Pretty Pinafore by Carolina Fair Designs (with Giveaway!)

When I saw on the Carolina Fair Designs blog that she needed testers for a pattern, I jumped on the chance. Although I review patterns all the time, I had never been the first to try something. Plus, I liked working with the Wraparound Dress so much that I thought it would be a win-win. The Pretty Pinafore is another one-piece pattern that is super easy to make. The only bit of construction is to sew the shoulder seams together.

I used this amazing alligator (or is it crocodile?) fabric designed by Anda of boosterseat. She is in the process of moving right now so you can buy her fabric directly from Spoonflower or just wait. It will be worth it. She is an amazing person and so talented you won't believe it.

The little gator there on the pocket is a cross-stitch design from Andwabisabi. She has a ton of great patterns and they are very well priced. I wrote about stitching this before. I made quite a mess of it but my 2-year old doesn't mind and you can still tell it's a gator so that's all that really matters, right? I made the pocket from a bizarre collar that I bought at a thrift store. The packaging was hilarious. It has a crocheted lace edge to it that has now pulled out of my bias tape edging. I'll have to fix that but I'm not sure how.

The overall dress is so simple. After you stitch the shoulder seams together, you just apply your bias tape to the whole thing in one continuous loop. I do recommend that you stitch one edge of the tape down (right sides together) then fold it over and stitch it closed. I tried a quick and dirty one step method and the dress pulled out of the tape in several areas. I have been re-stitching them and it has taken far longer to fix my mistakes than it would have been just to sew it right the first time. But that seems to be how I do things...

As you can see it's a great fit. I like that it has a pinafore look but it's a dress. You can make a tunic or shirt version with this just like you can with the Wraparound Dress. Both hems are noted. A nice touch.

And check out this amazing little stop-animation video that Caroline made to demonstrate sewing the dress. It is really awesome. And only 1 minute long.

SORRY. COMMENTS ARE CLOSED. WINNERS ALREADY CHOSEN.

Don't forget that Caroline is giving away two patterns. To enter, go to her website, pick out which of the two patterns you would like and leave a comment on this post. For a second entry, go to yesterday's post and leave a comment there as well. Make sure you leave your email address or a way to find you! Winners will be chosen August 16.

Project: kids clothes week day 1

I was thinking that this week would be Robot Week and that I would feature all the goodness that was Zadie's 2nd birthday party. But I am really stressed out. What I need right now is to just sew and not have to do anything that requires a great amount of effort. I hope that's okay.

A while back I signed up for kids clothes week over on Elsie Marley. It seemed like a big challenge at the time but now it seems like what I need: I just want to sew. And the deal with kids clothes week is that you just sew -- for one hour every day.

I'm starting today by finishing this cool crocogator dress. It's top secret for now but you'll hear about it soon enough. That seam on the bias tape right at the neckline is really bothering me. I'm going to do something about that.

So here's my plan:

this crocogator dress (fabric by boosterseat)

those yellow elephant pants (pattern by danslalune)

bubble romper (maybe)

a little zippered tote so zadie will have something for her doll accessories

maybe some doll clothes for her new baby

I might not even get to all this but I'm not going to worry about it. Oh, and I know that doll clothes and tote bags aren't kids clothes but that's okay. You should check out the Elsie Marley site. She has some amazing inspiration. I love the bunny rabbit pocket detail she features. Cuteness overload.

Project: I finally spent my Christmas money

So now that it's March, I finally got around to spending my Christmas money -- and in one fell swoop at that. I went nuts on Spoonflower and bought these rad Heather Ross gnome and mushroom prints that I have been drooling over for ages but could never find. Best of all, I got this fantastic alligator (crocodile) repeat from Anda of boosterseat.

I don't know what I'm going to do with the gnomes but I got a yard of each and a yard of the mushrooms. The mushroom color matches both gnomes so it will be a nice border or trim or cuff or collar and I should have some left over no matter what.

I'm going to make a super cute romper with the alligators. I'm using a vintage pattern that I borrowed from my mother in law who made a few for my husband's sisters when they were Zadie's age. I don't know why but Zadie is crazy for alligators and crocodiles. Do you know how to tell the difference? The crocs have a severe underbite while the gators have an overbite. Chomp! (I once saw a gator fly out of a small pond and eat a sunbathing turtle. I am not lying. I have a witness and I will never forget that sound).

Check out Anda's gallery at the bottom of her spoonflower page. Zadie is nuts for school buses (and thanks to my local BOE closing the historic school we can see from our house [and the number one reason why we moved to our otherwise third-choice neighborhood], she'll be lucky enough to ride one every day grrrrr....).

4 yards of fabric plus shipping was about $79 but I can do whatever I want with my Christmas money and a new living room rug is so boring.