Goober Pea Designs Sugar Pea

I bought this Ultraman knit for myself cos i love chibi Ultraman; not just any Ultraman - it has to be CHIBI Ultraman 😆 (It's a long story why... i don't even watch Ultraman shows)

But anyway, I made 1 tank top for me, another for my boy but was struggling to think of what to make for my little girl with this fabric. Then it struck me: Sugar Pea would be PERFECT for this! 

Projector cutting meant that I can do a very decent pattern placement - LOOK! The biggest chibi ultraman is centred in the bodice! (cheap thrill i know =p) And it is so fast too. The projector files of Goober Pea Designs are very good. She takes feedback very seriously so her projector files have all the pattern pieces "opened" up with the fold line still clearly drawn so you can cut folded or opened - the option is yours! 

This little one is still wearing baby sizes which has 3 tiered skirt options but I skipped that cos I wanted the skirt to be a plain black and red - look how pretty the contrast is! But imagine 3 tiers on a cute little baby 💓💓💓

The sizes on Sugar Pea goes from 0-3 months in baby sizes all the way to 14 youth. The bigger baby sizes and the smaller kid sizes actually coincide too. The difference? Baby sizes have shorter skirts which are better for crawling babies and baby sizes have 3 tiered skirts while the kid sizes have just 2 tiers. 

The main fabric I chose for this dress is CL, the skirts are modal. Modal skirts have a great drape which makes modal a lovely choice for our Sugar Pea. 

Shop at Goober Pea designs here

Goober Pea Design Split Pea

I made 2 Split Peas recently. Exactly the same except for size. One for my girl and one for my niece. 

I made this one in top length. (There's also tunic and dress length) Isn't this top lovely? The split back design makes the top so roomy. A perfect top for playing and running! I love how she can do all her toddler rough-ing and tumbling and be really comfy while doing so.

No photos of my niece so here's more photos of my little one! 

One thing to note though, I used CL for both outer and inner fabric. That makes the top thicker and the drape of the peekaboo is not as ideal as I would have preferred. If you have a thinner knit or even a knit that drapes beautifully, I think the effect would be even lovelier! 

That said, I wanted that rainbow CL cos it matched so well with the rainbow print. And I think the little ones both loved it so I'm still going to consider it a WIN!

Thank you for reading! If this inspires you, do consider using my aff link to purchase the pattern! =) 

Goober Pea Design Mabel Top

I had the chance to test for Mabel. This is a basic bodice + circle skirt / handkerchief skirt dress with the option of normal sleeves or puff sleeves. A staple pattern in any little girl's wardrobe I must say! 

I really like handkerchief skirts recently so I took no time at all to come up with this cute little outfit for my girl. Projector sewing for the win! hehe. 

Not sure if you can see the hemming in the photo, but the hemming is very pretty both inside and outside because the pattern came with instructions on how to hem a square skirt such that it looks good inside! 

The top length looks super cute with her shorts. And I think it will go well with leggings too. 

I was thinking of trying a double handkerchief skirt next. I think that would look really sweet too! 

Oh, I used custom knit for this. And I realised that custom knits tend to be really tight. I think moving on, I will probably need to size up every time I use custom knits otherwise, she will outgrow her new clothes in no time. 

Thank you for reading! If this inspires you, do consider using my aff link to purchase the pattern! =) 

Hacking the Goober Pea Design Sunshine Coast Hat~

 

Most bucket hats are just 1 circle on top, 1 rectangle for the sides and the brim.... But the Goober Pea Design's Sunshine Coast Hat is made from 6 panels and a brim and that was what gave me the immediate idea to hack this into the perfect mesh paneled hat for my little girl. 

My little one is very very active and whenever she is out and about, she sweats buckets. As much as we like her to wear a hat with a wide brim when outside, she often finds hats too hot. 

I looked through my fabric stash and knew that this mesh fabric (i bought it to make bags) matches the rainbow sparkly gold foil fabric perfectly so I embarked on my mesh hat journey. 

I took some photos of the steps so I thought I will share it in case anyone wants to try my hack!

First, you need the Sunshine coast hat pattern. You can buy it here if u don't have it yet, (aff link)

The mesh paneled hat hack will be a fully lined hat with an elastic rim (I used FOE for the rim on the inside. 

This is the inside:

You will need 8 pieces of fabric panel (4 outer, ,4 lining if the fabric will be different on the inside and outside) and 2 pieces of mesh fabric panels. 

I used the woven pattern pieces for this as my mesh and fabric are both non-stretch but you can also use the knit pattern pieces if you wish to do the stretch version. 

I also used the height of the casing piece as a guide to cut out 4 rectangular pieces just slightly longer in width to the bottom of the fabric panels for use with my mesh:

I position 2 such pieces right side facing about 3/4 inch above the bottom seam then i sew it together line 1/4 inch from the bottom of the 2 rectangular pieces.

I fold the pieces down and iron (be careful not to use too hot an iron in case the mesh melts!) Then I edge-stitch 1/8 inch to keep the 2 pieces together. This allows me to have a nice finish for the hat later on. 

I trim off the width of the rectangular pieces to match the width of the mesh panel and set the panels aside.

Now I follow the instructions for the unlined version and sew the 6 of the panels up in this order: 2 woven 1 mesh, 2 woven 1 mesh. 

Here's how it looks on the last step when i put the hat together

Now this is the part that I actually didn't take photos of but i should have - how to line the hat so that the side seams of the panels are hidden. I did attempt a video but I'm not sure how clear it was. 

But here are the steps in words:

1) We now have 4 more fabric panels left unsewn. Proceed to sew 2 panels together on just one side then repeat for the other 2 panels so that u get 2 sets of 2 side by side fabric panels (I'm just gg to call this "lining panel" and it will refer to the 2 panels sewn together on 1 side). The original 6 pieces (woven woven mesh woven woven mesh) that was sewn together will now be called "unlined hat"

2) Cut into the seam allowance at the top of the unlined hat  it doesn't get caught when u are sewing. 

3) Put the unlined hat wrong side down such that only 2 woven panels are at the bottom, then scrunch up the remaining panels on top, then place the lining panel right side down on top of everything. You essentially get a "sandwich" whereby the rest of the hat is inside a sandwich of the lining panel and 2 woven panels of the unlined hat. Sew around the top of the 2 woven panels. 

4) Turn right side out and u would get a lined section! 

5) Repeat for other side!

If done correctly, all the seam allowances at the 2 sides of the mesh panels will be hidden in between the outer and inner fabric panels like this:

Then we are left with the last and relatively easy part. You follow the instructions for the unlined hat on how to attach the brim to the hat. Then for the exposed seams, I used slightly stretched FOE to enclosed them (This also helps create a better seal so that the hat doesn't fly off when my girl wears it on windy days. (You can also follow the instructions to do a knit casing or drawstring casing etc etc.) Adrienne's instructions are 100% better than mine any day! haha. 

And that's it! I'm really sorry I don't have better photos/videos of the last, rather crucial part. Perhaps when i get the time, I will make another for my boy and take better photos to update this! Meanwhile, I'm happy to help you out when u get stuck!

Hope the post helped!! Let me know if you try the hack I would love to see your version! 💓