The Paneled Sun suit Pattern: Review

Hi guys! I know it's been a little quiet on the blog front but I sure have been busy sewing! I am thrilled to share some of that sewing with you today. 

I don't sew from patterns much, but when I saw that Call Ajaire was calling for testers for her new sunsuit pattern I jumped at the opportunity. I had seen a couple versions Ajaire had made on Instagram and they were just soo stinking cute! 

One of the best parts about this pattern is just how versatile it is. In one pattern you can make a sun suit, jumpsuit, short dress, maxi dress, pants, shorts, top, and a skirt. That is a ton of options, am I right!?! And- all of the instructions are super detailed and beautifully illustrated. 

The Paneled Sun Suit pattern was so fun to sew I ended up making three versions of it- starting with the jumpsuit view. I used a thicker gauze like fabric, so even though it's pants its comfortable to wear in the current hot weather (and it offers some protection from the rotten mosquitoes).  The pattern features elastic straps, waist and back making it easy to wear and will allow it to be worn for longer (because kids just grow soo fast)

 

In addition to the multiple styles you can make with this pattern it also has three different pocket options. You can choose no pocket, a plain pocket, or a self piped pocket. For the jumpsuit I went with a plain pocket and I think start to finish the whole thing took me a little over an hour to sew. 

The second version I made was the maxi dress version. I always worry about making things too short for Cordelia because she grows soo fast and so I accidentally made this dress a tad too long- but Cordelia loved that it was "super super long like a princess".

This dress was made from a thrifted vintage sheet with pink vintage rick rack trim at the neck and then blue floral cotton details. This time I tried out the self piped pockets and I love the detail! They were also much easier to sew then I had guessed they might be. 

I really dig the elastic straps in the Paneled Sun Suit- they seem to make it much more comfortable to wear and in the sun suit and jumpsuit versions it makes it super easy for Cordelia pull it on and off. 

I don't want to say this is the final one- because I am sure going to make more Paneled Sun Suits- but for the final view for this post I made the sun suit version. As you all know we run a little geeky in this house and as soon as I started thinking about sewing a shorts version I knew it had to look like Batman. 

I feel like we could all fight crime and save Gotham in this, right?

Cordelia was the happiest the day we took the Batman photos so I was able to get some good detail shots to show you all the neat bits of this pattern. 

I cannot tell you enough times just how much I love this pattern. It is available exclusively today till Sunday at Up Craft Club, and starting Monday you can purchase it HERE. Also you should totally check out all of the other awesome versions all the wonderful testers made by looking up the hashtag #paneledsunsuit  ! 

Halloween Birthday Party Costume

I don't think you can have a truly awesome Halloween Birthday Party without a truly awesome costume. So when Cordelia asked to be a "blue and pink fairy" for her party I did my best to go all out.

We ordered these really awesome soft wings from Amazon (I think they might be the best thing I have ever bought Cordelia because we break wire wings in three days and she can wear them in the car which has saved us soo many tears) and based the rest of the costume around them. It was a challenging pink to match, but in the end (and with the help of my nephew who wanted to cry because I was soo indecisive at the fabric store) I am really happy with how it came out. The bodice is a calico cotton, and the skirt is a couple layers of metallic blue dress up fabric, teal fish scale organza, dark teal sparkle tulle, and pink shinny tulle. 

I was tickled to find flowers that matched soo well for the crown and the waist- and this is the first flower crown I have ever made! 

I did not make the wand because I ran out of time, so I was very happy when the pink glitter I used to recover an old worn out pair of shoes helped to tie the wand into the theme! 

The most fun I have sewing is when I can make Cordelia something that I know I would have loved to have as a kid. Sometimes Its hard not to feel that she is soo totally her father's child- but fairies, princesses, magic and fabulous dresses? That's totally our thing. 

Happy Halloween Birthday Party

I kinda love party planning- nothing gets me more excited than a good theme. So I was totally thrilled when Cordelia picked my absolute favorite thing as the theme for her 4th birthday party: Halloween. My my mind started racing with ideas- and thank goodness I have such loving siblings or it never would have gotten all done (since school was eating me a live up until 4 days before the party).

 I think that paper invitations are one of the coolest things- I really love a good invite, and even though everyone kept telling me to let this one thing go I just couldn't do it and I love how they turned out. I saw the idea on One Charming Party and we pretty much used her templates- but my nephew did the inside body a little different, and my sister  used her silhouette to cut everything out. 

Our apartment is a little too small to host all of our family friends and so each year we find someplace new to hold the birthday party- we have rented a community room at a friends place, held the party at my mom's, my brother and sister in law graciously let us use their yard, and this year we were able to use a room at Brendon's lodge. We were excited to use the lodge because with Cordelia gaining more neighborhood friends we really wanted to keep it super local and the lodge is in waking distance for most of them! Also no one had to clean their house- which is a total added perk. And we set up the night before which helped my sanity level immensely.  

We decked the place out with streamers, paper pumpkins Cordelia helped make, tons of balloons, and every Halloween decoration my mom and I own (which is actually kind of a lot). 

We ate pulled chicken sandwiches, mummy dogs, monster marshmallow pops, spider web decorated bean dip, cheese ball, pumpkin shaped rice crispy treats, monster cupcakes, and the coolest Maleficent barbie cake made by my sister. 

Each kid got to adopt their own monster- also made by my sister who loves me and likes to enable my crazy (if making 25 monsters for a birthday party isn't love I don't know what is)

Each monster came with a certificate for the kid to fill out- naming their monster and promising to take care of it. The kids really loved them- and it was especially fun to see what they picked for names. We had Boobo, Princess Patty, Kron Kron, Boo Boo Butt, Hydro, Gerbie, Lily, Octopus, Pickle, and a couple who hadn't been named yet. 

The kids got also got to decorate and take home a Halloween tote bag- donated from my boss and designed and printed by my brother. Hopefully the kids will use them for Trick or Treating come Halloween! They also got to color super cute coloring books (that I failed to photograph with my real camera) that had all sort of fun Halloween activities in them (made by my nephew and my sister Lori) 

Last, but not least was Monster Bowling! My brother and sister in law painted these bowling pins for the party and I cannot get over how  awesome they are. I keep trying to pick my favorite ones- but they are all soo cute!

As a prize for bowling the kids got bloody popcorn hands, and spider lollipops. 

 

Cordelia, Brendon, and I are soo grateful for everyone that helped us create, set up, and clean up for this party- you are all truly amazing. And thank you to all of our friends who came and helped us celebrate, we couldn't have picked more awesome people to help us celebrate another year in the life of Cordelia! 

Dear Watson

I recently had the privilege to test a wonderful pattern created by Felice Regina, the mastermind behind Sew Scatterbrained. I've been following Felice on Instagram for a while now and I really love what she makes, so when she put out the call for testers for her Dear Watson Bag, I pounced.  

I have to admit, when I sew for myself I am incredibly guilty of cutting corners. I never give myself the time to make something well made for me, I figure "Hey, I'm the only one who will see it!". I think that's why I love patterns- I really have to take my time, read the instructions, and I always learn great new tricks and tips along the way! I spend a lot of my time sewing for other people and I am really tickled to have made this bag for myself. 

For example- my first inside zipper pocket! I could never wrap my head around how these worked, but Felice's instructions were super clear and I got it right the first try! 

The Dear Watson Bag was named such because "It's elementary, My dear Watson", Felice intended it to be a bag that would help new sewers get a true feeling for bag construction. While I am certainly not a new sewer, I do lack experience in structured bag construction, and because of that I really appreciate and love this pattern.  The directions are easy to follow, and I really learned a lot about hardware and interfacing as it pertains to bags. I used slightly different hardware, and next time I am sticking to what was recommended because these were a little difficult to sew around. 

 I think one of the best parts of this bag (besides it's perfect size) is that it's just made out of cotton- and it has such good shape retention and weight! I over-complicated things for myself and used duck for the details, but on my next bag (and I can't wait to make another one!) I plan on sticking to regular cotton for the whole thing. 

I really couldn't recommend this pattern more, There are different options for the handles, pockets, and closures so you can really use this pattern to make your perfect bag. The pattern is available for purchase starting May 2nd through Felice's Craftsy Store .

Dear Cordelia

I can hardly believe its been four years since the first time I held your little 8 pound 10 ounce self. I can remember that first moment very clearly. I don't think I could ever forget just how tiny and perfect you were. 

Being a mom makes time do such strange things, some days can feel soo long and soo hard but then at the same time they speed fast and next thing you know it your kid is out of diapers. I wish I could go back and hold you while you slept and smell your baby sent. 

But time does not move backwards, only forwards. So many things have happened over the years, so many adventures, art projects, quiet moments, and crazy ones too. This year we went on our first family vacation, we spent many evenings on family nature walks, and we went to see your first movie (in theaters).

You got your first pair of glasses! and your first hair cut! 

You took ballet, taekwondo, and basketball. 

You humored me by sitting for tons of photo shoots, and we had so much fun and I am glad to have captured so many moments and so many smiles. 

Cordelia it's been a blessing to watch you grow. You always pick the funny looking strawberries, because you think they are the most special. You love superheros, princesses, Totoro, bugs, dirt and glitter- and you don't know that most people feel those things don't belong together, and I hope that when you do know it, that you never care.  Your favorite color is "all the colors, except for brown", and you love breakfast food.  This year you learned how to make friends, read some words, open pill bottles (which freaks me out and I don't know how you do  it) and every day you get more independent. You can reach all of the light switches by yourself- even if sometimes you pretend that you can't.

I love that when you open boxes of toys you describe the details to me (like the packaging, and the movements of the toy). You love watching "Treehouse builders" and "How it's made" as much as you enjoy Doc McStuffins. You tell me stories and draw me monsters and I love your creativity and curiosity, even if sometimes it means colored on and disassembled toys. Cordelia, I love you, and your Papa loves you. You are our adventure, you are our sunshine, and we are looking forward to watching you grow even more.