handmade Wardrobe // mayfair showcase

fabric: Piccadilly rayon designed by Amy Sinibaldi for Art Gallery Fabrics

my skirt: SewDIY Lela skirt

Penny’s skirt: self drafted

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Hey everyone! Today, I am the next stop in the Mayfair Showcase! Amy Sinibaldi is one Art Gallery Fabrics talented designers, and her latest collection is called Mayfair. It is a collection reminiscent of flower filled neighborhoods around London, and it is gooooorgeous.

I got the chance to sew up these skirts using the rayon option in the collection - the Picadilly in sunset rayon. The coloring definitely comes across as more of a brighter orange-red in the photos, but IRL, its more rust-y, and a tiny bit more muted than in the photos. The print is so delicate and elegant and so pretty. I wanted to let the print shine, without to much frill, so I went with a simple skirt for my look. The pattern is the Lela skirt by SewDIY with the knee length curved hem, angled pocket, and a widened waistband so I could add a little paperbag waist ruffle detail. Pretty simple overall, but oh so cute. Now, the rayon fabric is opaque enough, but it is very lightweight. I didn’t add a lining because I have a few slips that I usually wear under skirts. But you may want a lining, depending on what you’re making and your comfort level.

Penny’s skirt is a quick DIY skirt - just a a rectangular piece with an elastic casing for the waist, and an added second rectangular piece that has been gathered for the bottom ruffle. I love how my skirt has a little ruffle at the top, and hers has one on the bottom. Oh, and I did line hers with a lightweight white lining.

That’s it! Hope you enjoy them. Make sure you check out Amy’s instagram to see the other makers participating in the showcase. There are some super talented quilters using all of the pretty cottons in the collection!

handmade wardrobe // StyleMaker Fabrics spring style tour 2020

fabrics: mocha gauze sweater knit and blue floral rayon crepe, both c/o Stylemaker Fabrics

sweater: Megan Nielsen Jarrah sweater

skirt: Tessuti patterns Evie bias skirt

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I had so much fun the last time I participated in the Stylemaker Fabrics style tour, so I was excited when Michelle asked me to participate again! This time its the spring style tour, which is my faaaaaaavorite. Coming out of that winter haze to some sunshine and color is the best, you know? And with all of the covid-19 craziness going on right now, It’s nice to have something pretty to look forward to.

So, I started out by picking out this lightweight floral crepe, because - florals for spring, duh. Ha. It’s very light and drapey , but pretty opaque (except when held right up to light. depending on the application, you may want a lining. I didn’t, though). But really, this floral was kinda giving me some 90’s vibe, so I decided to go with a 90’s style slip skirt - which also happens to be very “in” right now. It’s seriously one of the easiest skirts to make, once you master cutting on the bias. And also, just a note if you’ve never cut in the bias before - it will change the direction of a pattern. But since this floral is more of a all-over multi-directional pattern, it didn’t really matter. Bt yes, easy -just a couple of side seams and then elastic at the waist, and DONE. I love it. I can see me wearing it with a basic tee, knotted, with a denim jacket thrown over top. Or even a nice woven cami and some heels for a dressier look. For this outfit, I chose to make a boxy, cropped, sweater for a casual in-between season look.

The sweater knit is a very lightweight gauzy knit, and it comes in a few different colors! It is gauze-like, so slightly sheer, but not completely. I used my go-to sweater pattern- the Jarrah sweater, which has many view options. For this one, I wanted a boxy cropped look. So I went with the banded hem view, but left off the band and just turned under the fabric instead. For the sleeves, I went with the vented sleeve hem option instead of cuffs, to give it the same vibe as the hem. This helped give it a loose, lightweight sweater feel, and less sweatshirt-y. I actually had just made another Jarrah sweater in a similar color, but with a heavier fabric and in the tie view. So I felt a bit silly making another Jarrah in the same color. Buuuuut this one is a lot more lighter-weight and will be worn in a completely different way, so thats how I justify it, ha. It’s the perfect warmer-weather sweater, for cool spring days or cool summer nights.

And thats it! I hope you like it! Make sure you check out all the other stops on the tour. Follow along with @stylemakerfabrics on Instagram to keep up to date on everyone. Girls In The Garden is up next! And if you haven’t checked out Stylemaker fabrics before, do it! Michelle carries some of the nicest and best quality fabrics, both woven and knit.

Handmade Wardrobe // first of spring

Fabric : pucker gingham from Joann

my dress: Megan Nielsen Darling Ranges dress lengthened and with added ruffle hem, buttons by Tabitha Sewer

Penny’s dress: Oh Oh My Sewing Sunflower dress

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We may be living in a crazy time right now - self isolating, staying at home, etc, but I can’t stop making pretty things. Sewing keeps me occupied and sane. So while we technically don’t have anywhere to wear these pretty dresses right now, it makes me pretty happy to have them made and in our closets.

My dress is an old tried and true for me - the Darling Ranges dress. I made it maxi length by simply extending the skirt pattern (its a rectangle, so easy to do), and adding an additional rectangular piece ruffle on the bottom. I also brought the neckline up by 1”, and made it sleeveless by just leaving the sleeves off and finishing the raw edges with bias facings instead. I probably should have brought the armscye and shoulder seam in a little bit, so that the shoulders are not so wide. Bt alas, I forgot to.

I was so excited to use these Tabitha Sewer buttons with this fabric! They are called the ‘macaroni’ wood buttons, but I actually see little rainbow shapes. My only regret is not purchasing just one more pack of them to use on P’s dress too. I actually didn’t realize I would have enough fabric left to make anything for P, so that’s why I didn’t. But I suppose that’s an easy thing to swap out if I decided to go back and purchase more later! For now, I’ve used some vintage mix-and-match white buttons from my my grandma’s old stash for hers. Still cute!

handmade wardrobe // lucky green and (rose) gold

dress: M7947 in a viscose linen slub from Blackbird Fabrics

buttons: Tabitha Sewer rose gold buttons

shoes: Old Navy

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All of our St. Paddy’s day plans have been cancelled due to Covid-19 (rightfully so, they definitely should be), but that doesn’t mean I can’t still wear and show you the cute dress I made, right?

I actually had an inspo photo of a green dress just like this saved in my photo album for quite awhile now, and it turns out that this pattern is an exact match for that look. Like, EXACTLY. Lucky lucky! I made the midi length view with the shorter elastic sleeves. I also added a sash belt, which is not included in the pattern. The only alteration had to make is shortening the length of the front elastics. With the elastic length provided by the pattern, it was too wide and gaping up front. But it was an easy fix!

And these mirrored rose gold buttons are the perfect accent for this lucky little dress! Have you seen Tabitha’s button collection yet? They are soooo perfect and modern and cool. I snagged a few different ones and I can’t wait to use them.

Handmade wardrobe // pajama day

fabric: bamboo cotton french terry from La Mercerie

my top: Megan Nielsen Jarrah sweater

my leggings: Megan Nielsen Virginia leggings with optional cuffs

Penny’s top: Megan Nielsen mini Briar tee with straightened hem

Penny’s leggings: Megan Nielsen mini Virginia leggings with optional cuffs

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Nothing crazy to see here, just some simple matching cozy jammies for doing what we do best - lounging all day long, haha.

Just one note about using these leggings for pajamas - If you’re going to use a french terry like this, even lightweight, definitely go up a size! Fabric like this doesnt stretch quite as much as a jersey knit or activewear knit, so it’s best to size up. But otherwise, I like it as an option!

Handmade wardrobe // cat lace

coral fabric: cat print by Mirabel Print on silky faille c/o Spoonflower

blue mesh fabric: old, been in my stash forever

my dress: New Look 6616

Penny’s dress: Jilly Atlanta Rosie dress

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I made these matching dresses for us to wear to my brother’s wedding! You may recognize this print if you follow me on Instagram. I had the black and white version printed on cotton knit and made it into some undies and lounge bra back in January. But I loved it so much that I needed it in coral, too! It was perfect for their wedding, because they are cat lovers AND coral was one of their wedding colors. Perfect!

This is my second time making this New Look dress. I think it is my favorite big-4 pattern ever. Like, my perfect style dress, hands down. The pattern also has a jumpsuit version that I want to make, too. I found that it ran really big in the bust/underarm though. I simply took it in a bit at the side seam/underarm and it took car of it.

I only had a little bit of fabric left when I was done, only enough for half a mini dress, so I knew Penny’s dress was going to have to include another fabric. I pulled a handful of options from my stash and let her choose, and she had her heart set on these blue dots as soon as she saw it! I simply lined it with a solid baby pink knit underneath and also used it for the straps. I love how it turned out!

handmde wardrobe // valentines tees

my tee: Grainline Studio Lark tee

Penny’s tee: self drafted

fabric: striped cotton jersey knit from Blackbird Fabrics with white ribbing and neck and sleeve hems

hair clips: Zara kids

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Not much to say here, so going to keep this short and sweet and just drop in some of these cute valentines photos we took in some me-made matching tees!

handmade wardrobe // Adirenne, Dawn, and a matching mini

top: Friday Pattern Co. Adrienne blouse in a waffle knit from Fabric Mart Fabrics (sold out)

jeans: Megan Nielsen Dawn jeans in a denim from Style Maker Fabrics

booties: Target

Penny’s tee and pinafore: Simplicity 8706

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First off - yes, my hair is pink! Kinda crazy, right? For me, anyway haha. But I’ve always wanted to try it out so I finally did it!

So these outfits were originally meant to be made back in November - I had the fabrics as part of my November fabric collection. But the holiday months got so crazy, and I had to skip quite a lot of projects. So here we are in January, and I finally got around to making this Adrienne blouse and Dawn jeans! This is my third Adrienne blouse, and probably my favorite one yet in the textured waffle knit. I just love this pattern! One day, I’m just going to have a closet full of Adriennes haha.

And speaking of third versions of a pattern, this is also my third pair of Dawn jeans! Well, fourth if you count the canvas shorts I made, too. But as far as my denim jeans, this is the first time making the tapered leg -both of my other pairs are wide leg. And I don’t know why it took me so long to make this style, because they are soooo good! Fit like a glove. Well, maybe a teeeeeny bit too tight, but I’m hoping they loosen up a bit with wear. As a note - I made my usual size - a straight size 0 with no grading. I did take out just a tiny bit at my hips just in the seam allowance, but that’s it. I do think that next time I might try to pinch out a tiny bit in the back yoke (I may have a bit of a swayback?), just to see if the fit in the back could be a tiny bit better than it already is. But that’s it! For a few little details, I freehand machine stitched a leaf design on the back pocket that I thought was cute and mimicked the print I used for the pocket bags, and I also left the bottom edges un-hemmed to let fray naturally over time.

And then, of course, there is Penny’s matching outfit. The pattern I used is baby/toddler size pattern. So I graded it up a bit to fit her (not very professionally, just by eyeing it). I may have graded the jumper up just a little too much, though, because it is a bit big. But hey - she’ll just get more use out of it as she grows!

I’m going to make a mental note to re-photograph this set outside in better light once we reach warmer months. I don’t think these grainy-ish indoor photos do it justice!

Handmade Wardrobe // Forget Me Not

fabric: leopard print sweater knit from Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics (sold out. yellow version available here)

my dress: Forget Me Not Patterns Clementine dress (c/o)

Penny’s dress: self drafted

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I recently was asked to review the Clementine dress from Forget Me Not Patterns, and here is what I made! The Clementine dress (or top) is a princess seam, fit and flare style, with the option for a scoop neck or cowl neck. I love a good cozy knit dress, so I was intrigued. Honestly, most of the tee dressed I tend to make and wear are loose fitted and swing-y. This style is very fitted in the bodice and arms, and then flares out from the waist. Different from I normally make, since it is so fitted up top, but I actually like the change and different addition to my closet. The fit ended up being perfect. I cut out my usual size, with no changes, and it fit like a glove. Even though it’s drafted for a B cup, my smaller A-cup bust still fit fine with no adjustments (and a padded bra haha). The only thing I would change for next time is to add a little bit of length. The pattern as-is, it ended up being just a taaaad bit shorter than I normally would like for my 5’6” height. Not too short by any means, just shorter than I prefer. I’m actually thinking I might make a short sleeve version later on for summer!

But for these ones, I chose a sweater knit fabric from my stash that had just enough stretch to really work for this type of fitted garment. I was limited with the yardage I had. So in order to squeeze out a matching dress for P, I had to cut the front bodice for her as two pieces, instead of on the fold. So there is a cetner front seam. But I kind of like the little detail! I also didn’t have enough for the back bodice, so I cut it out of a solid black knit instead for a contrasting panel. Cute, right?!

Oh, and one more thing - did I mention the Clementine dress pattern has pockets?! I actually had to leave them out (I know, for shame!) because of fabric yardage limitations. Although I relaized after the fact that I could’ve easily just used the solid black fabric that I used for P’s back panel. Doh! Definitely something I will actually be including next time.

handmade wardrobe // not so secret pajamas

fabric: See You At Six french terry from D&H Fabrics

my sweatshirt: Megan Nielsen Patterns Jarrah sweatshirt

my pants: True Bias Hudson sweatpants

Penny’s hoodie: Burda 9308

rest of Penny’s outfit (hat, pants, sneakers): June and January

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When we went to walk out the door to take thiese photos, Zach looked at me and said “wait, are you going out in your pajamas?”. Haha, I mean, basically, yeah. Forget #secretpajamas, a matching Jarrah and Hudson sweat set is definitely not-so-secret-pajamas. And I don’t care! I’ll go out in my pajamas if they look like this. And the quality of this french terry is so gooooood and the construction came together so perfectly, that I honeslty feel like I’m wearing an expensive ready to wear sweat outfit from Lou & Grey or something. You’ll find me living in this set all year round.

But let’s be real, Penny’s matching hoodie is even cuter than mine. Now I just need to get my hands on just a little bit more yardage so I can make some mini Hudson pants for her too.