Hacking WWD Staple Skirt

I love the finishing of the Winter Wear Designs Staple Skirt for kids. It's got all the bells and whistles of a proper woven zippered skirt. Everything in the instructions is wonderful and I have always gotten great results using it. 

See how pretty the finishing of the zipper is! 

The only thing is, whether it is the A line option or the pencil skirt version, my girl only wears those on special occasions because it limits her movement and she is, after all, still a toddler! 

We own one pass me down retail wear skirt that had an A-line shape till where the hips are then it ended off with a pleated flounce. Kind of like a tennis skirt or a drop waist pleated flounce skirt. And she loved that skirt. It was made with denim and has plenty of movement and was also very very cute! Unfortunately she was outgrowing the skirt and it's becoming too mini for my liking. Hence, I had always wanted to hack the staple skirt into a similar one and I finally did it! With the help of Apostrophe Pattern's latest pattern generator: Gathered Skirt generator!  

Since I have made Staple Skirt a couple of times before, I knew roughly where I would like the flounce of the skirt to start - for reference, I used the lengthen/shorten lines and simply cut the skirt pieces there. 

I kept the pockets etc so after following the instructions, you will get a shortened skirt with the pockets sticking out. Then, I measured the diameter of the bottom of this shortened skirt and entered into the generator following the instructions. I selected the length of the skirt to be 13 cm, and hem to be 2cm. 

The great thing about the generator is, you can suggest a pleat length and if the math don't work out, it will automatically change to the closest length that will work. Yay! (e.g. when i selected 5cm, it was okay, but when I selected 6cm, it automatically switched to 6.1cm) 

Another great thing about it is, for projector users, it comes with markings so that you can actually mark it on your fabric and fold accordingly - very beginner friendly. 

After pleating and attaching, my girl's pleated skirt was all done! Isn't it adorable?

The fabric i used was a stretch twill in bright yellow and I used a cute strawberry snap button for a pop of color and also cos jean buttons are still difficult for her to put on herself. 

And here is the skirt worn! (the top is rtw, i think that slogan is cheeky =p Also, rtw in this home are all hand me downs from friends cos I have not bought any clothes for my kids from retail shop in a really long time!)

Look at the great range of movement this skirt has. No wonder she loves skirts like this.

Thank you for visiting! Hope to see you again soon! 💗

Rain City Pearson Pullover

It had been raining incessantly again recently. Flash floods and everything too. 

The weather turned cold and perfect for light layering and so I thought it was perfect time to make myself a Pearson Pullover. I love the drafting of Rain City Pattern Co. I love how everything i made for my kids fit so far. And this is the second adult pattern I made from RCPC and this one fits beautifully too.  

Can I just say that that sleeve is just beautiful? I really loved the shape. I picked the band for the long sleeves as well so I don't have to deal with elastic casing. And I enjoy how quick it all came together especially with the projector. I didn't want it too short so I used the band for the pullover instead of the elastic option.  

So COMFY!

This fabric is waffle knit with elastane. It's 4 way stretch and really soft. The vertical stretch isn't as much as the horizontal one but that's okay with this pattern. 

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! 

Jilly Atlanta Bellaire Pants

Who doesn't love a good pair of bell bottoms?

My little one is rocking her pair of Bellaire Pants from Jilly Atlanta in floral CL!

We paired this with a georgeous cowl neck top from Candy Castle pattern company - Marzipan (which is absolutely lovely!)

Looking stylish! 

And here's a different look:

Now she's channeling flower power 🤣

Goober Pea Designs Quadra Jacket

This little one needed a light jacket for childcare. They finally renovated and the airconditioning is working at long last. 

That means she needed an extra layer at nap times so i thought it was a perfect time to try the new jacket pattern from Goober Pea Designs - Quadra jacket!

This is flannelette from a destash and it's so soft inside and out that, i knew it is perfect for an unlined light jacket. 

It's also super cute with all the kitties ❤

I love how fast it came together even with the separating zipper. She's wearing this over a normal top and there's enough ease to be comfortable.

She's also very capable to zipping herself up properly. Yay to self-dressing kiddos.

Look at that proud face 🥰

The Quadra jacket has pocket and colorblocking options but i skipped all those since it's just for using in childcare for nap times. 

In future though, it will be so useful for jackets meant for wearing in cold countries - when we can finally travel again 😅

Matchy matchy family set!

I've been testing quite frequently for Sinclair Patterns these days. And these are some matchy matchy outfits I managed to make for my entire family whilst testing. 

I didnt want it to be too obvious, in-your-face, kind of matching but something which still looks good when they wear it on their own. 

And also, the husband can be very particular about prints so heathered grey athletic knit is a very safe option! Of course I didn't have quite so many yardages of a specific heathered grey knit so i mixed and matched a few close matches - and they were all from my stash! Yippee! 

Patterns featured: Ivy, Ivyberry, Rocky and Rockyberry 

First photo - a group photo of me and the kids (husband's the photographer) 

Here's my husband and son at the beach!

Here's Rockyberry tank with Solberry shorts. 

This Ivyberry is made with remnants from big and brave fabrics and the drape is really lovely! 

Mine is made with a different remnant, a much thinner athletic knit that is also very comfortable. 

I do like this family set so so much. Can u tell we have been wearing these often? Many of these photos are taken at different locations over different days! 

Sinclair Azalea Top

Oh my heart!! I've absolute love for this Azalea top pattern from Sinclair Patterns. Big big big love for it. 

This is my first tester version of it in ITY fabric and it is love at first sight. I actually own a rtw top in this exact design but in CL and that one drapes differently. 

This one, i can make it in exactly the fabric I envision a top like this shld be made in and it's just been making my heart sing. 

I just love how the top v knot looks and the instructions are wonderful 🥰

I made my second version in a white 3/4 sleeve interlock (i wldn't recommend this fabric!). 

It still looks cute, but cos it isn't a recommended fabric, i think there's room for improvement for sure. 

Next one in black? =p=p=p 

Sinclair Kids Cloudberry Tee

I've raved quite a bit about the size chart for Sinclair Pattern's kids patterns and here is Sinclair patterns Cloudberry knit raglan top for kids!

As usual, I made it for my slim boy who fits beautifully in Slim J without any need for blending. Slim J doesn't refer to slim fit. It means my boy is slimmer than children his height and J is the size his height indicates he is in. 

I had a rainbow beaked toucan CL and I paired it with a cute rainbow CL cos that was the period of time tt he wanted all things rainbow like his sister and I was happy to oblige cos rainbow on kids is fun and happy.

I like how banding everything makes my life so much simpler. I am not fond of hemming, are u? 

Thank u for visiting and see u again soon! 

Sinclair Kids Blueberry Tee

When Sinclair patterns started making kids patterns for slimmer kids, I jumped at the chance to test for her. Of the companies that I have used for adult patterns so far, they have proven to be a great company for well drafted adult patterns so I had high hopes for great children patterns too. And Sinclair patterns really delivered!

This is the blueberry tee in a thin low stretch knit. Look how good it fits my very slim boy without blending!

I usually have to blend for this boy as much as 3 sizes for some size charts and that makes some pattern not work as well and it's also just a little more troublesome to make. With the slim size chart, I can pick a size based on height and go for it and it looks great!

He's really happy cos his wardrobe has had plenty more tees now that I've got Blueberry pattern. It's made it so much easier to make tops for him so I did. 

Spamming some more photos of this cutie pie 🥰

And cos I'm pretty proud of the insides of the tee, i wanted to show 1 photo of the top hung up. See how pretty the back of the neckline is? 

And finally, 2 more photos of another blueberry tee...

My instagram has more blueberry tees if anyone's interested!