The New and Improved BLAVERRY Upton Dress

I finally get to share one of my BLAVERRY tests, and I am so excited! I had the chance to test the Upton redo last month, and my little girl wears it all the time! I've now tested three different BLAVERRY patterns, and I really love them. BLAVERRY patterns are very trendy, and at the same time, perfect for girls to wear and have fun in.

This pattern comes in multiple sleeve length options, and it's a wonderful dress pattern! The pattern comes with the option to print in layers, and is very quick and easy to put together. The pattern comes in sizes 2-16, covering toddlers, little girls, and tweens.

I tested the short sleeve option, but there are also half- and long-sleeve options. The pieces assemble very easily and I hardly had any trouble with it. My main trouble? Yep, it came from using a twin needle! I'm certainly getting a lot better, but my neckline had some issues because of the neckline. But it's certainly better than my first attempt.

What's my favorite part of this dress? The hidden pop of color on the back of the dress! Check it out! The neckline did get a little bulky in the back from the pleat on the back of the dress, but it's worth it.

The back of my dress ended up longer than the front of the dress, but I think it was all fabric and user error. The turquoise fabric I used was a knit I purchased at a yard sale and is very very stretchy. I really think it stretched every which way imaginable. But my little girl loves it the way it is so I left it.


My girl is so not a girly girl! She loves dresses and skirts, but also loves to jump and play. She's our little rough and tumble girl. Since the dress front comes right above her knees, she wears this dress with pants as a tunic, but it works. Especially since she's grown since testing time. This next picture shows another reason this little girl will be wearing pants with her dress... :)

The pattern also comes with an easy way to extend the dress out to the right length for your girl's height. The designer has done a great job of making it easy for everyone to make the perfect dress. Since testing was completed, the designer went through the pattern and made updates to the neckline and some pattern pieces, to make sure the dress fits all the specified measurements. I haven't had a chance to make a new one since the updated pattern was sent out, but I can't wait to make another one with all the adjustments.

Make sure you go check out Blaverry designs on the website. And if you're a little like me, and gun shy about pattern cost, give the Zozo dress a try first. The Zozo is $1 and a great price to try a designer you've never tried before. The three patterns I've tested are fantastic, and I plan on buying many of these patterns.

I can't remember where all the fabric is from, but the summer/ice cream fabric is definitely from Purpleseamstress Fabric and can be found on facebook. She always has wonderful quality knits, a huge selection, and incredibly fast shipping. I love all my fabrics from here.

Peek-a-Boo's Lullaby Gown

I've been busy these last couple weeks transitioning leadership roles in cub scouts, so I've been a little overwhelmed. But...I still managed to sew my items to reach my goal. I just didn't get them posted on time! :)

I have had the Lullaby Gown pattern from Peek-a-Boo Patterns since I found out I was pregnant with twins, and they're 2 now. Yes, I had every intention of making some adorable ones for my littles while they were they cooking...but it never happened! So I finally made 2 gowns for my friend's baby shower, and I love them! I never bought the hat pattern, and right now we're tight on funds so my gowns are hat less! Oh well, I really never use hats very often anyway.

So this may not be the best picture, but it's all I got before I packaged them up for my friend. Since I don't have infants myself, I can't try them on a beautiful model! And our dolls are well...let's just say they remind me of Sid's toys from the movie Toy Story.

Anyway, on to business! I made these in the 6 month size. The designer recommends making the 3 month size for gifts I believe, but I know my friend has larger babies, so I went big!

My first try was the train fabric. I was going along, following all the instructions, and wondering why so many people had trouble with it the first time because everything was going so well...or so I thought! Everything really did go together really well and easily...my only problem - I missed the very important step telling me to put the cuffs on the back of the gown when attaching the sleeves to the bodice. Yep, that's right! The cuffs are on backwards. So I decided to make another one, but I'm still giving her both and she can choose if she wants to use the backwards one. 

The pattern is very easy to follow and all the pieces fit great! I had no problem with the pattern, as long as I read ALL the steps. The elastic is super easy to attach at the bottom and I loved how these turned out. It calls for 1/2" knit elastic, but those are the only extras you need. This PDF pattern does not have a layering feature, but it's very easy to assemble.

This pattern is for infants through 6 month sizes, and the designer has an entire line of infant products, which I'm sure are just as easy to make! Please check out her website here, her etsy shop here, or facebook here. The designer also sells fabric now as well, so you can find fabric from her as well!

Get ready to raglan again!

Now that I got my first raglan and pencil skirt out of the way, I decided I was ready to make myself something else! When I went to my SAS store a couple weeks ago, I kept eyeing the feather fabric from my last post, and this pretty rose fabric. Still really inexpensive fabric, and not very thick, but I love how this shirt turned out!

I went to a women's meeting at my church last Thursday night, one where we were to share our favorite thing with the other women there. I had forgotten about this until about an hour prior, and really wanted to take something I had made to share my love for sewing.

I used the same size (3xl), but used the short sleeve option instead. I added the relaxed waistband, although I probably should have made the band a little tighter. The stripe fabric I used is super thin though, so I am not sure how much recovery it will have, and if it will look great tighter around the hips. I guess we'll see how it hangs on me after washing it the first time.

Since the stripe fabric was so thin, it shifted a lot while cutting my fabric. It's true that better quality fabric sews up better. But I still really love this shirt!

After I got my fabric home, I realized that the rose fabric was actually a border print, and I only bought one yard, so I couldn't use it as a border print. I also realized I didn't have enough to make my back look the same as the front. I considered color blocking the back, but really wanted to finish this in time for the meeting. I had one hour, and almost made it. Another 5-10 minutes, I would have been able to wear this. Instead, I just took some beautiful corduroy fabric I've been holding onto for years...maybe I'll get around to using it sometime! :)

Anyway...instead of color blocking the back, I decided to make it fun and different with the border print on the side of the shirt! It just makes it a fun design piece! The roses even look like they're peeking through on the side!

The best part about this shirt? I ended up wearing it Saturday on a Pokemon hunt with my kids. We took all 5 kids down to Tempe Town Lake, walked around for about 3 km (Pokemon Go is in km), sweat a ton, but this shirt is so thin and breathable, that it wasn't nearly as bad as normal. And when I say sweat, I mean it! It was only a little over 100 during our walk, but would have been much worse with a different shirt.

If you're still on the fence about the relaxed raglan pattern by Patterns for Pirates, jump on over and get it! It's wonderfully easy and flattering. Or the etsy shop here.