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  ! 

Christmas Sparkle

I really enjoy making special occasion dresses for Cordelia. I love a good theme, so normally I'm pretty traditional. Hearts on Valentines day, shamrocks for St. Patrick's, bunnies on Easter, velvet and sparkles for Christmas. Originally I had planned on green brocade for Christmas, however Cordelia has been really into long dresses and I wanted to make her some that she could wear every day and give them to her as Christmas gifts. I figured that once she opened these she might not want to wear her "special" Christmas dress. SO I ditched the original dress idea and just made these two.

Taking these photos with Cordelia was a lot of fun. We took them on the 26th of December and we had unseasonably warm weather which made everyone really happy. Cordelia was singing at the top of her lungs and dancing the whole time. 

This dress is made of 100% cotton Batman print fabric. Batman look especially aggressive in this print so I wanted to balance that by adding a lot of girly princess like details- like the puff sleeves and the ric rack. The appliqued Batman logo is Her favorite part of the dress. I used a commercial pattern- Simplicity 2463 in a size 3 with a size 5 length. The dress has a pretty hefty sized hem in it because she grows out of the length of things sooo fast. I followed the pattern pretty close except for adding the sleeves and a side patch pocket. Over all it's a pretty nice pattern- the instructions are clear and easy, but the neck is a little low for my taste. 

I was very anxious to see which dress she would pick to wear first. She picked Batman, which is the one Brendon thought she would go for- because it's fancier. 

The second dress is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle print gown. Also made from 100% cotton- but I can't give you a link because it looks like it's out of stock. This dress is kind of the opposite from the first in the fact that I wanted it very simple. The print is pretty active and I wanted her to be able to accessorize it however she wanted, without it being way too loud and crazy. 

I used Simplicity 1508 A in a size 4 with a 5 length. I don't have nearly as much to let it down but I have more in the body so I might have to make this a short dress before it gets retired. I pretty much kept to the pattern except I didn't line it I just used bias tape to hem the neck and arms- and I added a pocket because every girl needs a pocket! 

I love the fit of this pattern- the higher neckline just seems easier to wear, and the waistline is just in the perfect place. 

I tried and tried  to cut down on photos so this post wouldn't be crazy long! But alas, I failed and so here is one more.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it before- and if I did, you still might not know because I am lucky enough to have gained a few new readers!!! My Birthday is December 24th. It's my own Nightmare Before Christmas- I know, that's a little dramatic, but for so long I really hated my birthday. However, it's part of me and I'm learning to accept it and love it (which also makes it very Nightmare Before Christmas) 

I am such a procrastinator that I'm always left with a ton of work to do in preparation for Christmas- I hope I am not the only one up late baking and wrapping presents on December 24th, it's just super stinky because it's my birthday! Anyways, as part of my procrastination my full Sew Geeky outfit isn't finished- hopefully it will be posted later this week. Actually, because of the Holidays you can expect to see Sew Geeky from now until New Years! Which I think is fantastic because this month is one very near to my heart because it's Tim Burton month!

 I adore so many of Burton's films that is has been very hard to focus on one movie and one outfit. Sweeney Todd, Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands , Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow, and Nightmare Before Christmas are among some of my favorites. Cordelia loves Nightmare Before Christmas and went through a period where she wanted to watch it twice a day. She always tells me she wants the scary thing to live under her bed. So when I realized I wouldn't get my big project done for today (and I really really wanted to post something today) I decided it was a great opportunity to finish up a dress that has been sitting on my sewing desk for well over a month!

I had originally intended on making this dress a short dress- but I accidentally cut the skirt portion too long. However, Cordelia has been obsessed with long dresses and she refused to let me trim it more! 

The body of the dress is a t-shirt I picked up from Hot Topic ages ago. The stripe knit is from Girl Charlee - It was too light weight for the project I bought it for, but it worked well for this! I used Kitschy Coo's Skater Dress as the base for the dress. I let the size of the print on the t-shirt dictate the length of the bodice which meant it ended up with a drop waist- which I'm really digging! Cordelia's favorite part of the dress is the uneven hem- she loved how it twirled and swings when she moves. 

I normally don't take photos inside, but it has been sooo gray and rainy it's yucky and I love rain! I did manage to snap this one in our very short attempt to get outside photos- I love how happy she is. It is fun to be able to make things that are totally what Cordelia is in to at the moment, especially since she often likes things that aren't totally "normal" for her age and gender. Anyways be sure to check out the Sew Geeky Blog to keep tabs on all the other awesome Tim Burton posts (i'll try to add links to this post as other bloggers post too). Right now you can check out an awesome post over on Amelie and Atticus - I am absolutely in love with her recreation of Katrina Van Tassel's dress from Sleepy Hollow. It's one of my favorite dresses and she did an amazing job with it!  All right guys- have a wonderful and Merry Christmas!!! 

Sew Geeky: Epic Fantasy, Alanna the Lioness

Hey guys, it's my favorite time of the month- time for Sew Geeky! I had to bow out last month because Cordelia changed her mind about what she wanted to be for Halloween, and I ended up with nothing to contribute! Making me extra excited for this month's post.

November is Epic Fantasy month, and it was soo hard to pick just one thing to sew- and I only had time to sew one outfit! I love epic fantasy- Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, fairies, dragons, wizards- I love it all. Really my love goes back to when I was eleven and asked my mom to buy me a book called Alanna: The First Adventure, written by Tamora Pierce. 

Alanna is a girl who doesn't want to be a proper lady, she wants to be a Knight- but girls aren't allowed to go for Knight training. Unhappy with the situation Alanna disguises herself as a boy, trades places with her brother (who wants to be a wizard and not a knight), and becomes a legend. There is magic, sword fights, and talking cats. I was hooked, and I remain hooked. I still read every new book Ms. Pierce puts out, and I re-read the entire series whenever I am particularity stressed and need a "vacation".

Alanna is fierce, independent, and determined. All qualities I see in Cordelia, so it was fun to tell her stories about Alanna as I was sewing this outfit for her. (She isn't old enough for the books yet, but I can't wait to read them with her)

Cordelia's leggings are self drafted out of brown velour, and some sort of stretchy gold velvet-ish fabric (I've never worked with anything like it, and I should have written the name down). Her tunic is an upcycled burgundy sweatshirt , with more of the gold fabric- to emulate armor. The tunic I made using the Bimaa Sweater.  I sized up to account for the limited stretch in the sweatshirt fleece, and I sloped the hem to make it longer in the back. This is my first Bimaa, and I'm convinced I put the cowl on backwards, so I'm anxious to try another one to see if I can do it correctly! 

The cover art for the books often show Alanna wearing gauntlets, and plate armor shin guards, and so I thought the color blocking was a nice way to give that look. Stitched to the front is Alanna's signature Lioness- not my best stitch work, but I think it still sort of looks like the picture of her shield.

Cordelia especially enjoyed sword fighting with a giant- using the awesome crocheted sword my sister made her. She lost some fights. . .

and won some! Taking these pictures were soo much fun!


As always please go check out the other amazing women sewing this month- you won't regret it because they made amazing things!

Kat, Annika and Kelley