Sew Family Jammies 2020 Blog Tour

We made it guys! School is out for Summer! We are officially on holidays and heading to the beach for a few weeks. These Un-Christmas jammies will be perfect for waking up Christmas morning at the beach, but also perfect at any time of year!

As part of our Sew Jammies 2020 Blog Tour – Get your free ticket here (so you can get discount codes and be eligible for prizes)! Read all about Sew Family Jammies with Sew Altered Style (Mac and Katie) and Maker Mountain Fabrics (Grace) and Blog Tour Coordinator Extraordinaire (Teri aka FaSewLa) here.

I am only sewing what my kids request these days. I am short on time and hate to waste it sewing something that sits in the closet unloved. They all love simple summer jammies. Boxer shirts and tanks and tees are perfect for our summer Christmas.

I actually thought they’d all request a tank, so luckily I asked before I got too far into the project. I used the Ainslee Fox Triton Tank to make the tank and the Jalie Mimosa for the tees and just straightened the hem.

I didn’t have any red knit fabric so I bought some large tees and upcycled them (which was actually much cheaper lol). I was able to keep the necklines on all the tops from the original shirts!

I tried to convince them to let me applique a star or something on each top to match the shorts, but I got a hard and fast NO. #boring

I used the Made by Jacks Mum Hang Ten shorts for all the boxers. It’s a great pattern, I’ve used it a hundred times. I just made them the length they all like ( the girls like theirs a little shorter than my son).

The only thing I did differently was use 2.5cm elastic in the waist instead of 3cm (as that’s what I had on hand), and I also attached the elastic to the fabric instead of making a casing. Who likes their elastic flipping in their waistband? Not me…

As you can see they’re a hit! I bought the shorts fabric from an opshop, but it’s currently in store at Spotlight. I got a few metres of it, so Mum & Dad will have shorts to match too when we get home from holidays! It’s really light weight and they love how it feels like their are wearing “air” haha!

As you can see the “Silly Season” is in full swing here! We wish you and all your families a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate!

If you would like to see more Christmas Jammies from around the worl, stop by these blogs to check them out!

December 2 Teri // Fa Sew La
December 4 Sierra // Seams Like Sierra
December 6 Emily // Replicate then Deviate
December 10 Heidi // Handmade Frenzy
December 11 Sharon // Sweet Mama Life
December 12 Carrie // Beri Bee Designs
December 13 Katie // KatieKortman.com
December 16 Melissa // A HAPPY STITCH
December 17 Taish // Blooming Skies
December 18 Leanne // Thready For It
December 19 Laurie // Make It Sew with The Bear And Pea Atelier
December 20 Brooke // Idle Sunshine
December 21 Marissa // Sew Help Me
December 23 Lara // Handmade by Lara Liz
December 24 Kelly // Petite Stitchery
December 25 Jess // Broad In The Seams
December 26 Victoria // Victoria Beppler
December 27 Heather // Heather Handmade
December 28 Sylvia // The Ravel Out
December 30 Victoria // Victoria Lucille Anne
December 31 Teronia // Sew Haute Blog

 

Much love and sunshine!
Brooke x

Idlesunshine

Simple Life Pattern Company Holiday Blog Tour 2019

Welcome to the Simple Life Pattern Company Holiday Blog Tour! This is my third time on the tour and I feel so honoured to be asked each year. Stick around because we have giveaways all week long as well as a discount code to give you 40% off all SLPCo patterns!

When the invitation comes, I always seem to be on holidays #sorrynotsorry! We love travelling in our caravan. This year we were travelling 8,500km around central Australia to see Uluru which was amazing. The service out there was worse than I imagined which made choosing fabric & patterns difficult, so I had to wait until I got home to get started.

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia and Christmas is in the heat of our summer, so my pattern choices may be a little different to my Northern Hemmisphere friends. I think that adds to the fun and you get to see many interpretations of the holidays!

Christmas is very relaxed in Australia, so we dress for comfort. Being Summer, I chose Maggie’s High Waisted Shorts and the Autumn Knit Shift Top to wear underneath. Both patterns have many options included.

I chose the low waistband option on the shorts and left off the pockets as I thought the checked fabric I had chosen might get a little busy. I chose a simple hem, because I knew my girls would like that, but there is also an elastic bubble hem or cuffs.

I made the simple unlined Autumn top, which is a great staple t-shirt pattern. I made it using a rayon spandex which has great drape. As you can see though, the Autumn can go from simple to WOW with inserted ruffles and can also be made in a dress length, sleeveless and with long sleeves.

The only change I made to the pattern was to use 38mm (1.5 inch) elastic in the back waistband instead of narrow elastic, as I thought I would prefer that look.

We are counting down the weeks till Christmas here! It’s our favourite time of year. We spend a few weeks at the beach in our caravan and even wake up Christmas morning there. 

The summer heat has come early and we are in the middle of a catastrophic bushfire event. Pics were tricky to get in this weather, so we had to settle for full sun (which I hate for taking pics). We were on our way to a party and the girls decided to keep their outfits on instead of getting changed which was cute!

I can see my girls wearing these outfits and both pieces seperately quite a few times over the next few months.

I made them a matching headband each because I love a put together outfit! They look sooo cute. Maybe in your part of the world you could make a long sleeved Autumn shirt and team your outfit with thick stockings and boots?

Keep your eye out in the Simple Life Pattern Fan Group on Facebook for these great giveaways all week long!

To see all the beautiful makes from our team of amazing bloggers, click through the links below.

11/11 Boo + Lu — Idle Sunshine

11/12 Kutti Couture — Pear Berry Lane

11/13 Candice Ayala.com — It’s Liesel

11/14 Kainara Stitches — SewSophieLynn

11/15 Sunflower Seams — Sew and Tell Project

If you’d like to recreate one of our looks be sure to grab your patterns while they are on sale for 40% off!!! This is not a typo lol!

Use the code: slpcorocks

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers.

Fabric From Utopia in the Week From Hell

This picture really sums up our week! I received a package of really beautiful fabrics from Utopian Threads to create to my hearts content, and then a few things didn’t quite go to plan…

The short version is that my girls got sick, I sewed through my finger making this dress (snapped the needle off straight through the nail and out the other side), we had a car accident on our way to take some pics and then when we finally got to take pictures, this kid (who still had a temperature), stepped straight in a mud puddle!!! I’m not kidding! BUT like I said, I had these really beautiful fabrics to play with, so it wasn’t all bad 😉

The first fabric I have to share is a gorgeous pastel Mermaid Scales in Swim 220gsm SPF50+. I first thought I’d make some swimmers, but little Miss decided it needed to be activewear. We met in the middle and I made this cute Kyra crop hack by Simple Life Pattern Company, some Boo Pins and some Boo Swimmer Bottoms. 2 in 1! That made us both happy! I am the master of fabric tetris (takes a curtsy)…

We found a beautiful wall for pictures right near where my kids play basketball! It was a fantastic match for this print, I couldn’t believe it! It was a PCYC and it had lots of figures painted on it, but with some creative cropping and framing when photographing, it looks pretty amazing.

Next up was a gorgeous Whitewash Roses in Lime printed on cotton lycra 220gsm. My girls were scrolling through my instagram page and decided it had to be a Tadah Vetur Dress! They love the cowl neckline and thumb cuffs! It’s such a comfortable and cosy dress, but so cute too.

My third project was made in a Cotton Sateen 150gsm in a Mod Floral Print. It would have made a beautiful skirt or a stunning dress with pleats! My big girl could see it as overalls, so I suggested the new Tadah Mykonos Romper! I tested this pattern recently, but I haven’t shared any photos yet. Mostly because I spilled a full cup of coffee on it before I could sew the button holes and hem… What is going on with me lately?

I made this version in a generous size, as I do with a lot of my sewing, because I don’t like my kids growing out of my handmade too quickly! It will work well in winter with a long sleeve tee, long socks and boots, then hopefully when spring and summer roll around again it might still fit! I love a matching headwrap, it’s an awesome finishing touch to an outfit.

Finally I decided on the Simple Life Pattern Company Norah Dress for this Funky Cotton Poplin 140gsm in Neon Sorbet! I wanted a fun design to go with this fabric. My girls don’t really like pretty dresses, but give it a bit of edge and you’ll win them over.

SLPCo Norah has a round or square neck option, integrated cap sleeves and various back strap configurations. I chose to use black grossgrain ribbon instead of making straps and ties. It was a great shortcut. It wasn’t enough to save me from sewing right through my finger though! That’s the first time I’ve done that and it’s quite a shock when it happens lol! I’ll spare you the details but I was lucky to avoid getting any blood on the dress, only for my girl to cover it in mud right when we were taking pics haha!

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Preorders are open now for all these gorgeous prints and more! All designs are offered on the following bases … Cotton Poplin 140gsm, Cotton Sateen 130gsm, Cotton Sateen 150gsm, Cotton Lycra 220gsm, Bamboo Lycra 200gsm, Swim Lycra 220gsm, SPF50+ Rating.

Pre-Orders close on the 5th April. Afterpay, Zip, Paypal, Bank Deposit, and Layby are all avialable! PRE-ORDER LINK

I hope you like what I came up with for these fabrics! It’s so fun to decide what you can make when a fun fabric suprise arrives. I love to make something to show off the awesomeness of the fabric, while making sure it is something my girls will love to wear ❤

Warmest wishes,

Brooke x

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will add value to my readers.

Salty Hair & Sandy Toes

Welcome to Week 2 of Project Run & Play – Surf & Sand! My babies love the beach! We spend most of summer there. We pack our caravan and set up beachside for 3 weeks over Christmas. Swimming, fishing, exploring, riding skateboards and bikes all day long. We hang out with friends from home and friends that we have met over the years there. The days are long, lazy & hot!

My girls are all about comfort on holidays, so shorts are a must! I drafted this pair starting with the Little Lizard King Newport Shorts. I changed the waistband height, added length and hemmed them without adding the cuffs. These are exactly the kind of shorts my girls love (I was actually inspired by some RTW pairs they have) and so I will be making plenty more! They are beautifully comfortable to wear, made from a soft, drapey rayon.

To make this sweet cropped top, I used my dress pattern from last week as a starting point. I created a narrow centre placket, curved the bodice to a sweetheart shape, made longer skinny straps and added a wider, flounce layer to the front for some visual interest. I made it from a lovely soft chambray. I drafted this so she can pop this on and off over her head, without fiddling with buttons, which she loves. This is just like the outfits my girls drool over on the online surf stores.

I love how casual, comfortable and cool this outfit is. It’s perfect for summer and cute enough to be worn for any occasion.

I couldn’t take you to the beach without some swimwear could I? I started with the Boo Designs classic swimmer briefs and gave them a retro feel with a little extra height, a slightly lower leg cut and some fabric splicing. I lined the front of both the top and the bottoms (and I love that part when you work out which order to put them in to enclose all the seams neatly). The halter top I drafted myself using the width of the Boo Designs swimmers as a starting point. Once I was happy with the shape and pattern I spliced a V into the front and added a ruffle by cutting a V shaped ruffle! I am thrilled with how these turned out.

Next she requested a beach cover up, “just like yours Mum”. I used my favourite ladies tshirt pattern, the Little Kiwis Closet Cuffed Dolman as my starting point! I cut a much narrower neckline, changed the shoulder angle and lengthened the sleeves. Then I cut down the centre front and cut from the front neckline down to the centre front to create the smooth cardigan shape. I added some fringing I’d taken off a store bought ladies tank (loved the tank, did not love the fringing on it)! It was the perfect finishing touch for this!

They were so patient to have their pictures take, when all they wanted to do was rip off their clothes and jump in! So that’s what they did! They swam for an hour in the baths before I dragged them out to get some burgers for tea! It was a perfect balmy summer Sunday evening. ❤

Now the girls are arguing over both outfits, so I have to make them another set each! I’d love you to check out all the entries this week, so head over to the Project Run and Play blog to vote for your favourite!

Coffee & Thread Lana Pattern Tour

Hi Everyone!

I joined the Coffee & Thread Lana Pattern Tour! When I joined I was planning to make my girls some cute tops, as I haven’t been making myself much lately. I put on a stack of weight and really didn’t want to make myself anything, nor did I want to look at myself in pictures! I’ve turned that around over the past 3 weeks and rewarded myself with a gorgeous new top!

It’s amazing what a bit of self esteem, a cute pattern and some gorgeous fabric will do for you!

I hacked my pattern by making it a peplum. I basically cut the top length by about 9.5 inches (because I am high waisted) and added it back as a gathered skirt. I cut the width of the skirt about 1.5 times the width of the top, and the length about 9 inches long.

When attaching the peplum skirt I gathered it using a piece of elastic the exact width of the bodice. I overlapped the elastic and sewed it into a loop and stretched it to meet the quarter points of the peplum skirt, then attached the gathered skirt, matching the quarter points to the bodice.

I used a beautiful bamboo spandex from Orinoco Designs that I’ve been hoarding for myself. I was going to crack out my new coverstitch but this fabric actually sits really nicely without a hem. You might notice I’ve left both the hem and the sleeves raw! I’m quite comfortable doing that! Just note that if you’d like to hem yours, you might like to cut the skirt an inch longer!

I love the combination of the gathered sleeves and the gathered peplum! I was really tempted just to hem the extended shoulders without adding the sleeves, but I love this version. It’s definitely something I will try for next time though!  There is also a dress version and long sleeves included in this pattern.

I love this organic grid design! The rough grid fabric print made it difficult to match up my stripes though, so I had to do my best and just give my stripe-matching OCD a rest.

In other news, I can fit my wedding rings back on again!! Yay!!

BUT jeez those elbows are ugly! Why are elbows so weird? I really need to learn to bend them for back shots… 😉 It might not look even in this shot because I am not straight on to the camera, but I dipped the back bodice lower than the front, for a bit of bottom coverage and I find it a flattering cut! 

If you’d like some help hacking your Lana Pattern or making adjustments, drop me a line! I am always happy to help ❤

Thanks for joining me on my stop today.  Make sure to head over to Instagram to see all the other beautiful Lana’s.  Use the hashtag #lanatopanddresstour to be blown away!

Back To School With Made For Mermaids

Hey Guys,

I joined the Made for Mermaids Back To School Blog Tour! We are mid-school-year here in Australia and our children actually wear compulsary uniforms, but I thought – why let that stop me? I have 3 children in school, but Miss 10 here is the trickiest to sew for (Master 9 and Miss 7 wear  a tee and shorts pretty much year round outside of school). So I thought why not take on a challenge that might help you all with your tricky customers too?

I gave her the M4M website to browse the patterns and I already had this fabric set aside for an Isabel Wrap Dress, so when she pointed Isabel out as her favourite I was pretty happy.

Let me give you a basic run down on how school works here in Oz. I know it’s different in many parts of the world and it is interesting to see how we all operate…

Preschool is for children 3 – 5 years old, with lots of play based learning and social skills in preparation for Primary School.

Primary School starts with Kindergarten, which starts at around 5 – 6 years of age, and also includes Years 1 – 6.

High School includes Years 7 – 12, for ages approximately 12 – 18.

So Miss 10 is in Year 5 in Primary School here. She actually had an out of uniform day this day, as a reward from her teacher for achieving her silver award in class. She so badly wanted to wear this outfit, she was swishing around everywhere, but I sized up a little and made this Isabel a little longer than the pattern and so I suggested she keep it for another day. So mean I know!

Isabel is a fantastic versatile pattern. You can make it tunic length, dress length or Maxi length. I thought it was great as a back to school pattern with all those options. You can even wear it open like this (with the ties tied inside the dress behind your back), which makes a super cool duster cardigan.

It would work in all lengths for this look. We agreed on the maxi with the tulip skirt, she loved the dress on the cover. You also have options for sleeves. You can make it sleeveless, short sleeves, 3/4 sleeved or long sleeved. Again we agreed that 3/4 looked awesome! I must be getting the hang of tween fashion, I’m all over this…

And doesnt it look stunning as a maxi dress with tulip skirt! I used a rayon spandex from Wicked Fabrics I had been saving for this very dress for quite some time! It is super drapey and soft to wear. She looooves it! The drape probably added a fair bit to the length when I think about it! I should have left it per the pattern!

It’s winter here and it was pretty cold and windy for these early morning pics! She had a red nose and squinty eyes pretty quickly from the cold wind!

The pattern itself was really easy to follow and faster than I expected to make! I like that it includes sizes 1/2 through to 14, because I think this pattern will be used again and again here!

You can picture this as tunic length worn over shorts, jeans or tights can’t you?

Or here you can imagine it as a knee length dress, it works beautifully too.

There is that show stopper Maxi dress though! Look at that rayon spandex in the breeze! Isn’t it stunning!

I can tell this dress will be her new favourite! She absolutely loved it. The only question I have is – should I re-hem it or make her wait to grow into it? Ok I’m kidding, that would be torture, I’ll re-hem it, I promise I’m not that mean!!

What’s on your back to school sew list?

Perhaps these blogs might give you some inspiration! Go check them out!

Remember f you are doing some back to school sewing, post a pic in the Made for Mermaids Facebook group with the hashtag #m4mback2school2018. You may just win a prize ❤

Warmest wishes,

Brooke x

Idle Sunshine

Winter Sewing with The Material Girl Australia!

I love sewing fabric strike-offs for fabric goddesses! A suprise parcel arrives in the mail and I get to choose what I make with the pretty contents inside! I always have a huge list of makes on my to-sew list so I usually get to tick a couple of them off in the process!

These pretty fabrics arrived recently in a parcel from The Material Girl Australia! They are available as a Pre-order – open now until July 14th, 2018. They are both cotton lycra 220 weight, but are available to order in a great range of bases including cotton lycra 180, cotton lycra 260, woven, minky, swim lycra, peach skin, french terry, double brushed poly, sports performance and rayon.

I put my hand up for a couple of prints, but I didn’t really know what was coming until it arrived. I really hoped I would snag this gorgeous Design 14 – Birds print and I was lucky enough to get 2 metres to play with!

I immediately had this combination in mind for a Ainslee Fox Bonfire Jacket, which was released in One Thimble Sewing E-zine Issue 5, and it turned out just as amazing as I imagined! I have had the Bonfire Jacket on my list to sew f-o-r-e-v-e-r! It feels good to tick one off and I can assure you it won’t be my last.

I lined the body with a thin polar fleece for warmth, because where we live we need more than a light jacket in winter sadly. The ribbing is actually a double knit from my stash, which is fairly stable but it works well and looks amazing with the birds!

When I cut out the jacket I knew that I was also going to be left with enough fabric to make a beautiful twirly dress. It was the other design that popped straight into my head when I saw this print.

I used the Simple Life Patterns Skyler dress pattern which we tested recently and introduced on their blog! If you know me at all, you’ll know that I can’t leave a good pattern alone! I hacked the Skyler dress by slightly curving the corners of the low square back to create a low scoop ballet back. Isn’t it gorgeous? ❤

I used the circle skirt for maximum twirl and it makes such a fast sew. The Birds print is a directional print and so I could not cut the circle as a whole piece (unless I wanted upside down birds on the back), so I cut two semi-circles adding seam allowance for the side seams.

This dress is what little girls dreams are made of! Stunningly beautiful, yet comfortable as your pyjamas at the same time!

Print number two is Design 39 – Floral Deer. This is a sweet pastel print suitable for all ages! I can picture even a baby romper in this!

My brain went straight away to a pretty dress for this print, but I didn’t want to pigeon hole it. I knew it was more versatile than that, so I challenged myself to make something my big girl would wear.

This is a Little Kiwis Closet Cuffed Dolman. This pattern is my most often made pattern for myself and my girls closets are catching up! I used the long sleeve version as it’s for winter and I hacked the cutout back!

I used the scoop back from the Skyler dress I made above as a guide for the depth, and cut the scoop from the back piece of the dolman. I measured the neck opening front and back, minus the seam allowances and calculated the binding at 90% of the opening. After I completed the top, I created a strap for the back by sewing a long strip right sides together into a tube. I turned it right way out and pinned it across the opening a couple of inches below the shoulder seams. I adjusted the length of the strap until I was happy it held the cutout shape nicely and top stitched it behind the binding.

What’s your favourite winter pattern for knits? These are just a few I thought of to showcase this fabric. I hope you like them as much as these cheeky girls do!

Warmest wishes,

Brooke x

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

Boo Designs Dynamite Activewear!

This was a fun assignment! Kristie Gilbert (Spandex Queen and Pattern Designer from Boo Designs), asked if I’d like to test her new pattern? Let’s be honest, she had me at “Activewear”!

My girls are completely OBSESSED with activewear so it was a no brainer! The new Boo Designs Dynamite Activewear pattern will blow your mind, just take a look at the options it has!

I have a few thousand photos to share, so I compiled a few collages to save you some scrolling. First up is a Cutout Racerback Flared Tank in the February Pattern of the Month Club Fabric, trimmed with Solid Black Spandex. Her leggings are Solid Black Spandex Sports length, with a Snake Leg Splice in Black Power Mesh.

Her little sister wears an Infinity Back Crop in the February Pattern of the Month Club Fabric, trimmed with Solid New Royal Spandex. Her Leggings are Full length Dynamite Spliced with the February Pattern of the Month Club Fabric, Solid New Royal Spandex, Solid Desire Spandex and Solid Aqua Marine Spandex.

I love how these outfits turned out and am honoured to have my girls as cover models for the pattern!

 

Next up are these bright sets I made earlier in testing. The marled, supplex-type fabric for each set was cut from a couple of pairs of ladies size 26 leggings I found on a $3 rack at Best & Less! I’d had them in my stash for so long, that my littlest model was starting to get cranky with me! I told you activewear was high on their demand list!

Her Infinity Crop and Dynamite Spliced Leggings set is teamed with some crazy colourful dance spandex and solid black spandex.

The Big Sister’s Cutout Racerback Crop and Dynamite Spliced Leggings set is teamed with some Boo Designs Purple Bubbles fabric from the Pins Sewalong (that I never quite got around to joining) and some solid pink spandex.

 

To show a little versatility, I made this next set from cotton lycra. Both of these pretty fabrics came from Wicked Fabrics, from a scrap bag I nabbed. This simple Racerback Crop and Jazz length Shorts could be cut from around 35cm length of fabric (full width of fabric) for a size 6. How great is that!

I decided to switch up the waistband facing and waistband pieces to get this peekaboo waist band feature. She loves it!

I also made a simple plain white cotton lycra Racerback Crop and black Jazz Shorts, which she loves to wear under her school uniform. So simple and no photos of that one, but I’m sure you’ve seen enough for today!

 

I’d love to hear what you think! Are you as pumped as I am about this new release? I have another set stuck in my head that I have to make ASAP, so I will add that one too (as soon as I can)! This pattern leaves you feeling like a sewing superstar! It really isn’t as difficult as it looks, so give it a go!

Warmest wishes,

Brooke x

Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, we only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our readers.

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