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.

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.

Body Image Issues? Patterns for Pirates to the rescue!

My bronchitis is finally over, and I was able to finish my first ever pencil skirt and a relaxed raglan for myself, both patterns are from Patterns for Pirates.

Now, before I dig into this, how many of us have body issues? Whether we are a size 8 or 20, very few people are truly 100% content with how they look. I know right now I sure don't! 5 babies in 7 years, 4 c-sections, and the last being twins 2 years ago, my body has taken a hit! I hate shopping at the store for so many reasons...sizing is never consistent, many shirts shrink (vertically usually!) after the first wash, and I hate seeing the "stuffed sausage look" as I try on shirts I think would look great on me, but really don't!

And in reality, so many of us deal with insecurities about our shape. I will always remember a lesson a dear friend taught me years ago. We were talking about our legs, thighs, rolls...you know the drill! But I never once imagined her to be anything other than perfectly thin. But she had her insecurities too. Just because we don't look like it, doesn't mean that there aren't things that we want to improve.

So on that note...yes there are some great store bought clothes that a lot of people love, but they just don't work for everyone. I have been collecting P4P patterns for a little while now, for this reason alone. She has very wide size ranges, and you can tailor them to fit your body size and style. Not everybody has the same waist style, hip size, and P4P is great at helping you make a shirt, skirt, dress, or outfit tailored to your size!

I've made myself one shirt in the past from another designer, but it was more just practice sewing and I didn't really care what it looked like after. For my first time using these patterns, I decided to use very inexpensive fabric (yes, $2.99/yd) in case I screwed up! Now that I finished, I can't wait to make whatever I want!

I measured at the largest size on all measurements, and even a little wider at the hips and waist on the shirt, but was able to grade out just enough to make it work. I used the P4P Pencil skirt pattern, and the Relaxed Raglan pattern. Both of these patterns, and from what I've seen all of her women's patterns, go all the way to Plus 3XL. And yes, that's where I fell! I honestly shed a few tears. But until I get back to a healthy size, I'm going to make clothes to fit and make me feel as great and beautiful as I can!

I got dressed this morning for church, did my hair, put makeup and jewelry on, and a nice slip, and felt so sassy! Then I looked at my pictures, and didn't feel the same way. But that will come with time. As long as I see a happy woman in the mirror while I work on my imperfections, I'm ok! And these patterns will help me get to the happy point!

This takes a lot of courage posting this online for the world to see, but I wanted you to see! These are great patterns! And I can only imagine how much better thick, quality fabric will look in a finished product. AND, the best part? I received soo many compliments today, most from people who didn't have any idea I had sewn this. I'm sure it wasn't just the outfit, but the smile too! I even had someone ask me if these were from Lualaroe.

For the skirt, I used the hi-waist option, ending at knee length. The pattern has an option for hi- or low- waist, as well as above knee, knee length, or midi option. It also gives directions for a vent in the back of the skirt as well. I used rayon combo for the skirt, and it's really not great quality. But even despite that, the skirt turned out good. The waistband is a knit waistband, and the fit was right on.

For the shirt I used a thin sweater knit, and a really thin mystery knit that I found out a local SAS store. But I kept seeing the leaves and couldn't get away from them at the store...fall's calling to me, even though we live in AZ and there really is no such thing as fall!

So I finally got up the nerve to make the shirt, and finished it last night at midnight. My chest measurement was right on, but my hips and waist were just a little outside the range. It was easy enough to add on and make it fit ME! That's the important part! I made something to fit ME! I didn't squeeze into many things before quitting. After following these patterns, I'm ready to break into my fabric stash and add to my wardrobe. The raglan also comes with neck triangle and elbow patch options, as well as an add-on pack to buy with pocket features, hood features, and thumb holes. Can't wait to try those myself!

These patterns both come in layer format, and are easy to assemble. No trim pages make it very easy to line up, even if you don't use the layers feature. These patterns are extensively tested by ladies of all shapes and sizes, and are tried and true. I have followed their sewing support FB page for a while, and all the posts have given me the courage to get started for myself.

In the meantime, I'll continue to work on my insecurities, hopefully getting healthy, but dressing great at the same time!

You can find Patterns for Pirates online at their site, facebook, or etsy. Give these patterns a shot. I'm sure you'll feel flirty and sassy too!

Jolly Roger Raglan by P4P

I forgot, I have sewed a little more recently, and want to share.

One of the first knit patterns I ever made was the Jolly Roger Raglan, by Patterns For Pirates, or P4P. They started out designing a lot of patterns for boys, but recently have designed more patterns for women. And as great as those patterns look, I'm just too afraid to make things for myself right now. So even though I've bought several of the women's patterns, I haven't ventured there yet. But I still love using the Jolly Roger Raglan as a basic for my kid's shirts. It comes together very quickly, and the instructions are detailed and easy to follow.

I have used this pattern for all of my kids, boy and girl, but the shirt seems to look better on the boys than the girls. Not sure if it's the neckline, or I need to make the shirts a little slimmer for my girls, but I prefer it on my boys. Nevertheless, I still love this pattern. It uses knit fabric with good recovery, especially for the binding. It has many options, including straight hem, baseball hem, and a band. It also comes in long sleeves, 3/4 sleeves, and short sleeves, with extra options such as an elbow patch and triangle patch at the neckline.

Recently, I won that amazing penguin fabric in the picture above, and really wanted to use it. I can't even tell you where it came from because the website has been closed down, but it's truly great fabric. The store is called Sew Much Fabric, but all the related websites say they are under construction or not loading up. I won this by winning a Nightgown sew along last winter.

This summer I finally got around to using this fabric, and made a pair of PJs for my twin boy. But of course, I had to make my girl something as well. So I ended up making 2 PJ sets for my boy and 1 set for my twin girl, and I love them. I used the Jolly Roger Raglan for the shirts, color blocked them because my panels weren't large enough, and used existing 3t shorts for a pattern for the PJ bottoms. I've sewn for the twins a few times since they were born, but this was the first time they were aware they were getting new clothes from mom. It was very exciting for them.

I have to say, I love it when I match up my stripes! Anyone else get that happy feeling when you realize what an awesome job you did? When all the time spent lining up the fabric really pays off?

P4P has recently been updating their patterns, and adding layering to their older patterns. I'm sure this one will be done soon. I only wish the original pattern had the PDF layers. I spent hours tracing all 16 sizes, but glad I did. I have used many of them over the last couple years.

You can find P4P at their website, on etsy, and on facebook. They have so many new releases for women, I think you'll fall in love! I love looking at them, buying them, and I'm sure one day I'll love making them for me as well!

Posey Tunic and Peony Leggings by Sew Like My Mom

This summer, a designer I love, Sew Like My Mom, came out with a couple new patterns, and I couldn't resist testing for her. I'd tested for her before and love the fit of the pattern I had tried. Now, all 5 kids were with me all summer, so I wasn't sure I could actually test, but I made it happen, and I'm so glad I did!

So my first posts of finished items are going to be the 3 patterns I tested over the summer. So first off, the Posey Tunic and Peony Leggings. I tested this for my twin girl, using a size 3. Her measurements were spot on with the chart, so it was super easy to construct.

The tunic and leggings are very well constructed and the pattern is very easy to follow. One of my favorite things about Sew Like My Mom is the many choices she offers with her patterns! She is currently updating her older patterns to include layers and better instructions, and she always has great options! These patterns call for knits with good recovery. Sizes 12m-8.

So let's start with the Posey Tunic! The tunic comes in 4 different sleeve lengths, sleeveless, short sleeve, elbow sleeve, and long sleeve, all with cuffs as you can see in my picture. The pattern instructions are great and easy to follow. It has plenty of pictures and great tips to help with sewing with knits.

I tested the short sleeve version. We are a sleeve wearing family, so I'll rarely make things that are sleeveless! But I may still test them, and alter them later. We also live in beautiful Arizona, so it is always hot, especially during the summer, so who knows?

My only dislike on the pattern is that the back piece to the tunic is actually 2 pieces, but the designer did this to save on fabric. In the future I might just adjust the pattern pieces so I only need to cut out one piece, but it's still great regardless!

Now, on to the Peony Leggings. These are wonderful, and can be made in a variety of ways and styles. The pattern includes full-length leggings, capri length, and biker short length. The leggings have a contrast panel down the side, which can be regular or ruched. I chose the regular contrast band because I didn't have enough of the pink/white polka dots to do the ruching method. I've also never done that, so I might be a tad bit intimidated. :) I'm fairly confident with my sewing machine and serger, but I'm still intimidated by things I haven't done before.

These come together very quickly and fit great! My little miss is in disposable diapers, and they fit great over it. My little miss sure loves posing for the camera and loves saying "Gees!" So she's my little ham right now and you'll be seeing many more pictures like this one on the right!

I am going to tell you right now, I have NO idea what is considered correct technique when sewing, so please don't hold that against me. Most everything I have learned has been from pdf patterns or blogs, so I'm still learning proper techniques.

You can check out Sew Like My Mom on facebook, or at her etsy page.

Hope you enjoy these patterns as much as I do!

Updated to add: ice cream/summer fabric is from Purpleseamstress Fabric on facebook. Mel has such a great selection of fabric choices, and I love her quality!