wedding colors, and this super soft plum knit, upcycled from a thrifted Eddie Bauer dress, fit the bill. Caroline is in love with it and feels so fancy with the tulle flounce!

I made quite a few alterations to make this dress work in my chosen fabric, which are all detailed below. I’d love to make another Polina in a rayon challis with the circle skirt option for a super drapey and flowy dress.

Pattern: Polina Dress from Coffee and Thread

Fabric: Upcycled thrifted knit dress

Size: 3

Her measurements: in inches below

Chest- 21

Waist- 20

Hip- 21.5

Height- 41

Mods: 

-selected size by comparing bodice pattern piece to a well fitting t shirt

-cut back on the center back line on the fold, creating one bodice back piece instead of two

-cut the skirt longer to allow for elastic at the waist

-cut away seam allowance on armscye and neckline

-cut 16 flounce pieces from crushed tulle and layered them instead of sewing a main and lining

-bound the neckline and armscye using this method from Megan Nielsen

-added 1.5″ elastic at the waist (sewn to the wrong side of the skirt) to help support the gathers and form a faux elastic casing, and sewed the skirt to the bodice with no center back closure

-omitted the ties

As you can see there is some gaping at the armscye- I calculated my band length at 90%, and suspect if I’d done them at 85% it would be a bit better. If I make a knit version again I’ll likely raise the armscye a bit to help with this to account for the stretch. The dress is roomy enough to allow room to grow, but not so roomy that she’s drowning in it. Perfect!

I wondered as I sewed if I’d ventured into clown territory with the amplified flounce, but some kind friends assured me it is rather French looking, or emulates an Elizabethan Ruff. I like the sound of that much better! Sewn in knit, this Polina dress is perfect for my active-yet-loves-to-be-fancy girl- easy to wear and play in, with just the right touch of fluff!

 

Thank you Olga for having me along on the tour- and don’t forget to check out all the other amazing sewing happening on the Coffee and Thread blog tour!

 

April 3

Enjoyful Makes || Idle Sunshine || ZowieZo Handmade || Angie Burgett

April 4

Handmade Frenzy || Replicate Then Deviate || Fairies, Bubbles & Co || Coral + Co

April 5

Made By Sara || Naeh-Connection || The Bag of Unexpected || Circle Meets Line

April 6

Skirt Fixation || Sewing Like Mad || Hello Holli || Buzzmills ||

April 7

Little Cumquat || Thread Bear Garments || Pearl Berry Lane || Plus 2 is 5 || Sew Chibi 

April 10

Stahlarbeit || Knee Socks and Goldilocks || Bonnie and Lottie || Sew Sophielynn 

April 11

Mouse House Creations || While She was Sleeping || Mix it Make it || By Dagbjort 

April 12

Gaafmachine || Beletoile || LBG Studio || My Cozy Co  || As It Seams

April 13

Moineau & Petit Pois || Just Add Fabric || Sweeter Than Cupcakes || Frances Suzanne || Sew Liberated 

April 14

Stitched Together || S is for Sewing || Boevenbende || Lafolie Sewing Booth || Sew Pony ||

With Love By Eva 

Tamarack Jacket in Maker Maker fabric

Hello there friends! It’s been ages since I’ve posted, but I’m sewing away and will hopefully have more to share soon! I set a goal this year to sew one item for myself each month to build my handmade wardrobe, and so far I’m doing well! I have yet to share my Lark tee from January (soon if I can manage to photograph it!) and today I’m sharing the Tamarack Jacket I made in February.

This pattern has been on my mental “to sew” list since it was released, but the release of the Maker Maker fabrics by Sarah Golden gave me the kick in the pants to get it made. I first became acquainted with Sarah through Kid’s Clothes Week a couple years back and have followed along her sewing and artistic journey via Instagram ever since. She’s an amazing artist and I love seeing her work unfold. I rooted for her to sell her hand printed fabrics, so seeing her designs produced by Andover is a dream come true! Sarah was kind enough to send me these fabrics to play with- thank you Sarah! You can see the whole collection here, although the colors look a little off. Better yet, check out Sarah’s Instagram to see more (and go ahead and follow her because you want this beauty in your feed). The whole collection is a medium weight cotton linen blend that will be awesome for a variety of projects.

I used Village in Blue for the outside of my Tamarack jacket. I love that although its a busy print it reads as more of a neutral due to the subdued palette. It is a perfect basic that isn’t too basic, you know what I mean? I tend toward simple classic silhouettes, but elevating it with a fun fabric that still coordinates with my wardrobe is a home run.

I used Pink Lines for the interior fabric. It’s such a fun contrast and definitely gives the jacket some personality! Cotton and linen both get better with wear, so I’m excited to see how this jacket wears through next year and beyond.

 

The Tamarack Jacket is a simple quilted jacket with welt pockets, curved hem, and bound edges. If you’ve made the Blue Ridge Dress, you shouldn’t be surprised to hear that I LOVE BIAS BINDING. I enjoy doing it and I love the way it looks! Its a totally underrated finish in my book. Since each piece of the Tamarack is quilted before assembling the jacket it gives lots of opportunity for bias binding- and I took every chance I could! I bound all interior seams aside from the sleeves where it added too much bulk. Even the pockets are bias bound. Because if I have to sew slow (because I have three kids and my sewing time is limited) I may as well take my time with finishes so I can really be satisfied with what I make.

Pattern: Tamarack Jacket by Grainline Studio

Fabric: Village in Blue and Lines in Pink from the Maker Maker line by Sarah Golden (you can purchase it on Imagine Gnats!)

Size: 4 at shoulders/bust graded to 6 at hips

My measurements: in inches below

Upper bust-33.5

Bust-37

Waist- 31

Hip- 39.5

 

Mods: 

-added a zipper to view A in place of hook and eye

-bias bound seam allowances

-handmade the binding using this method

-Blended from size 4 to 6. My measurements put me in the size 8/10 range, but after making a muslin I found it to be too big so I checked the finished measurement chart and chose my size from there. My narrow shoulders and ribcage frequently require a smaller size than my bust says I should choose, and since there was plenty of ease still I chose a size 4 blended to 6.

This jacket is already getting lots of wear! Our temperate virginia winters mean I’m regularly switching between a heavy coat and this lighter weight one- you know, until our end-of-february seventy degree weather hit. It has just enough structure to hide the fact that I’m not wearing a bra for school drop-off most mornings, so in that regard this jacket is the savior of my mornings!

What do you think, is this a style you would wear?

 

Thanks for reading!

Friday Dress from Petit a Petit

You know the party isn’t over, right? The Sewing Block party, a month long blog tour featuring Petit a Petit patterns, is still going strong!

In addition to a bunch of gorgeous inspiration sewing from these bloggers…

Sewing Block Party with Petit a Petit Patterns

You know that feeling of being in high school and finally being invited to the cool kid’s party? Me either 😉 but I imagine it’s a little like being asked to participate in the Sewing Block Party- all my favorite bloggers and sewists are sewing Petit a Petit patterns and sharing this month. It’s going to be (and already is!) loaded with inspirational kid sewing featuring Celina’s fantastic patterns. These ladies have mad skills and impeccable style, so I’m humbled and grateful to be invited along for the ride! If you like sewing or kids clothes (and I’m guessing you do if you’re here…) then don’t miss the links to the other bloggers at the bottom of this post! There’s also a GIVEAWAY of a copy of ALL Petit a Petit patterns, linked at the bottom as well. In the mean time, you can use promo code BLOCKPARTY in the Petit a Petit shop for 20% off all patterns. Phew, what a party, right?!

I Knit! Passing Showers Tee

I knit something!

I’m not a knitter. Well, I wasn’t a knitter. I learned a basic knit stitch some time in high school and probably made a washcloth or scarf or something, and then didn’t pick up knitting needles again until two years ago, when I won some luscious yarn and a pattern in a giveaway and made THIS:

Sewing for Christmas: Little Cub

As you may be able to tell from my flurry of recent posts, things have changed a bit around here since I wrote this post venting my creative frustration. With the radical change in our schedule (kids starting school) and a baby who sometimes naps, I’m actually getting a decent amount of sewing time, and even time to blog about it! This couldn’t come at a better time, because I’m gearing up for holiday sewing. I’m not usually one to start my Christmas sewing any time before December 1st, not for any reason other than lack of planning and laziness. Well, maybe transitioning to three kids has taught me that it takes some major planning to accomplish things, but I got one gift made before October 1st! Handmade gifts are in the works for my older two girls, but this sweet little doll for little Lucy is done and ready for wrapping!

Caroline’s Pre K Ania Tunic

Can you even handle that cute little girl wearing a giant backpack? Caroline started preschool recently and naturally needed a new outfit for the first day since her sister got one for kindergarten. In true middle child fashion, I’m just now posting about it even though she started two weeks ago. Don’t worry- we made a big deal about it for her that day!

If you feel like you’ve seen this already, it’s probably because I’ve made 2 other Ania tunics recently (here and here)- or maybe because I used this same fabric to make myself a shirt (here). Since I’m finally getting back to my sewing groove (hooray!) I’m making the most of it by sewing the same patterns several times. Is this less exciting for you? Maybe, but it means I spend less time taping and tracing patterns together, and also I get quicker each time I sew, so this is allowing my recent flurry of sewing activity. I don’t have any more Ania tunics planned, but I do have more of this gorgeous floral lawn, so you haven’t seen the last of it yet!

Back to School Heartland Tour

Today I’m sharing two looks I’ve sewn for the Heartland Back to School Tour, hosted by Karly from Paisley Roots. This blog tour is showcasing the Heartland fabric line from Art Gallery Fabrics, designed by Pat Bravo. Since both of my girls have started new school adventures with Kindergarten and Preschool this was a great chance to sew them something new!

Sewing for Kindergarten: Aslan Dress

 

Hello again! I’m back with another outfit sewn for Mie’s fantastic series Sewing for Kindergarten. If you missed it, I shared the first outfit I made for her in this post.

Today I’m sharing the outfit she actually chose to wear on the first day of school, so we took these pictures that morning before the bus came. It was also before her nerves kicked in- she got pretty nervous as we waited for the bus (and I did too!) but she managed to make it to class and back home in one piece (phew!) and mostly enjoyed it 🙂

Sewing for Kindergarten: Checkered Ania Tunic

Well, it happened. My oldest has gone off to kindergarten, which means I’ve officially left the world of “stay at home mom with young kids and no schedule” and am venturing into “stay at home mom who is forced to have some sort of schedule” haha!

And since I’m sending a child off to kindergarten I was happy to be able to join in with Mie’s series Sewing for Kindergarten! I love sewing special outfits to commemorate important things for my kids. I decided to have a little fun with it and work with Charly to plan a capsule wardrobe. We took to Pinterest and started a board to pin things she loves. I had her tell me what she liked about each thing and it really helped me get a feel for what she likes, and it was super fun to hear her answers! You can see her board, with a quick note of what she liked about each thing, here.