It's a Jolly Holiday

It's hard to shop for my little brother - his tastes have remained consistent through the years, so he's amassed quite the collection of things he likes - but handmade clothing using custom fabric does seem to do the trick. Our whole family is Disney fans in general, and he's a HUGE Mary Poppins fan in specific, so when I saw this fabric I could not resist.

Cole's Creations Jerry Raglan is my go-to Men's raglan pattern - not for any *particular* reason, other than that I've already printed and assembled it - but it's been a reliable and trusted part of my arsenal for years now.

For this shirt I paired the featured fabric with a red "oil paint" print from Kammie Lou Lou's Texture Collection. I was pleased with the result! and I was also pleased to learn he was wearing it when my parents went out to visit him for Christmas. A Jolly Holiday indeed!

Oh, Baby Princess

I have lost count of the number of times I've made the Simple Life Pattern Co Isla, but it's a favorite for a reason. This one was made to be given at my husband's coworker's baby shower.

I lucked out that they were putting together a Disney princess themed nursery. and that I had the perfect "ensemble" princess fabric to go with it. This is the elbow-length sleeves, natural-waisted, circle skirted Isla in 6m size, and I'm hoping it will make a little girl (and her parents) very happy early next year!

It Has Pockets

Lately my daughter has been very much a shirt-and jeans kind of girl, so even though I *want* to sew her the kind of tulle-heavy, puffed-sleeve masterpieces you see on Custom Collective and Club Pixieville (see here and here), as it turns out that if I want her to actually *wear* it, I am better off with simpler silhouettes and more practical designs.

Simple Life Pattern Co introduced the Zoe on August 25, and with its visually interesting/unique elements being  princess seams and useful pockets, it seemed like a good choice for my daughter.  Especially with those pockets. In my mind, I held off FOREVER on buying it. In actuality I held off until... 9/2, so *slightly* longer than a week (I checked), but in my mind I assure you it felt like forever. 

My first foray into the pattern was using a Sleep My Beauty print from the now-defunct Firefliez Fabrics. I added this amazing green flame from Kammie Lou Lou for the accents, and chose the peplum length with a regular back and circle skirt option. 

Even though I followed the size chart, double-checked my 1" square, and made it the same size as most of her favorite store-bought clothing, I found this shirt ended up just a *little* short on my daughter. It was still wearable, but I found her tugging it down quite a bit.

So of course, if you don't (fully) succeed, try, try again. For my second attempt, I realized I could add length to  the bodice by extending the lines on the princess seams and on the side seams, so I sized up one size, and added another 3/4" in height. This fabric came from Custom Knit Destash, and I ran it by my daughter before committing: she went crazy for it! 

She also asked me for a scooped back, which I was nervous to do since I was sizing up. But after some brainstorming, I realized I had the perfect excuse to purchase the Simple Life Shelby and steal a design element from it; namely, the straps on the back. In retrospect I had thought there would be a bigger trick to the strap design and there wasn't - I just had to muscle the fabric around to attach it between the outer layer and the lining - but sometimes it's just worth KNOWING, and I am sure the built-in capped-sleeve element will serve me well in the future too.

As for now, I'm just happy to have a top my daughter will wear, at least on the weekends. I miss when she was little and would don anything I made with gusto, but I guess I am grateful that her newfound taste is providing me with new challenges and opportunities to grow. I think at the very least, she is grateful for the pockets :-)