The Hemlock and Magnolia

Sunday, August 31, 2014

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Have you been looking for a couple of super easy, well put together, perfectly sized, girl approved patterns for your daughter?  Well, you can thank me.  Well, actually, you can thank Heidi at Elegance and Elephants.


Seriously cute.  The Hemlock Top has a great sleeve ruffle detail - easy to insert as it's not "too" ruffly.  You can make it in long sleeve or short sleeve.  For this top, I went into my husband's closet and grabbed one of his multitude of white t-shirts.  I worked with Julia on my first ever freezer paper stencil.  We traced the flower together, I cut it out, and Julia applied the paint.  Part of my on-going plan to engage her in the clothing making process to ensure that she will actually wear the things I made.

 The Magnolia Skirt comes with two options - one for a knit, and one for a woven.  How smart is that?  The knit is a bit wider to allow for even more "spin" - my version is made out of a very nice soft corduroy and even though it's fairly narrow fitting at the waist and through the hips, the bottom flares out - perfect for the girl who likes to spin.  Like mine.

More photos of the kid - seriously get the pattern.  It's releasing later this week.  And, if this isn't cute enough for you, check out some gorgeous photos of Heidi's daughter, and her other September release pattern in her very cool E&E Patterns Fall 2014 Look Book.







Thanks Heidi for letting me test your patterns!

Mara Meets Shorts On The Line!

Friday, August 8, 2014

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Hello to those of you visiting from Compagnie M!  I was so happy to be chosen to make a Mara Blouse as part of the blog tour.

The Mara Blouse was part of an outfit that I had in my mind to enter in Shorts On The Line over at Imagine Gnats.  Sometimes, you get an idea in your head about something you want to sew - sometimes, it works, sometimes, it doesn't......this time, it worked!


I made an adorable, if slightly edgy outfit for my 4 year old, complete with skull embroidery!

  
I got the idea in my head somehow to make a color-blocked version of the Oliver + S free Sunny Days Shorts pattern.  When I saw this skull - with flowers, no less! - over at Urban Threads, I knew it was a match!





I added back pockets to the shorts, and used my favorite snap tool from Snap Source.  It's simply the easiest way to add snaps - I highly recommend it!

Go check all the cool entries on Kollabora where they're hosting Shorts on the Line!