Made for Mermaids Catherine pattern

You might be familiar with the Holly pattern from Made for Mermaids.  It’s a cute pattern made with woven fabric that released last year with the Dreamy Collection (Noelle, Holly, and Joy).  Well, this year the Holly was drafted for knit fabrics and women’s sizes were added.  Meet the Catherine!  I couldn’t resist making several of these.  I made the curved dress for me, and the dress with ruffle for my daughter (pictured above). 

The pattern features a yoke height bodice.  There’s a square, or scoop neckline that’s lined.  The scoop neckline can also be unlined and has a single fold binding to finish.  The yoke piece requires medium weight knit, like cotton lycra, brushed poly, or even stretch lace.  The sleeve lengths include short, 3/4, and long sleeve.  Flounce sleeves are also included with the pattern, and can be hi-low or a regular even length.  

The skirt also has several lengths.  It can be a top, curved tunic, straight dress, curved dress, or a dress with ruffle (girls only).  The skirt fabric suggest rayon spandex or brushed poly.  The patterns are on sale for $7.50 each, or bundle them together at $13.

I used cotton lycra for the yoke for all of the versions that I made.  The skirts were all done with rayon spandex.  All of these fabrics came from Simply by Ti.  She’s currently having her Black Friday sale with 33% off your entire order with the code STOCKUP.  She also has nine fabrics for $3.89/yard (including the coral aztec print here in my post).

Sew Thankful Blog Tour

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  I love having an excuse to eat myself silly, take a nap, watch some Christmas movies, and then eat some more.  Last year was the first year that I made my daughter a Thanksgiving dress.  It’s so hard to not resist the cute holiday fabrics when I see them in the stores.  This year was no exception!  I grabbed this cute turkey woven fabric at Hobby Lobby earlier in the year when I saw it.  

I love making a quick dress for her, and one that she can run around in and not feel constricted.  I’m always drawn to a pattern that has a knit bodice and a skirt that can be either woven or knit.  Either one with it attaching at the natural waist, or an empire waist.  The Brooklyn pattern from Made for Mermaids was the perfect match for this dress.  

The pattern has a neckline facing instead of doing a neckband, but I prefer having a neckband, so I modified the neckline a little to have a neckband instead of the facing.  I used burgundy cotton lycra from Raspberry Creek fabrics for the bodice.  

I also used the same pattern to make my friend’s daughter a Thanksgiving dress.  I also did a neckband, but I added a sash at the waist.  I used another pattern to get the lengths for the sash ties, so I knew it would be long enough to tie it.

Make sure to check out the other bloggers from this month’s Sew Thankful Blog tour!  And enter the giveaways!!

Our Thankful Sewing Bloggers are creating something special to share with you to celebrate this month of Thanksgivings! As an extra special surprise, we also have a couple giveaways during each week of the tour. Share your thanks with Petite Stitchery who has a new pattern to share with us, a free pattern giveaway from Sew by Pattern Pieces, and a chance to win a shop credit each week from Simply by Ti!

Intro to the tour

November 1st:

mahlicadesigns

Sewing with Sarah

Week 1:

Nov 1st: Tenille’s Thread

Nov 2nd: Candace Ayala

Nov 3rd: Hazelnut Handmade

Nov 4th: Musing of a Seamstress

Nov 5th: Sewing Portfolios

Monday Nov 6th: mahlicadesigns

Nov 7th: Seams Sew Lo

Week 2:

Nov 8th: Margarita on the Ross

Nov 9th: Stitched by Jennie

Nov 10th: Sewing with D

Monday Nov 13th: 5 outof 4 Patterns

Nov 14th: Tales of a Southern Mom

Week 3:

Nov 15th: Hazelnut Handmade

Nov 16th: Octaves of Color

Nov 17th: Kainara Stitches

Nov 18th: Kutti Couture

Nov 19th: The Petite Sewist

Monday Nov 20th: My Heart will Sew On

Nov 21st: Needles to Say

Week 4:

Nov 22nd: Back 40 Life

Nov 23rd: Lovemade Handmade

Nov 24th: Sewing by Ti

Nov 25th: On Wednesdays We Sew

Nov 26th: Paisley Roots

Monday Nov 27th: Mermaid Mama Designs

Nov 28th: Sew Haute Blog

Nov 29th: Ma Moose Handmade

Nov 30th: Everything Your Mama Made & More

SLPco Paisley Dress

I think there are probably quite a few of us that are thinking about the holidays, and not just about finding presents for everyone and all the events we have to attend, but also about the clothing we’ll wear.  As someone that sews, I like to plan in advance.  I like to stalk Pinterest, look through my pattern stash, and scour the fabrics.  Simple Life Pattern Co. started a blog tour specifically for the special occasions that everyone is likely to attend.  All of the bloggers in the tour used SLPco patterns to create a special occasion look.  After looking through all of the patterns, I decided on the Paisley open back dress paired with the Juliette capelet.  

The Paisley dress pattern calls for knit fabrics.  Because of the knit, I knew that she would be comfortable in her dress while she ran and played.  The capelet is for woven fabrics and is a free pattern with a code from the SLPco Facebook group.  Although, I didn’t see any tester pics with fur, I knew that was the look that I really wanted.

I got both of the royal blue stretch velvet and the white faux fur from Hart’s Fabric (the fabric sponsor for this tour).  Dana was amazing to work with, and my fabrics arrived so fast!  The tissue paper pattern that they wrap their fabrics in is such an awesome and fun touch when you open your package.  The quality and feel were both top notch!

The Paisley has a circle skirt option, or a gathered skirt.  I went with the circle skirt, as I knew she’d love to be able to twirl.  I also did the neckline with a binding, but if I did it again with stretch velvet I would do the neckband option, as it was tough to do the binding since I couldn’t iron the velvet.  This was a surprisingly quick sew, and I had it finished in one day.

The capelet was also a quick and simple design that only took me a few hours to complete (after cutting out the fur and vacuuming up all of the fur that decided to take over my sewing room).  The white fur is so amazingly soft that I want to make one for myself too, even if I’ll look like a caroler.  

These patterns were definitely perfect for what I had envisioned her wearing this holiday season.  Be sure to check out what all the other bloggers made, and follow along with the blog tour this week.  Don’t forget to enter the giveaway that is going on as well!

 

November 13 – Kainara Stitches – Ammon Lane

November 14 – Sew and Tell Project – Lace and Pine

November 15 – Sunflower Seams – SewSophieLynn

November 16 – Wonderfully Handmade – Idle Sunshine – I am Mami de Sofiona

November 17 – Pear Berry Lane – It’s Liesel

 

 

There are TWO ways to win in this giveaway!

While both giveaways are open to everyone, contestants outside of the U.S. will be responsible for any excess shipping and fees and subject to the sponsors’ shipping guidelines.

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win the following. One winner will be chosen at random after Rafflecopter closes.

1 winner of Rafflecopter of will receive:
5 Patterns of choice from Simple Life Pattern Co.
$50 Gift Card from Cotton Coterie with FREE shipping
$50 Gift Card from Little Feather

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Already sewing for the holidays with Simple Life Pattern Company? Share what you made for a chance to win the Link-Up prize! One winner will be chosen at random after the link-up closes.

1 Winner of the Link up will receive: 5 Patterns of choice from Simple Life Pattern Co. $50 Gift Card to Harts Fabric $50 Gift Card to Sincerely Rylee $30 Gift Card to Punkin Head Threads

 

Love Notions Sloane Sweater

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that gets inspiration from Pinterest.  I saw a color blocked top on there a while ago and it gave me the inspiration for this Sloane sweater that I made. 

This was the top, and I felt like I came really close to recreating it with the Sloane without having to color block a pattern that I already own.  I’m really lazy and would prefer to have a pattern close to, or exactly like what I’ve envisioned.  The only thing that I had to add myself was a pocket, which was easy to make myself by cutting a rectangle and sewing it where I wanted it.  

I used brushed poly for the top, and I found a suede-like knit at Joann for the elbow patches and the pocket.  The only issue I had was that the knit from Joann was really thick, which is why I did a twin needle stitch around the pocket instead of turning it under and hemming it.  The one thing I wish I would have done differently would be to add length and make the top a bit longer next time.  I usually don’t have to add length to my tops, but this one came out a little shorter than I prefer.  

The Sloane pattern has two different views, one is more of a traditional sweatshirt, whereas there is this view which looks more like a relaxed shirt.  There’s only one sleeve length, and it can be made with or without the color blocking at the shoulder.  The elbow patches are included with the pattern. It’s not on sale during this blog tour, as it was just re-released recently.  And don’t forget to check out what the other bloggers sewed up!

 

Monday: Sew Shelly Sew, The Wholesome Mama, Ruby Rue Creations

Tuesday: Third Shift Creations, Sew Like a Sloth, Four Seasons and a Roadtrip

Wednesday: Seamly Behaviour, My Heart Will Sew On, Ma Moose

Thursday: SewSophieLynn, Very Blissful Blog, Kainara stitches, Sprouting JubeJube

Friday: Sew and Tell Project, Sewing curves, Princesse et trésors, All Things Katy!