She Who Sews

I mentioned in my last driftwood post that I had a blouse, shirt and dress in the works, well, I also made up another short sleeved blouse too! I think I've gone Driftwood crazy.



This pattern is so versatile, and it's a pattern I seem to have really clicked with. I find them super easy and quick to make, and most of all, they are happily worn by both my children, which is virtually unheard of.



I made my son another long cuffed sleeve shirt, with open neckline. It's a style he likes and he picked the red chambray fabric that I had in my extensive stash. He doesn't actually have much to pick from, most of it is either pink, or extremely floral. He's very gender orientated, despite our best efforts, and pretty much refuses anything vaguely pink, and floral now gets laughed at. The chambray is super stuff, I love the weight and drape, and it sews so well. Sadly, it's no longer available from Fabworks so I'll have to use my remaining few metres very wisely.



After my daughter saw my son's two shirts, she wanted in on the action too, so I made her up a long sleeved cuffed blouse too. She requested a button finish to the neckline, which is included in the pattern. I used a sparkly button that I'd bought in various colours when I was last at our bargain store Trago. It's a shop that sells pretty much everything, it's all cheap, most of it is seconds quality, but they have a large fabric and haberdashery section which is useful for things like buttons, cheap plain cottons and trims. The only problem with this shop is that they rarely have the same fabric in when you next visit, so planning ahead is nearly impossible.

I picked another Fabworks fabric for my daughter's blouse, a thin, lightweight summer cotton with a green floral print. It's still for sale this year here. I bought this last year, and made a small sun top for her which is now long outgrown.



Then, on to the dress. I got my daughter to pick the options she wanted, she chose short cuffed sleeves, a button neckline with ruffle and elastic waist. She could have had an a-line style dress, long sleeves, or elastic cuffs, but she knows what she likes and I have learnt not to deviate from that. I then gave her the choice of two fabrics that I have, and she picked out Mother's Garden Light, part of the Lavish collection designed by Katarina Roccella for Art Gallery Fabrics.



The dress came together reasonably quickly, my only issue was the elastic waistline. Threading elastic through a casing is my least favourite sewing job in the world. I find it fiddly and it takes me ages. I didn't have the correct tools to do this, but thanks to Amazon wishlist, and my lovely husband, I now have a Clover bodkin that makes things 100 times easier! I didn't have the correct size elastic for the waist, so I just went with what I had, which was a bit stronger (as in a tighter stretch) elastic than was called for.



My daughter did her usual trick sadly, and took one look at my lovingly made dress and said 'er, I'll try it on tomorrow'. At which point I started crying inside. I did manage to persuade her to put it on for a fit test, but then it got left unworn for a week. I had to beg her to wear it for photos, and apart from that, she hasn't worn it since. I wish she wasn't such a stubborn little girl sometimes.



I took them both out for my birthday, to try out the new camera that I'd been bought as a complete surprise. I decided to use the camera in full manual, so I ended up taking over 200 photos over the course of our walk. Most were under or over exposed, but a girl has got to learn somehow. It did mean that my daughter got a bit fed up in the end, as you can see by this photo.



I didn't stop there though. After a quick trip to a local charity shop whilst our car was being MOT'd, we found some bargain fabric which Little Miss picked out saying she wanted a pair of shorts and a blouse. I did explain that there may not be enough fabric for both, but for the price, I didn't mind trying. So I knocked up another blouse, this time with short sleeves and a big button loop on the tear drop shaped neck opening. I paired it with a pair of Pixie shorts with cuffed legs. I'd had the idea to make the outfit as one, as a romper, but Little Miss had other ideas, and wanted separates, which quite frankly was a lot easier for me.



I think it looks a bit 80's with the fabric print, but it's what she wants. She likes to wear matching fabric on top and bottom.



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*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

This is the Rivier Dress, the new dress pattern by The Eli Monster.



This cute faux wrap dress features a ruffle along the bodice wrap, little cap sleeves and a large bow.



I chose to add all the options in testing, but you could instead have a more simple, and quicker to sew dress, by omitting the ruffle and cap sleeves, or even leaving off the bow. There are two cut lines for the shoulders, a slightly narrower line for sleeveless, and a wider shoulder, like I chose, for the cap sleeve version. Little Miss wanted a ruffle, she wanted cap sleeves, and most importantly, she wanted the big bow! You can't mess with a 5 year old when she is choosing dress options.



This is what happens when you mess with a five year old, they give you this knowing look of 'aren't you silly, Mummy.' then they roll their eyes at you!



I had to make some adjustments to the bodice, well, pattern grading between sizes. It turns out I should have made another to her shoulders, but it's all sewn now, so that will have to be one for the future. I made a size 5 bodice, and graded it in to age 3 at the waist. This took out a big excess that I got as her waist is still so tiny. She actually measures just into the size 6 for chest, but once I'd made the necessary adjustments, it took it back down to an age 5 just under her armpits. Where I should have paid more attention was her shoulders. From looking at the pictures, I would say I probably needed an age 6 or 7 across her shoulders. She is wide, presumably developing through frequent gymnastics training. The age 6 cap sleeves that I used on the age 5 bodice were much too tight, but I didn't realise until it was all sewn up and I was photographing her. You can see in this picture of the back that there are a few pull lines and the cap sleeves are tight to her skin. I would adjust this to her body for the next dress.



Despite the slightly tight cap sleeves, Little Miss was more than capable of getting up to her usual antics, and was cartwheeling and leaping around. It's hard to keep her still for photos sometimes, she's naturally active.





The dress has hidden sew-in snaps to the inside wrap, and to the outer wrap to snap it shut at the side seam. Next time, I might investigate using plastic snaps, or full metal snaps that have say a pretty bow, or butterfly to the outer. I would then snap them through both the lining and outer fabric for a bit more strength. I've found that simply hand sewing these little snaps to the cotton lawn lining is a bit precarious, and if Little Miss gets dressed/undressed with her usual vigour, then they are just going to rip a hole and fall out of the lining.



The skirt is a simple gathered rectangle attached to the outer bodice wrap piece, and all the way around the back bodice to the side. A small skirt placket at this side seam then allows enough room for the dress to be put on over the head, or pulled up from the floor and then up and over the shoulders. It allows just enough gather to twirl to the standard my Little Miss expects!



Like I have become accustomed to with The Eli Monster patterns, the skirt is finished with a blind hem. I like this finish as it can give an almost invisible hem line. I used this method again with this dress, but I think the thin weight of the fabric went against me. Either that, or I didn't pay enough attention to my needle position, and the stitches are a bit too visible for my liking. Can you guess where I bought this fabric? Yep, it came from my favourite online mill shop, Fabworks. I bought both fabrics last year at the same time, always with intention of pairing them together. I did make a little cropped jacket last summer to wear with a sun dress from the check fabric.



The check is a lightweight thin cotton, it is very bright and bold in real life, with large checks, it's actually quite hard to get the whole pattern in a small dress. The bodice is made from my favourite red chambray so has a bit more weight. I hoped this would enable the bow to stand up by itself, but I think it could possibly do with a bit of interfacing to add just a touch more stiffness.



The Rivier Dress pattern is on sale through 22nd July for the offer price of $7.

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*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

I started out sewing a couple of years ago aiming to make clothes, mainly dresses, to sell. I kept a free shop here. Last summer, I jumped on the high-low skirt bandwagon, and drafted my own simple bodice and high-low full circle skirt. I made a straight age 4 and put my daughter in it to model. I used Ad Lib Blooms Shout fabric from the Artisan collection by Art Gallery Fabrics. I totally love the bold colours and floral design. I should have bought more when I could, but you learn from your mistakes! I must say, I was reasonably new to photography, and still fairly new to sewing.



The bodice didn't fit my daughter, but she wasn't a straight age 4. So this dress sat unsold and unworn in the store all year. This year I decided to resurrect it. I tried it on my daughter again, and the bodice was still ill-fitting, too wide across the waist, and too short on the armscye (she's nearly 6). But the skirt length seemed fine still.



So I spent a while unpicking the skirt from the old bodice, and invisible zip. I sewed up the back centre seam (where the zip had previously been) and got rid of all the little fiddly bits of thread.



I've had the Free Spirit pattern since it was released by Duchess and Hare but have never got around to sewing it up. I keep seeing this dress pop up in various Facebook groups, and on various Instagram pages that I follow and I just had to sew it up. Printing out the pattern to my daughter's size, I was rather pleased that my skirt would fit the bodice with no alterations needed at all!



The bodice is easy to sew, there are no fiddly bias bound seams, no fiddly buttons or snaps, just a simple shop bought tie to be inserted at the construction stage. For this bodice, I used a cream coloured cotton lawn as the lining, with my favourite (sadly sold out) red chambray as the outer.



I'm lazy, and didn't fancy hand stitching the bodice lining down, so I sewed the skirt to the bodice lining, then top-stitched the main bodice to the skirt, thus enclosing the seam. It's a lot quicker than hand stitching, but the result isn't quite so pleasing to the eye. Next time, I think I'll spend the time hand stitching so that I don't get that line of top-stitching to give a truly clean finish.



To my delight, my daughter found the dress sitting on my dressmakers dummy early in morning, hugged it, stripped off in the living room, and put on the dress. She danced down the stairs to my bedroom with a huge grin on her face exclaiming that she loved it and could I tie it up at the back for her. I was super pleased she liked it, but the pre 7am wakeup was a bit much!



She has wanted to wear it for the past few days now. She even wore it for a two hour tennis lesson the other day. I think this may become a much loved dress this summer.



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I have finally found a pattern that is easy, quick, simple and classic looking. And even better, it is something that my son loves to wear. This is a huge win for me, and I have to thank Twig + Tale for such an awesome pattern!



He is over the moon that I have made him something for a change. He showed his appreciation by wearing the shirt continuously for days until I had to confiscate it to wash it. The fabric is a lovely soft cotton shirting from Fabworks. Sometimes I wish I didn't live an 8 hour drive away from their Millshop.... then other times sense kicks in, and I'm glad I'm so far away, I think I might be bankrupt if I was close by!



As soon as it was washed and ironed, he wore it again. It's now got a splodge of tree-sap on the front from playing in a pine forest, which sadly has not come out in the wash, despite being sprayed with Vanish first. I'm guessing it'll gradually wash out the more he wears and I wash it?



This picture above, both my son and daughter are intently inspecting the undergrowth in 'the Jungle'. It's a perfect view of the back (or front, the blouse can be worn with the tie at the front or back) of the shirt, and a little glimpse of the Pixie Dungarees on my daughter. Back to the pattern. This is marketed as a blouse and dress pattern, for girls. But from the moment I saw the line drawings, I knew I wanted to make up a shirt for my boy. It has a boho, casual, surfer vibe to it. It's simple and classic, and it suits him down to a tee.



I think he likes it because it's easy to wear, there are no buttons or ties, no itchy labels (he seems to have an aversion to shop bought clothes, and I always have to cut out the labels before he's happy) and it covers him up. He doesn't have to have sunscreen on his arms when the sun is out, and he doesn't have to wear a jumper to keep warm. I made him the plain 'blouse', it has long sleeves gathered to a small cuff, it has a gently gathered neckline into self made bias. In theory, I should have added either the neck-ties, or a button and loop to the open v-shaped neckline, but he was very certain he didn't want either.



My daughter was sad when she realised the shirt was for my son, so a week later, I have actually sewn up another shirt for him in red chambray in exactly the same options as this pictured green shirt (why change something that so obviously works for him!), a long sleeve blouse for her (nearly the same, but I added a button and loop to the neckline on her request), and I have a dress cut out ready to sew too (this dress version has a neck ruffle, and short sleeves gathered in to a cuff), all from the very same pattern.



There are so many combinations, you'd be hard pressed to make them all. You can have gathered cuffed sleeves, either short or long, elasticated sleeves in either short or long, long bias neck ties, button and loop or open neckline (like I made). Then, there is also the option to have a v-shaped neck opening, or a teardrop shape. You can have a blouse/shirt or dress. And to make it super girly, a neck ruffle is included, in either wide, or super wide! Like I say, soooo many options! The pattern is on sale now, until midnight Monday 3rd July (PST). You can get a bundled copy here.



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*I was given this pattern to sew up for photography purposes, however all views are my own. And seriously, this is one pattern I am in love with!*

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

I am so thrilled to be included in this new Cosy Toes Footwear Tour for Twig and Tale! It's my first time being in a blog tour, so I thought I'd be easing myself in with a small item like footwear. The sewing itself was easy and enjoyable, but photography of feet I have found out is not so easy. You can read more about the tour over at Twig and Tale. An additional discount code is in this post.



I have owned the wayfarer shoe pattern for some time, and made up several pairs of slippers for my own kids and as gifts for others. So for this tour I wanted to try my hand at the boots.



I had so many ideas floating around my head, ranging from full leather slip on boots to be worn as barefoot shoes (I still think I'll attempt this at some point in the future), to unicorn based wild things boots, to appliqued fairy boots for a truly girly look for Layla. But when it came to it, and I looked around my fabric stash, I settled on a simple pair of denim boots that I could enhance.



Inspired by the flower boots, I was now going in a very different direction to one I'd originally thought. I started looking through the internet for inspiration. I love paper origami and it got me wondering if I could create some origami flowers out of fabric? The google image search for origami using fabric brought up a few pages for butterflies which piqued my interest.



I found a couple of different tutorials online, and decided on one in particular (origami Matthews butterfly) and set about having a go with paper first to see how easy or hard it would be. My paper butterfly was easy and a success, so I tried it out on some floral and butterfly fabric. Again, this was actually really successful!



As my some of my original ideas included fairy wings on the back (in a similar fashion to the wild things dragon wings) I still wanted that wing effect. And a big butterfly on the centre back seam of the boot was a perfect fit. It looks a bit like wings from the front, but from the back is obviously a butterfly.



I used pale blue denim as the outer, silver leather as the sole, and lined the whole thing in butterfly print cotton poplin.



Between the sole and the lining, I added a piece of cotton batting, just to add a bit of cushioning and an extra layer for warmth. I did the same on the toe section. I chose not to add it to the main leg piece, but I'm slightly regretting that as it would have made them warmer, and also added a bit more support to the large butterfly on the back.




This tour coincides with the release of the new Ladies and Mens tie-back boots which are on sale until midnight (PST) Friday 9th June. The pattern is discounted already but the following code will then take the price down to just $7 (USD)!
CODE: COSYTOES for an ADDITIONAL 15% off the entire footwear collection. (This includes the new Tie Backs for Grown-ups, Wayfarers, Tie Backs, Flower Boots, Wild Things Shoes and Wild Things Boots).

Don't forget to check out the other bloggers in the tour:

Tuesday: Fliegfederfrei - Createnic - Sew Snippet - Sew Many Adventures

Wednesday: Sew Shelly Sew - She Who Sews - Life in our busy household - Inspinration

Thursday: Skirt Fixation - Sprouting Jube Jube - Needle and Ted - Just Add Fabric 

Did you know you can follow me on Instagram and I'd love for you to give me a like on Facebook.

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*

As part of the Twig and Tale inspiration team, we are given the chance to sew up new patterns in time for their release. There is no pressure to sew up each new release and when I saw the initial pictures for the Pixie Pants, I actually decided not to take part. But then as testing was extended and a new option was added, a tester photo totally changed my mind on the pattern. My picky model saw the picture too and said she really, really liked it, but the trousers were too short (they were culotte length, just below the knee). I checked with Lisa to make sure I could make full length trousers and made a start.



I chose to make the culotte style wide leg, bib front, bar strap back. I then lengthened the leg to make it full length. I did this simply by measuring Layla's inside leg and extending the pattern the extra length, and a bit extra for luck (you can never have too much length for a child's trouser, they grow so quickly that an extra turn of the hem is really useful!). The pattern comes with lots of options, from plain shorts, to suspender culottes, to a knee length romper (to me and my daughter, we refer to this option as a set of dungarees over here in the UK).



I had the perfect fabric for the job, a pink chambray from Fabworks Mill Shop. It's got a tiny herringbone pattern to it, and is the most wonderful fabric to work with. It appears to have totally sold out now, and I'm glad I managed to buy it in the red colourway too, I just love it!



I stupidly didn't pay a lot of attention to the sizing chart, and nonchalantly ignored the measurement chart detailing chest and height measurements. Well, I didn't ignore it, but I didn't pick up that it should have said waist instead of chest (don't worry, this has been corrected!). So I inadvertently made the pants 3 sizes too wide for Layla using her chest measurement.



I was so pleased with the result, they were so smart and neatly constructed, and I spent a lot of time top-stitching them to make them look perfect. Only for her to put them on and be a bit drowned. She perfected the little fit pic with the grumpiest face ever, and the phrase 'I hate them, I never asked for dungarees. I'm not going to wear them, they're awful'.



Oh the joys of an opinionated five year old.



I turned them inside out and fought them back on her to try to pin out the back crotch seam to take in some of the excess. But I would have had to take in so much that the fall of the fabric and fit of the legs would have been totally off. So I had a little hissy fit of my own and took them apart, entirely. I spent a whole evening unpicking the overlocking, the seams and then the top-stitching. I ended up covered in threads and feeling a little demoralised. I left the project and got a nights sleep to start afresh the next day. In the light of morning, I took the decision to just cut new trouser legs in the correct width and felt pretty silly at the hours of unpicking I did.



On the plus side, constructing them a second time was extremely quick! The pattern is well drafted, the pieces all fit, the notches all fit, everything just fits. The pattern instructions are really clear and detailed. For the first time, little video tutorials are included too! For a beginner this is an amazing pattern, for a more advanced seamstress, this will be an easy and satisfying sew that you can add your own special touches to.



The new size was met with a much, much better reception by Layla. She was happy to try them on, and even happier once they were on and buttoned up. I think she must have got out of bed on the wrong side for the first try!



I didn't like the idea of fighting my two kids to go out somewhere picturesque for photos. That seemed like more hard work than I needed. Instead, I took advantage of my garden, more specifically, my greenhouse. The weather has suddenly warmed up here in Cornwall, and after a little care a couple of months ago, my strawberry plants are already producing this year. I hoped they'd make a nice backdrop for photos, unlike the bug killers, slug pellets, compost and assorted pots that are also kept in there. What you can't see in the photos, is all this other paraphernalia that I put out on the lawn behind me.



In the right mood, Layla is a lovely little model now. She is trying to pose, and is listening a bit more to my suggestions on how to stand. Life is getting easier now they're both getting older, which is fantastic.





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*I was given this pattern to sew up as part of the Inspiration Team for Twig and Tale, for photography purposes for re-release of the updated pattern. However, all views and opinions are my own.*

*Disclaimer: Some of the links in the post are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission (the price stays the same for you) which will help me in the future to buy more patterns to share them with you!*