My Favourite Things

So the theme this month on the Sewing With Ti Blog Tour is “My Favourite Things”! This category is so hard for someone like me that just loves EVERYTHING! So I decided to make myself one of my favourite patterns and get my bum moving on my kids favourites, for their summer sewing too!

This is the Little Kiwis Closet Women’s Cuffed Dolman! It is a great relaxed dolman tee in a longer tunic length with a curved hem. It also comes in a dress length option which I chose to make here. I was sent this gorgeous Pink Aztec Rayon Spandex by Orinoco Designs to showcase for a current fabric pre-order and I knew it would be a perfect match!

The drape is perfect for this pattern and it is a great print for young and old. My girls loved it, but I had to (very unselfishly) show you all how great it was made up as a grown up piece!

I wasn’t a complete monster though… I saved the girls a few scraps and I used some straight away to run up this cute top! It’s the Little Kiwis Closet Choose Your Adventure Tee & Dress. I created this cute cap sleeve and pocket and added it to this royal blue cotton lycra I had in my stash. I think this is perfect for the theme – as one of my favourite things to do is mash and tweak patterns!

I used the flutter sleeve pattern piece from the Poppet Peplum pattern and added an inch or 2 to the centre so that it would fit the armscye perfectly. I lined the “flutter/cap” with some white cotton lycra to give it some body before attaching it. I absolutely love how this turned out and it just covers the shoulders nicely to protect them from our harsh summer sun!

Then we of course had to have some pics together, because – matching!

It was so cold! You have to remember it’s winter here at the moment and it was 7:30am before school! We are so lucky to have such mild winters, but boy was it fresh and frosty this morning!

I have a few more scraps left, so I used a tiny bit to jazz up this plain tank as well, but I will not waste a bit – it’s too cute!

Next up I want to show you a sneak peek of the girls version of the Cuffed Dolman! It’s in testing right now and is looking just as awesome as the women’s version!!!

This one I upcycled from a women’s large tshirt we found (stripes are her favourite) and I made the regular cuffed sleeves.

There is a long sleeve version too that I’ll share with you soon and you can also opt to leave the cuffs off altogether and just hem!

You can see from my upcycle that the back of the shirt has a centre seam. I hope this means that the manufacturer is being frugal with fabric! I love to upcycle as a way to reduce landfill and to get awesome cheap fabric.

This length is perfect with tights and I will make her some dolman dresses for summer as well. I know I live in them, so I am betting my girls will too!

Here’s an essential shot of my stripe matching – I’m sorry but if you are sewing stripes, they just have to match 😉 ! It also shows the cool curved hem.

Next up are some more great basics! I love to make pretty dresses, but my girls just want to wear shorts and tees! So while I never thought I’d make basics when you can get them cheap from Kmart, I love that they get something amazing and unique from me, with great quality fabrics and no exploited labour. Except for me of course… They fully exploit me!

This is the Pearlie Peplum and Scuttle Shorts from One Thimble Issue 16! This issue has only recently released and I am sewing my way through it! These patterns will be on high rotation! I used another Orinoco Designs print from a previous round for the bodice and the front panel of a tshirt I upcycled did the peplum skirt front and back.

The Pearlie Dress & Peplum is by Peach Patterns and I have lengthened the bodice here by 2 inches to bring the peplum down closer to her natural waist. This is just a personal preference. When I made the dress previously I used the size 7 length skirt, but because I added length to the bodice here, I used the size 5 peplum skirt length.

I teamed it with the Scuttle Shorts by Ainslee Fox Boutique Patterns. I made the basic version here without any pockets or colour blocking and they were soooo fast! This girl looooves her knit shorts so I am going to make a full rainbow of these! This was a knit my Mum grabbed from Spotlight for me. As a bonus, they don’t take very much fabric at all!

Check ’em out – they’re adorable!

 

Ok so let’s recap a few of my favourite things…

• The LKC Cuffed Dolman
• Awesome custom print fabric
• Pattern hacking
• Matching my minis
• Upcycling
• Stripe matching
• Little Kiwis Closet
• One Thimble
• Sewing things my kids will actually wear

Did I miss anything? I’m sure my girls have their own list to add!

 

If you’d like to see what everyone else on board has chosen to share this month, you can view their posts here! Each post will go live on it’s date in August.

 

Tuesday, August 1st: Intro ***You are here. 😀, Tenille’s Thread

2nd: Stitching At Night

3rd: Sewing By Ti

4th: Needles To Say

5th: Very Blissful

Sunday, August 6th: The Fairy Dust Bin

7th: Anne-Mari Sews

8th: Sewing With Sarah

9th: Thats Sew Lily

10th: Stitching at Night

11th: EYMM

12th: Sew Sew Ilse

Sunday, August 13th: Lulu & Celeste

14th: Seams Sew Lo

15th: Tales From a Southern Stitching Mom

16th: Stitching and Making

17th: Creative Counselor

18th: Ma Moose

19th: Kainara Stitches

Sunday, August 20th: Embrace Everyday

21st: She Who Sews

22nd: Idle Sunshine

23rd: My Heart Will Sew On

24th: Lovely For Life

25th: Margarita On the Ross

26th: Anne-Mari Sews

Sunday, August 27th: Made By Melli

28th: Adventures with Bubba and Bug

29th: Auschick Sews

30th: Me Made

31st: Living in Twinado Alley

 

Warmest Wishes,

Brooke x

Idlesunshine

 

Back To School With MADEIT Patterns

So what’s happening in your part of the world? I’m guessing for most of you it’s summer and your kids are heading back to school after their break? Not here! It’s winter and we are in the middle of Term 3 for the year!

In Australia our school year is broken into 4 terms with 2 week breaks in between them. It typically begins at the end of January and goes through to mid December, when we have our 6 week Summer break over Christmas and New Years.

Do you think that the different timing of our school years stopped me from saying YES to sewing for a “Back to School” tour when asked by Olu of Madeit Patterns? I don’t think so!

Do you think the fact that my kids wear a strict uniform at a private school worried me about this theme? Do I look worried…?

Because who else in this family goes to school? Hello…? I do!

I have been studying myself, AND I work in a primary school with children in Kindergarten!

So this Back to School outfit is for all you fabulous teachers, teachers aides or even school mum’s, volunteers or students out there! Really anyone can wear it and there’s options for all the seasons!!

First I made this funky Sling Bag in the Maxi size! I have a thing for crossbody messenger bags, so that was an easy decision. It has welt pockets in the strap and under the front flap as well as a key loop included. It’s a fabulous size for fitting all your essentials and it’s very comfortable to wear & much easier to make than I expected! #notabagmaker

The strap length was spot on too! You just use the height range chart for choosing the right length for you. The bag fabric is a heavy weight “Mexican Poncho” fabric from Spotlight (not available on their website). I lined it with a smooth blue poly mystery fabric from my stash. I used it for a pop of colour and it also has a nice feel to it as lining. I like that I didnt need any interfacing or special extras other than 2 zips, this means I can make plenty more without needing any special or expensive supplies.

I also made the Groove Dress for Adults! This design is also available as patterns in sizes for children and teens! I made it with contrasting long sleeves, a round neck and a high-low hem. I made it with this gorgeous Khaki Cotton Spandex from Wicked Fabrics. It has great recovery and is a really nice weight. I love Khaki and black together, so I wanted to give this combination a try. This dress is so comfortable, fits perfectly and I got so many comments at work that day!

Tell me… Is it a fail? Should I have stuck to all Khaki? Because you know I can take the sleeves off and replace them… I’d love to hear your opinion!

Don’t mind me getting blown around in the August wind here! I teamed it with tights and boots and I headed straight to work from here!

Now to the exciting part! What’s a blog tour without a discount?

Madeit Patterns are offering 20% off all their patterns

(using the code – btsis)

until the end of August!

That means you can purchase any pattern from their site at 20% off – not just the two you have seen here!

Here are the other bloggers on tour this week with Madeit Patterns!

Be sure and grab some inspiration from them too ❤

CONTRIBUTORS
TRUDY – Fox and Me
BROOKE – Idle Sunshine
MARIA – My Cozy Co
EMILY – Enjoyful Makes
THAO – Little Cumquat
SASKIA – She Who Sews
MIRANDA – Inspinration
ANN – Atelier In ‘t Leerke
TOYA – Made by Toya
OLU – Needle and Ted

One Thimble Issue 16 – Under The Sea

Oh my gosh! Where do I even start? One thimble Issue 16 is here and it is bigger, brighter and more beautiful than ever!

Included in this issue are 11 awesome PDF patterns for the ridiculous price of AUS$25:

High Tide Trousers (NB-12)

Triton Tank (1-12)

Scuttle Shorts (3-12)

Hally Dress (1-12)

Miss Olivia Dress (Ladies AU 6-20)

Pearlie Dress (1-12)

Makana Mermaid Skirt (2-4, 5-7, 8-10)

Melody Mermaid Tail (3-8)

Mermaid Pocket Doll & Shell (handsewn)

Murray is a Merman (Free Motion Applique)

Meg is a Mermaid (Free Motion Applique)

What a steal! It’s a gorgeous collection that will fill your wardrobes full of practical warmer weather staples! The Under The Sea theme is designed with comfort and fun in mind for our upcoming Australian Spring. Don’t think that if you are headed into Fall that this magazine is not for you though, One Thimble is very versatile and has something for everyone.

I have absolutely jumped on the One Thimble Fan-wagon this year and with each Issue I have sewn more and more! So far in testing this issue I have made 2 Triton tanks, 2 pairs of Scuttle shorts, 2 Hally dresses, a Pearlie dress and 2 Makana Mermaid skirts! I am proud to say that I have contributed another article to this issue as well, looking at mashing sizes in PDF patterns for the right fit! So grab your coffee and vanilla slice, we could be here for a while with all the pics I have taken!

First let’s take a look at the Hally Casual Dress! These dresses were such a fun project! They were designed by Jen of Ainslee Fox Boutique Patterns in sizes 1-12, who also happens to be the Editor and Creator of One Thimble.

I love the loose comfortable fit and the combinations are endless with fabric mixing here!

Magic Method 1

I made one using the magical first binding method and then we also decided to try a traditional bias method, so you can see both versions here.

Traditional Method 2

It has a simple elastic back with no buttons and zips!

If I’d had enough 1 inch gingham, that would have been my pick for this dress, so don’t be suprised if you see that version pop up soon!

I’m putting a little grid of pics in here, because you’ll be scrolling for days if I add all our pictures individually 😉

Next up is the Pearlie Dress & Peplum in sizes 1-12 by Peach Patterns.

It is a dolman style tshirt dress with a gathered skirt. There are 2 fit options to choose from and we chose the slim fit. It includes 3 pocket styles, but we chose to leave the pocket off for this version.

It is a super comfortable dress and a nice fast sew. This is my girls’ favourite style, they are into simple design and it lets you mix fabrics to change up the look. I can see a million combinations for this dress.

I love the high-low hem which curves up to the side seams. I also love her styling, and she loves her new tie dye socks with a cause from Help Astrid!

Every outfit needs matching bows, so I fussy cut these from the same gorgeous pastel rainbow leopard cotton lycra I used for the bodice!

Next up is the Triton Tank! It’s a casual knit pattern also by Ainslee Fox Boutique Patterns. It works best with fabrics that have a fluid drape (which you can actually read all about in the article on page 64)!

It can be made in sizes 1-12 and I love the roomy fit. This outfit made my kids so happy, they are all about the t-shirts and shorts! It doesn’t matter how many pretty dresses I make, they will always go straight for the basics! Can you blame them – look how comfortable they look!

That is definitely my new mission… Sew all the basics!

The Scuttle Shorts are also by Ainslee Fox Boutique Patterns and team perfectly with the tank. They can be made in sizes 3-12 in knit fabric. As you can see here, they are a unisex pattern in 2 lengths (Shorty & Jamaica lengths). I made both of mine with the panels and pockets, because they are so cute for colour blocking, but there is a simple plain option too, that would be a super fast sew.

My guy loves both this tank and shorts, I had to keep hiding them until we got a chance to take photos or he would have worn them out!

I’m sure you can spot sand and bark all over them from their little adventures this afternoon! This spot on the bay is just gorgeous and full of old trees to climb on.

We happened to hit this spot right on low tide on the most beautiful winters day! It was 4:30pm and it was so warm (25C)!

If you happen to visit us in the near future, you may find us back at that spot, with some deck chairs and drinks next time I think!

I have to show you our Makana Mermaid Skirts from testing too! They totally deserved their own blog post, because I  took so many cute pics of them in testing! This particular weekend we happened to experience some horrendous weather associated with an event known as an East Coast Low. Think Winter on steroids – RAIN, WIND, COLD! I also happened to be sick as a dog to match the weather! I dragged myself out to get the pics and we jagged a tiny bit of sunshine! My husband couldn’t believe we were going to the beach, but I knew we would sneak them in.

 

Now I know you’ve seen a lot, but every Issue I have said that Free Motion Applique is on my to-do list, so if we roll around to the Issue 17 tour and it hasn’t happened, give me a virtual tap on the shoulder and maybe a bit of a glare or something… I’m saying it – I will be FMA-ing that damn gorgeous Meg the Mermaid come hell or high water! So keep me honest and make sure it happens!

We are very lucky (and SUPER EXCITED as you can see below…) to be giving away a copy of Issue 16! So click the Raffle copter link below for your chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you like the fun things I’ve made to celebrate this issue!

Make sure to stop by the other bloggers to see what they have made!

Blog Tour Kickoff

Pattern Revolution

8/11/2017

Sewing with Sarah

GAAF Machine

8/12/2017

Call Ajaire

Happy Okapi

Idle Sunshine

8/13/2017

Pear Berry Lane

Candice Ayala

Needles to Say

8/14/2017

House of Estrela

That’s-Sew-Kari

Made by Sara

8/15/2017

Little Cumquat

Beri Bee Designs

Once Upon a Sewing Machine

8/16/2017

Sprouting JubeJube

Sew Haute Blog

Lily Shine Creates

8/17/2017

Lulu & Celeste

Adventures with Bubba and Bug

Curtiepie

Tadah Patterns Makana Mermaid Skirt – One Thimble Issue 16

I had so much fun testing the Tadah Patterns Makana Mermaid Skirt from Issue 16 of One Thimble! These pics were too good to be left lonely and unseen on my Mac, so here’s a post with very few words – because no words are needed ❤

For the full issue round up see my Issue 16 Release Blog Post – coming soon ❤