Candy Castle Box of Chocolate and Jawbreaker Joggers

Every month, as Candy Castle's brand ambassador, I get to sew up one of their patterns and this month's pattern is the unisex Jawbreaker Jogger pattern. I find that Candy Castle Pattern's drafting block is well suited for slimmer children (u will need to grade/blend between sizes for children who fit in different sizes) 

My girl has many Candy Castle dresses that I made and she's average size though much smaller than her age (She's almost 4 years old but still in the 2 year old size!), my boy doesn't have many candy castle outfits but so far the outfits that I made for him fits him beautifully. This time round, since the pattern of the month is unisex, I really wanted to make him an outfit this time, so i did!

In the photo above, you can see 2 of Candy Castle's patterns: The top is Box of Chocolate in top length with the sleeves lengthened by about 2 inches (The original sleeves were shorter and he preferred longer short sleeves - this is an easy hack!)

The bottoms are Jawbreaker joggers (which is this month's pattern of the month!). This jogger pattern has many many options included in the pattern and I selected the in set pockets - his preferred type of pockets and for a fun detail, i chose to follow the tutorial instructions on how to add a 'reverse applique' where i added a cute spaceman onto the insides of the joggers then cut away the main fabric to reveal the spaceman applique. So fun and easy! 

Doesn't it look cute? To be honest, i was a little scared when i started cutting the fabric away to reveal the spaceman. But I'm glad I tried this cos it elevated the otherwise boring black pair of joggers! 

There's also instructions on how to make knee patches (moto-style), slashed pants, contrast patch pockets etc etc. And Candy Castle instructions are always so so thorough so any beginner will be a great hands!. 

This boy is pretty proud of his new set of spaceman outing wear =)

Candy Castle Bubblegum Dress and the add ons!

I got to try making the Bubblegum dress from Candy Castle Pattern Co as a brand ambassador for them and it is the pattern of the month this August with the code AUGUST. It is a beautiful wrap dress that can be made with woven and knit fabrics. So versatile!

For this dress I made, I decided to go with the Sarah Jane fabric that I have been saving. This is Children at play and its coordinate fabric with balloons. It's adorable!

The puff sleeves are done with elastic and I suppose if u pull it tighter, it will be closer to the arm but I am happy that it is slightly puffed out so that her upper arms are not "squeezed" - she really doesn't like it when her arms have elastics around them too. So this is great - a puff look without the tightness around the upper arm!

The great thing about a wrap dress is that the kid can wear it for much longer despite that fact that you make it in woven fabric. Cos this little girl has plenty of pretty woven dresses and one thing that bugs me is how fast she outgrows them. Woven clothes don't get worn as much and she outgrows them so much faster too. So it's a nice change that this is a lovely woven dress that she isn't going to outgrow just yet. 

This version is the basic bubblegum dress with an A line skirt that is sweet and simple and really fast to make. 

The recommended fabrics for this in woven include quilter's cotton (which is what i have here, corduroy for something thicker to wear over long sleeves (think winter wear coordinates!) or even light weight denim. For knit fabrics, u can go with interlock or jersey (size down for really stretchy fabric!) and even fleece (again for a cute cold weather coordinate!)

The dress itself can be lined on the bodice or it can also be finished with bias tape all around the wrap. This version I made was lined. 

New information! (added 17/3/2022)

If u like a really poofy swing dress, I tried the bubblegum swing dress add on which is a gathered, full skirt version with a contrast band (Can u see that the bottom of her pretty Hello Kitty dress is in black coordinating Hello Kitty kimono print?)

There's a lot of things I did for this dress to make it "special". Firstly, I picked the bias tape version this time so that it is not so hot to wear - previously the white was slightly translucent hence the need for lining but this fabric is perfectly fine to wear as a single layer. 

Then to add interest to the bias tape and make it uniquely ours, I used 2 different colors of bias tape in 2 different width. The purple is a beautiful dark purple with sheen satin bias that is a double fold 1cm bias while the pink is a cotton bias tape that folds up to about 0.5cm in width. I binded one side of the purple bias then used the combined bias to give the dress a contrast bias collar look. It turned out exactly as I envisioned. I was SO PROUD. The sleeves had just the pink bias and the straps were just the purple one. I think it looks perfect! 

You may be wondering. Where's the puff sleeves? Well, for the sleeveless look, I also used the Bubblegum parade maxi dress sleeveless add on. Hehe. Talk about mixing and mashing! There was so much going on in this dress already that I didn't want puff sleeves to distract from the other stuff like contrast collar. So going sleeveless was perfect. It was also ideal since this girl runs hot! 

Candy Castle Cotton Candy Dream Dress

The Cotton Candy Dream Dress from Candy Castle Patterns is such a darling little dress! It features two amazing options: an everyday play dress and a special occasion dress with tulle. 

I made the everyday play dress in quilting cotton and honestly, I think it's beautiful and not at all just-an-everyday-dress. It's pretty enough to be a party dress! 

This is quilting cotton from handmade fabrics and I used black bias that was slightly shiny for the straps and also the hem for that pretty bordered effect. 

I just love the back of the dress. It's perfect for summer! 

The sweetheart neckline is really pretty too! 

Maybe one day I will try the tulle version! 

Get Cotton Candy Dream Dress at a discounted price with code June! 

Candy Castle Snickerdoodle Sweater and Tunic

Did you know that while Candy Castle is well known for their whimsical dresses for girls, they also have some lovely unisex patterns including this lovely sweater pattern that you can make for your boy?

I made the Candy Castle Snickerdoodle Sweater for my boy and he couldn't be more pleased. 

This pattern comes with projector file - a must for me these days. And the short sleeved option comes with an extra tall cuff that makes it unique and super cute!

The fact that this doesn't need hemming also meant that it came together incredibly fast and I'm SO SO happy whenever i can get a shirt done in a short time - cos that gives me more time for more sewing! 

The fit is comfortable and there's blending instructions for those who needs it. The pattern also comes with kangeroo pockets and long sleeves with cuffs. 

Candy Castle Designs Funfetti Dress

It's almost Lunar New Year! For the Chinese, Lunar New Year marks the start of the new lunar calendar. There's lots of festivities, visiting, exchange of mandarin oranges between relatives and friends and red money packets for the children. 

One tradition of the Lunar New Year (CNY) is the wearing of red outfits to symbolise good luck and fortune. Being able to sew means that my kids are getting mum made new year outfits this year even if we aren't going to visit many households due to Covid. 

For my girl's first day outfit, I have chosen the Funfetti dress by Candy Castle Designs. This is a super cute dress pattern with loads of options. And since CNY is traditionally a very hot season in Singapore, I've decided to go for a sleeveless, dress length, circle skirt version of Funfetti.

To go with the theme, I chosen a beautiful Cotton lycra with Hello Kitty prints and red and yellow blooms then paired it with a bright red circle skirt. So cute!!

She had a beautiful red leather bag given to her by her grandma which is a perfect accessory for this dress AND it serves the important purpose of keeping her red money packets when she goes to her grandparents house to visit during the holiday!

We love Hello Kitty in this family so we even had matching hello kitty masks so that she can look pretty and be safe! 

Funfetti was a very fast sew. I think cutting took longer than the actual sewing! There's definitely going to be more Funfettis in the future! Perhaps a gathered skirt version next time? Or a sleeved one? The options are plenty! 

And now for more photos of the pretty dress! 

Peppermint Swirl Dress by Candy Castle Designs

When I first discovered the pattern company Candy Castle Designs, Peppermint Swirl Dress was THE DRESS that caught my eyes. The twirl factor is amazing!!

I absolutely love how it looked and at the same time, if I am to be honest, I was too scared to try it initially cos it looked HARD.

But as I saw all the other beautiful peppermint swirl dresses, I took the plunge anyway. And I'm so glad I did!

I envisioned something very princessy pink and since I needed a lot of pink/purple colors, I got Kona cotton fabric from 2quilters who very very kindly curated this beautiful set of pinks and purple (they ship internationally!) for me.

Cutting it wasn't as difficult as I thought. I pinned the pattern pieces onto a stack of 4 colors, then cut directly with my fabric scissors, then repeat again for the next stack and so on. Cutting took me not even an hour to complete!

Next was putting the dress together. Most of the time, we always say never serge wovens right? But for this skirt, the instructions said serging was okay. Yay! And honestly, serging these skirt pieces together made the whole skirt construction go really fast! And look at how beautiful it is already!

Did you know that there's a free hack to make this into just a skirt instead of a dress? Best hack ever! (I did that too. Maybe I will talk about it in another post =p)

The hemming of the skirt was with bias tape and the bias tape really helped the skirt keep it's shape. If you use a pretty stitch like mine, it can also become part of the design!

Let's see some of the details of this dress shall we?

And here's the happy little girl wearing the dress for Chinese New Year celebrations. =)

Peppermint Swirl Dress girls: Bit.ly/CandyPSgirls

Peppermint Swirl Dress ladies: Bit.ly/CandyPSladies

Peppermint Swirl Skirt tutorial (free!): bit.ly/CandyPSS