I have to admit that my littlest little is about out of the ruffle stage....she says they are too "babyish" for her....but when I saw the Triple Layered Cake Tunic pattern by Candy Castle Patterns I HAD to make it for her!!!! And I am so glad that I did!!!
One of the first things that I look at when pattern shopping is the versatility of the garment....how long will it be able to be worn for...can I dress it up or dress it down....can I make each one look different? This pattern checked off all of my "must haves" in a pattern. I love anything that we can wear year round and this can definitely be worn the entire year...wear it alone...wear it with a sweater over it...wear it with a long sleeve shirt underneath...you can even use seasonal fabrics for the perfect holiday outfit!
The length of the tunic is PERFECT! If you wanted to get really crafty and if you are feeling a tad bit on the adventurous side, you could even lengthen the ruffles and make a dress instead of a tunic!
The ruffles have the perfect fullness.....I have noticed that sometimes when creating something with ruffles there is too much fabric which causes the piece to be too heavy which causes it to pull the bodice down when being worn. The ruffles on this tunic stand out perfectly.
The bodice has beautiful coverage. I love that it is fuller coverage. When wearing this with nothing underneath it you won't have to worry about seeing any girly parts poking out. I am a pretty modest mamma with what my littles wear, so bodice coverage is always a concern of mine. No worries with this one!
The written instructions for this pattern are spot on! They are very well written which is perfect for the beginner sewist but an experienced sewist will also enjoy this pattern because there is not TOO much detail that you have to scan over...just the right amount of information to create the perfect addition to your little's closet!
The pictures throughout the instructions are also very clear and easy to decipher what is being depicted. The instructions include charts for size and cutting the ruffle pieces in both inches and centimeters which is a wonderful addition.
The overall fit of the tunic was spot on!!! I have used two different patterns from Candy Castle and I have found that they both fit beautifully...no need to alter...pick your size and be confident knowing that it is going to fit!!!
There were a few changes that I made but only for personal preference. I prefer buttons over snaps so we used some cute little brown buttons on the back of the dress. If I were making smaller sizes I would more than likely use snaps just for the ease of the off and on with squirmy little ones...but since my little is not so little anymore I chose to use buttons. We are also not HUGE fans of big bows so I shortened the length of the tie at the waist and tied it in a cute little knot on the front of the dress....once again, these are just our preferences...the tunic looks super cute either way!!
In closing....GO GET THIS PATTERN!!! It is adorable!!! Sew a "cake" that your little one will look cute enough in to eat!!! Our flavor of cake was blueberry with raspberry swirl....oh so yummy!!!!
You can not go wrong with this pattern that can be worn year round, that is perfect for any level of sewist, that is written wonderfully, and that fits like a dream!!!
Happy Thursday!!!!
XOXOXOXOXO
~Rebecca~
This may sound silly....maybe even a little unbelievable.....but it's the God's honest truth! You ready for this???? This Dolman top is the very first thing that I have EVER made for myself!!! Yup....you heard it here first.....up until today I have never in my life stitched one.single.thing.for.myself!!!!
And after making this Dolman for me I am now kicking myself for waiting SO long to sew for me!!! Of course it's not like I have oodles and oodles of extra time available but I am going to make it a point to try to sew a little something for me from time to time!!!
It was so much fun AND...I was like a freaking kid at Christmas...I couldn't WAIT to get it finished so I could try it on!!! I now know what my littles feel like when I am making something for them that they are DYING to get into!!!!
Anyhow....my very first sewing for me pattern was the Pumpkin Spice Dolman from Patterns for Pirates. I loved this top from the moment I saw it! I don't know if it was the cute elbow matches or the stripes or a combination of both that the model is wearing on the cover of the pattern but oh my.....swoon!!! This is a great top for the fall with leggings or skinny jeans and boots or imagine it in the sprint with a pair of shorts and dare I say....boots????? I am a boot fanatic and I will wear them with just about everything!!!! For my pictures (which I have to add were taken at an unflattering angle because the only person I have available to take pictures of me is a 9 year old) I decided to go with some skinny jeans and some boots. I really wanted to pair the top with leggings but I currently do not have any....for shame for shame for shame...... hee hee
This was the first time I have ever used a pattern from Patterns for Pirates so of course before sewing I read through it in its entirety. I have to say it is pretty quick and to the point which I was thankful for due to my constant state of being in a time crunch. There were pictures throughout the pattern for each step which is very helpful. Not only were there pictures....the pictures were very clear and easy to decipher what was being depicted. So many patterns out there have shotty pictures which can be VERY frustrating!
The pattern fit together like a dream and it wasn't necessary to cut...just tape! Talk about saving a little time!!! And I'm pretty sure if you are like me, you are always looking for ways to conserve what little time you have available to you!
There is a size chart with measurements. I feel that the pattern ran a bit large but I believe that that is the look of the Dolman top. Since I have a weird body type from either A.) having children.... B.) lifting weights.....C.) genetics.....or D.) a combination of all of the above I will go down a size in the next one I make....and yes, there WILL BE a next one!!! This shirt is so roomy and comfy but still comes in at the waist to give it a form fitting look. Another great thing about this pattern is that it ranges in size from XXS to an XXXL....I am going to make one for all 3 of us because I know my littlest little will fit into the XXS!!! How cute is that going to be!??!?!
There are different options for finishing the neck as well as different options for the hemline. I chose to do a straight hemline but you can also do the curved hem line which will give the top a little more length. The elbow patches are a super cute addition but you don't have to add them if you don't want to....but why wouldn't you?!?!?! I think they really make the top!
Over all I absolutely love this pattern!!! I would rate it an intermediate but ONLY because if you have never sewn with knits or if you are newer to sewing with knits there are no tips or tricks in the pattern to help you along. Sewing with knits can be a little intimidating to the beginner and it is always nice to have tips in a pattern on what percentage of stretch the knit should have and what stitches work best when sewing which this pattern does not have.
I printed, cut, and put together this Dolman in about an hour. It is a super quick sew with an amazing results! I am for sure going to be putting Patterns for Pirates on my approved designer list! I love the style and how simple the pattern was to construct and the end result is AH-MA-ZING!!!!
What are you waiting for!??!?! Go out and get this pattern right now!!!
XOXOXO
~Rebecca~
Fall is my favorite time of the year......cooler weather....the changing of the leaves to such beautiful hues....hoodies and jeans....the smells of the crisp mornings....football.....and HALLOWEEN....
Oh how I love Halloween....the decorations...pumpkin carving.....fun and creative cooking projects....and countless hours of discussions with my littles about what they are going to be for Halloween!!!
Growing up I didn't get my say so in my costume....usually I used what my sister had worn the year before....more times than not our costumes were handmade by my mom....which at the time I didn't really appreciate...but that was probably because I always seemed to end up being a clown....or Ragady Ann....oh how I longed to be something scary!
I have made it a point with my girls to let them decide what they want to be....and this year...I have to say that this year is my favorite to date and I think it may be hard to top in future years to come!!!
So this year my littles decided to be vampires....past years there have been witches, cats, mummies, and tutu fairies to name a few....but this year I think we have topped all past costumes.
For the costumes I used two different patterns. The inspiration for the dress came from the Kensies's Party Dress by Everything Your Mama Made. When I was looking for the pattern for the dress I wanted something fun and flirty and something that I knew I would be able to make my own....and this dress was PERFECT for that!
I loved the bodice. It has wonderful coverage but a gorgeous lower cut back. I didn't make any changes to the bodice! The changes came with the actual skirt of the dress! There are three different layers for the skirt. The look I was going for was more of the romantic ear of vampires...yet I still wanted it to be unique and fun.
The top layer is chiffon which I tried to give it a bustle look to it...poofy in the hip area. I also knew that the dress needed a little color and wanted there to be a visible variation in the lengths of the skirt so for the middle layer I used red tulle which was cut at different lengths with shorter being in the front and longer in the back. For the last layer of the skirt I used a satin material that had great flow. I wanted the front of the bottom skirt to be a little shorter in the front so I hand tucked and sewed the bottom of the skirt into the underneath of the skirt to give it a beautiful flow and extra detail.
I have to note that there was a lot of hand sewing on the top and the bottom layer of the skirts so that means I now have band aids on eight of my ten fingers....no worries...it was worth it and the blood kind of blended in with the costume....hee hee!!!
For the cape I used The Cozy Hooded Cape for Kids pattern from Seamingly Smitten. Since this pattern only went up to a size 10 and I wanted the cape to be very full and a bit longer than what the pattern I had to alter it a bit to fit the look we were going for.
For my littlest little I made the hooded version. She loved it!!! Because my littles are blessed with gorgeous THICK hair the hood didn't turn out as large as I wanted it to, but it is still perfect! For my biggest little I wanted to give her a bit of a different cape so I hand drafted a more authentic looking vampire collar and used heavy duty interfacing to help it stand up. I loved the way it turned out and my biggest little loved that her cape was different than her sisters. I also had to add quite a bit of length and width to her cape but the way the Cozy Hooded Cape Pattern is written it was very easy to figure out how to add length and width to the cape.
It is amazing what you can do with a few patterns and a little imagination! Both patterns that I used for my little vampires can be used for anything from a wedding (even a winter wedding because how amazing would the cape be if it were made out of a white fur) to a graduation to a summer dress to a creepy Halloween costume and so many more things in between.
This assignment has given me the urge to go through my hundreds of patterns and let my imagination run wild!
I hope you enjoyed my little vampires! To date this has been our favorite photo shoot! I had so much fun creating the costumes and we had so much fun at the photo shoot today!!! Happy Halloween and Happy Creating!!!
xoxoxoxo
~Rebecca~
