Join me, Snow, in my adventures in sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting - crafting is my lifeblood! Come along, we'll grow in our expertise together.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Sneak peek of the new Clemence Shorts from Filles a Maman!

10:37 AM Posted by SnowSews
Spring is still a few weeks away, but my heart has been crying out for warmer weather. It is my pleasure to show you a few sneak peeks of the new Clemence shorts from Filles a Maman!

The pattern will be available on UpCraftClub ONLY from 18th to 22th of February, 2015. If you are a member, you can buy the pattern with your credits for $6.95. After that, it will be available on the designer's website, Fillesamaman.net (affiliate link) from the 23rd of February 2015 onward.


Clemence Shorts are a fun, easy pattern with scalloped panels down the front.


With clear instructions and well notated pattern pieces, this pattern is great for beginners. 


Mel Henry is a warm, wonderfully receptive designer who took every tester's suggestion and continually updated the pattern throughout testing. We went through several iterations until everyone was happy with the fit and instructions.


The full view of the outfit is still a little while away, since the top is still secret. It's an amazing combination, well worth the wait!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Testing for Sofilantjes, an amazing experience!

10:45 AM Posted by SnowSews
Anne Jacobs, of Sofilantjes Patterns, is a talented PDF pattern designer. I was lucky to be chosen to test the Iridis Dress add-on pattern, which is a circle skirt complement to the original Iridis wrap dress with a paneled skirt. The Iridis circle skirt add-on will be on SALE from Sunday, 15th February 2015, to Wednesday, 18th February for $2.50 (normal price $4.50) The Iridis wrap dress + circle skirt add-on BUNDLE will be on sale for $10 (normal bundle price $11.95).

The best thing about her as a designer was that she took everyone's feedback seriously, and always had a helpful word for each tester. We had a wonderful group of testers, and all of us shared videos of our kiddos twirling in this twirltastic dress! (I *had* to use the word twirltastic for this dress, it's a given!) Miki even learned to twirl in this dress! She's really growing up too fast.



And the best part? The add-on skirt piece works perfectly with the original bodice. The new skirt piece fits the original bodice piece exactly, and looks great sewn on. The pattern has so much information - fabric choices, layered printing, printing layout and guide to print only the pages you need for your chosen size, child's actual measurements, finished garment measurements, fabric chart, how to put on binding, and an awesome summary of the instructions both in words and in pictures. This much information I have seldom seen from any pattern designer, if ever.


 The fabrics I used were a cotton interlock from Joann (green flowers), a mystery pink and white stripe that I had in my scrap basket that had over 100% stretch, and 95/5 cotton lycra jersey from Purpleseamstress on Facebook.


The Circle Skirt option is great for a clean look, and since it's a wrap dress, it flares out beautifully when Miki walks. The only gathering needed is at the sleeves, and the most time consuming part of the pattern is applying the binding, which takes ten minutes at the most. This was definitely a nap-time dress for me, going from start to finish in under two hours. I mostly used my serger, and finished the hem and binding topstitching using my trusty double needle. Easy as pie! 



The Iridis is designed for both knits and wovens, and has options like short or long sleeves, a tiered/paneled skirt or simple or circle skirt. It's a must-have in my opinion, since most wrap dress patterns don't have such good coverage and tend to gape when walking. It's easy to get on a wriggly toddler, and is great in a collection of classic looks. You could add a ruffle along the bodice neckline before doing the binding, and it would turn romantic and vintage-looking. Use lace in strategic areas, or mix and match fabrics, or even make a tulle skirt with a lining and attach it to this bodice to make it amazingly poofy! There have been a few patterns I have sewn up that just don't look as nice as the tester pics do. The original Iridis dress, though, I must say, has so many possibilities that every iteration looks beautiful and unique.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Opal dress by Tie Dye Diva!

9:11 AM Posted by SnowSews
Tie Dye Diva, or TDD, is a very well-loved pattern designer. I bought the Opal pattern on Black Friday during her sale, and now wish I had bought more. It's a knit pattern that's right up my alley.  



The stylish curved bodice is so on trend right now, and has plenty of room to layer a t-shirt underneath. I love the little flutter sleeves, especially with Miki's slender arms. 



The fabric I used was a half yard of my treasured and jealously guarded Night Foxes, by Lillestoff. I had bought it when it was completely out of print, from someone that was destashing her entire collection. I was so lucky to get it for a decent price, because I know I would have paid at least double the retail price had I not scored right then. 


With the contrast blue flutters in a solid cotton-lycra from Purpleseamstress Fabrics on Facebook, I was able to squeeze out the dress and get two bum circles for Maxaloones down the line. But that's for another post. 

I only wish I had successfully pulled out her pacifier before these photos, but my little stubborn girl just howled and kept popping it back in. Some battles you just don't win!