Laurel Dress Sew-Along Begins Soon!

Next week we're starting a sew-a-long of the new Laurel Dress pattern by Colette Patterns! You can follow that link to purchase a PDF pattern if you want to join us in showing this very cute and versatile shift dress. Then all you need is some fabric and a zipper, I guess!

 Photo courtesy of Colette Patterns

 Here's the tentative schedule:

Mon-Tues 4/15-4/16: Printing/assembling pattern, cutting pattern pieces
Wed-Fri 4/17-4/19: Sewing time!
Sat-Sun 4/20-4/21: Finishing touches, adjusting for fit

If you want to join in, here's a link to our Flickr page: April 2013 Sew-Alongs. We'll be posting photos of our work as we go along and sharing our progress! Can't wait to see how this dress turns out. There are a lot of little options available on the Colette Patterns' website. I'm still debating whether I want to add the pockets or not. I'll have to figure that out pretty soon!! :) Have a great day!

Sis Boom Meghan Pattern Review

We just finished up sewing our Meghan peasant tops by Sis Boom and are ready to tackle the Laurel dress by Colette Patterns! But first, I'll give you a quick review of the Meghan pattern. Here I am in my "Lauralee" fabric peasant top...

 Meghan tops West Indies and Lauralee fabrics by Sis Boom

Sis Boom patterns are typically very easy to print, assemble and understand. This is a very simple project that's perfect for a beginner! I wanted my Meghan to be a hip-length top so I cut my body pieces to a length of 15", then added 1 1/4" for seam allowance (total: 16 1/4" in length). Of course, I'm quite tall at 5'10", so you might want to adjust yours according to your own measurement.

The pattern states that if you want a more fitted peasant, you should go down one size. Still, since I'm usually a medium, I cut a medium...but now I wish I had done the small. Oh well! An adjustment I did make was to cut all my elastic pieces an extra two inches longer than the pattern called for. I just didn't want anything to be tight or constricting!

Also, the pattern calls for hemming the body/skirt pieces before attaching them to the bodice. I wouldn't do that next time around. After I tried on my finished Meghan, I realized that I wanted a closer fit in the body, so I took in both my tops over an inch on each side seam. Obviously, it's much easier to hem a garment after making adjustments for your own body type.

Finally, there's a choice of three cutting lines on the bodice pattern pieces according to your cup size. I actually think cutting a larger (2 or 3) bodice piece regardless of your chest size would give this top a little less of a potential maternity look. After having three babies, I'm definitely not into wearing anything that seems like it could be found in a maternity shop!! That being said, if you are pregnant, this pattern could be easily adjusted to fit a growing baby belly. :)

Overall, this was a very quick sewing project. I think I could've finished sewing both garments in about 2-3 hours...if I could get that many solid, uninterrupted hours!! I definitely love sewing Sis Boom patterns, you really can't go wrong if you decide to give them a go!

April Sew-Alongs!

I took a brief hiatus from updating my blog, but now I'm back with info about a whole month of sew-alongs for April 2013! My friend Cara from My Little Lady Designs and I will be tackling several dress patterns from Sis Boom and the new Laurel dress Colette Patterns just launched. Here's the schedule:

4/3-4/7: Sis Boom Meghan Peasant Top
4/8-4/14: Colette Patterns Laurel Dress
4/15-4/21: Sis Boom Jamie Dress
4/22-4/28: TBD (Sis Boom Rebecca?)

Here's the Flickr group I created to share photos: April 2013 Sew-Alongs. Should be great fun and will definitely put us all in perfect Spring mood by the start of May!! 

My side project for this month is also sewing the Sis Boom Lucy Halter as a maxi dress in two different fabrics. It's my first time sewing with some Jennifer Paganelli fabric and I can't wait! Here's one of my fabric choices:

Thanks for dropping by!