Who is ready for another Aspiring Designer from the Aspiring Designer Challenge on Pattern Revolution? Let me introduce you to Chelsea of Get Your Crap Together. I only recently discovered her patterns when she released the Love Me Knot Shorts. I just fell in love with the look of that pattern and just had to get it! When she put the tester call out for her newest pattern, well I just jumped right on the chance to test it. The uniqueness and cute factor just sold me on it!

Introducing the Firecracker Dress and Tunic! I think you can just look at the photos and just see the beauty of this. It ranges in sizes 3mo to 12yrs and is made using woven material. As you can see there are two straps on either side of the bodice that go over the shoulder and through a button hole in back which can then be tied in a bow. The pattern also shows a couple other unique ways of tying the straps!  And the tunic length paired with the Love Me Knot Shorts was just perfect. I already have several mamas wanting this same outfit for their little firecrackers!

This was the perfect pattern for my little one’s First Memorial Day outfit so she could sport her red, white, and blue in honor of all the brave men and women that fell to fight for our freedom.

Now I couldn’t just make one. When I first saw this pattern I just knew it was time to cut into my Wee Wander fabric. I think you all know how hard it is to cut into a beautiful fabric such as that. I may have even said a little prayer and rechecked my measurements about a million times right before making the first cut! But once the right pattern comes for it, well it is really a pleasure to finally put a beautiful fabric to use. For this dress I also used vintage lace for the straps. AMAZING!! I just couldn’t be happier with the end result!

Right now till tomorrow this pattern is on sale for $5.95 on Etsy and Craftsy. No coupon needed! You don’t want to miss this one and with the range of sizes, you can so justify picking up another amazing pattern. Don’t forget you can enter the giveaway on the GYCT blog for your chance to win a copy too!

Who doesn’t love it when you can do a little less work and still create something beautiful? How perhaps use something that you have a million of to repurpose into something great? I had the pleasure of testing the Maddie Dress by {Sig}nature Creations which lets you do just that! This pattern lets you use an existing shirt or tank to create a beautiful dress. It goes step by step to make the skirt part and then shows you how to attach it to the shirt or tank to create the perfect empire waist dress in size 0-6mo to 14! Now I took this one step further and attached it to a onsie. I don’t know about you but I love onsie dresses as it keeps my girl a little more modest as she is crawling or being passed around.

Are you ready to find out how to do this yourself? Here is my first tutorial on my blog! Are you as excited as I am? A few things first.  There are many different ways to attach the skirt to the onsie. You may find that another method works better for you.  One method is to cut the onsie and then sew back together.  I don’t like this method as it shortens the onsie.  I don’t want to lose any length!   I find that this method explained here is the best for me! Also the Maddie pattern is so versatile that you can embellish your skirt anyway you choose! You can even embellish the shirt if you wanted. For this Maddie I decided to attach another ruffle to the top of the skirt. I was trying something new and I think it turned out cute! It does make it a tad more difficult to attach it, but with a little patience it worked out great. I would not recommend it for your first one though! Now on with the tutorial!!

First follow the pattern on how to make your skirt. After you do that you should have two garments: the skirt and the onsie:

1. Find your cutting measurement on the chart. I am doing the 6-12mo so my measurement is 2″. Measure down from the arm pit seam on your onsie and mark. Repeat for the other side.

2. Draw a line across the onsie connecting both marks you just made. I use a water soluble marker. Repeat for the back too!

3. Make sure the top raw edge of your skirt is finished. I use my serger to do this.

4. Gather your skirt to the width of your onsie.

5. Keep your onsie right side out and turn your skirt wrong side out. Slip the skirt over the top of the onsie so that the right sides should be together and the bottom of your onsie is sticking out like the photo.

6. Pin your gathered serged edge to the line you marked on the onsie. Make sure you line up the side seams of the skirt to the side seams of the onsie!

7. Check your stitch on your machine. I use the “lightening bolt” stitch seen in this photo. If you don’t have this stitch just use another stretch stitch or a zig zag stitch.

8. Sew the skirt to the onsie. You will want to sew right above your serged edge that way when you flip the skirt down you don’t see if from the right side. Also when I sew the skirt to the onsie I like to very gently stretch the onsie as I sew to give it a little extra give! Makes it a little easier to dress a squirming baby!

9. Flip the skirt down and you should have a little dress!! Now if you aren’t doing a sash you are done! If you are doing a sash continue on.

10. Follow the directions on the pattern for making the sash. I like to topstitch my sash. Find the center of your sash and the center on the front of your onsie. Place the sash on top of the onsie/skirt seam lining up the center points. Simply just stitch a couple stitches right over the topstitching on the top and bottom of the sash as indicated by the circles. Alternately you can sew all along the front on top of the topstitching but you might loose some stretch when doing so.

You are done! Now just put your darling dress on your beautiful girl and admire both your amazing creations!!

The Aspiring Designer Challenge is currently running! Have you been keeping up with the posts on Pattern Revolution? You should because there are some really talented new designers!! I got the pleasure of testing for a couple of them too! Today Annemeike of Sofilantjes releases her first pattern. Kind of first anyways, because she does have a free pattern listed on Craftsy! But this is her first official pattern release and it is very exciting to be apart of it! Anyways, she is a Dutch designer that is just bursting with talent. I know I can’t wait to see what her next pattern will be as I loved this one so much!

Here is the Summer Surprise dress and tunic! Wonder what the surprise is? Just look at the back! Isn’t it just darling? This tank style dress is made using knits, and comes in sizes 6mo-7yrs. It also includes pattern pieces for slim sizing too! It features a pleat in the front and a lower back with a bow. It is just so cute and not to mention a quick sew! I want one for myself!

Now you can purchase the pattern HERE (on sale for $6.30 right now!) or head over to her blog to try to win your own copy. Make sure you LIKE Sofilantjes on Facebook so you can continue to see the wonderful new things she has in store for us!

Time for a little selfish…em, I mean self care sewing!! Yes, these photos are really of me. Now I don’t usually sew for myself. Why? Well more fabric needed, more time cutting, more of everything really. However on occasion I see a pattern that I just have to sew for myself. So when this testing opportunity popped up I just crossed my fingers that I would be picked as I really wanted this one for me!! Now this pattern was released in a girl’s version a bit ago. I will pretend to hide my sadness that it didn’t come in baby sizes. I fell in love with it then as it was just amazing and look sooo comfy! Are you dying to know what it is yet?  Can you guess by the photo? Alright, alright, I will tell you!

The Ladies Trendy Tunic by Love Notions is releasing Monday! I just love the styling on this top. It is made using knits and comes in sizes XS-XXL. It features cute cap sleeves and even pockets!!! I just love the contrasting front and back. Very flattering I must say. You can even add a little flutter ruffle to your pockets. Of course I had to because, well, why not?!! After I sewed this up (pretty quickly too) I showed it off to my mom. She immediately tried it on and tried to steal it on me, before I even took photos!! Good thing we aren’t exactly the same size otherwise I would have been out a shirt! Oh, did I mention Tami also includes instructions if you want to make this a dress. I think I will be trying that soon!

Just as an aside my 6yr old took these photos for me! I think I have a budding little photographer on my hands!

Would you like to hear about another great pattern? Or perhaps you would like to hear about two? Of course you do! Well a little bit ago I was accepted into the Whimsy Couture tester group. Now if you haven’t heard about Denise of Whimsy Couture then you need to be directed to her new website HERE! She has some really great patterns and even some for boys too! The cuteness factor is beyond belief. But these patterns don’t just stop at cute. There is timelessness about them too.

The first pattern I tested was the Boys Diaper Cover. Now don’t let the name fool you. It’s not just for boys. It is sized 0months to 2T. It has elastic in the waist and legs. There is also plenty of room for the cute cloth bums too! Now my favorite feature to the pattern is the bias hem on the legs. Love incorporating more than one fabric, of course that is up to you, but I think it gives it that extra POP!

Now the second pattern I just finished testing is, well, just amazing!!! It is called the Sweet Baby Doll Dress and it really is very sweet. The pattern size ranges in 0months thru 12girls so all your little girls sizes are covered. And this really looks just amazing on babies and bigger girls alike. Now looking at the photos you may be thinking, do I really have time for this??? Um, YES!!! Despite all the ruffles, it really doesn’t take long to sew. The longest part is doing all the rolled hems! Second longest part is putting the ruffles on the bottom hem on but even that didn’t take too long. I think this dress took about 3hrs from start to finish and that included interruptions from the kids.  Now as you can see there is a two layer ruffle on both the sleeves and hem. Now if you don’t like the full sleeve look, there were a couple testers that put lace as the top ruffle layer. This created a less full look without losing any of the elegance. The sleeves are quite deceiving because you don’t actually ruffle all that material!!! Did I hear sighs of relief?? There is a casing in the sleeve where the satin ribbon is inserted and then sewn down in the front. After the sleeve is sewn into the main body of the dress the sleeve then becomes adjustable and can be lengthen or shortened with the ribbon which ties through a loop on the back (or front as it can be reversible). Then make a delicate bow and you have the sweetest dress around! I may be a little biased but it is extremely sweet on my sweet little baby doll!

Now I made this dress a little extra sentimental for myself.  To me this will be an heirloom for my girl. If you noticed the main dress fabric has little bears on it. I found this fabric and its coordinates at Joann Fabrics when I was pregnant with her and have been saving it for an extra special project. I knew this was the dress for it! Bears are my daughter’s animal. My mom has an animal for all my children and usually gives them gifts around that animal. For both boys that animal is also their favorite animal. Well my daughter is named after my Grandma and she had an extensive bear collection. When she passed away in 2008 every member of the family was allowed to pick however many bears to remember her by. I picked several but loved the pink one seen in the picture with by daughter. I didn’t ever know if I would have a daughter, but if I did she would get that bear and be named after my Grandma. So here she is, but baby girl in her Sweet Baby Doll bear dress, with the bear from her Great-Grandma! All this makes me tear up just thinking about it. So so special!

Now that I have gotten a little mushy we shall go back to the pattern. If you would like the Sweet Baby Doll Dress to make that extra special dress for your own girl well I have some great news! It is on sale till tomorrow, Friday April 10th for only $5!!! This is also perfect if you need to make last minutes Easter dresses!!! Working on another tester for Whimsy Couture and it is sure to be a winner too. Have I got you wondering with curiosity??? Well you will have to wait a little longer, but trust me; it will be great for summer too! Have I steered you wrong yet?

As you all may have guessed I am all over-the-top girliness when it comes to dressing my baby girl. After having two boys I just seriously love dressing her in ruffles, lace, and bows. Now she doesn’t always dress like this. She sports some super cute sleepers too; but you will never see her outside the house without a headband on her head! Scrolling through posts one day I saw a creation someone made using a FooFoo Threads pattern. I think I may have stopped and looked at it for a bit. I knew then that I just had to start testing for this designer, who had some awesome girly designs. Ruffles galore!!! I soon contacted the designer Jocelyn. I sent her my examples and waited to find if I had made the cut to join her testing team. Luck seemed to by on my side as she was looking for new people to add to the testing team in select sizes. I got to join the FooFoo Threads testing team!!! YAY!!!

It wasn’t long until my first tester opportunity arrived. I loved it!!! And it was just perfect that this tester arrived just in time for baby girl’s 7month portraits!! Let me introduce you to the Cherry Strudel dress. Isn’t it simply divine in all its girly splendor? This little beauty is peasant style, and comes in 3-6mo – size 10, with a dress or tunic length. The front neckline offers two styles as well: squared or rounded. The body of the dress is made with six panels, two for each side, and one each for the front and back. As you can see it is a fitted dress. You are probably thinking “buttons or zipper?” Can I surprise you and say neither??? The back panel is elasticized. Best part though is it isn’t just shirring that is offered in the tutorial. For those of you that don’t find shirring their most favorite thing to do (like myself), she offers elastic casings for the back as well. Can you tell that is the option I chose? Now why just keep the elastic in the back? You can also make the front panel of this dress elasticized as well for even more comfort. Don’t forget about the ruffles! There are two rows of ruffles on both side panels and a ruffle on the hem too. Ruffles not your thing? Well leave them off! While you are at it, leave the ties off too if you wish. Even with the bare minimum this pattern leaves you with an amazing garmet that just shines with timeless elegance.

Just after making this one dress I am hooked and want more FooFoo Threads patterns. There are soooo many I just love! You seriously have to check them out on Etsy. There is a sale going on now too! Buy 2 patterns and get 1 free, buy 3 patterns get 2 free, to the max of buy 5 patterns get 5 free! After you make one of these beauties you have to post on the Facebook group page so we can awe over your creation too!!! I think baby girl thinks its a winner!!

Show of hands: who is ready for spring??? Two hands up here!!!! I am so done with winter. Those that are already enjoying warm breezes and the kisses of the sun, well LUCKY!!! As I am impatiently waiting for spring to arrive though, I at least get to have some fun planning summer wardrobes. I love seeing the changing of seasons, but love even more seeing the new pattern releases to reflect the changing seasons! I am lucky enough to be on My Little Plumcake’s testing team and thus got to have the pleasure of testing and adding two wonderful patterns that will be a staple in baby girl’s spring/summer wardrobe this year.

I was first introduced to My Little Plumcake back in December when I was chosen to test the then unnamed blazer pattern. It was so much fun to test and has many options for boys and girls. I made it up for my big boy and he loved it! She was running a cover/naming contest at that time and I was so excited to win! So yes, that’s my boy on the cover of Canaan’s Incredible Blazer! He was very excited to have the pattern named after him too!

But back to talking spring! Michelle released 4 patterns for her spring line. I only was able to test two as two of the patterns only came in bigger sizes. Bummer for me, but something to look forward to next spring! First we have the Maddalie Spring Dress. It comes in sizes 6mo-10. It is so simple, yet so beautiful. This really gives off the freshness of spring for me. The yoke in the front features a scalloped look with gathers around the middle scallop (mine has gathers around all, but this was changed in the final pattern). This adds a certain elegance to the dress. The back is closed with buttons and button loops. Thank goodness no buttonholes! Now my favorite part- it is fully lined!! No exposed seams what-so-ever. Truly gives it the professional look and heirloom quality. Now this doesn’t have to be a simple cotton frock. Just take a look at the photoshoot on the My Little Plumcake blog to see some dressier versions! Now I will forewarn you, there is hand sewing involved. This happens at the last step when you sew down the yoke lining. It isn’t much and does give it that amazing look. Don’t be afraid!! But if you really hate hand sewing, then just topstitch the lining down. Either way, it is still amazing!!

Next you will find the Addie Spring Shorts! Bubble shorts seem to be all the rage this season! I love these as they can get as dressy or as casual as you’d like. Versatility is a must in my favorite patterns! These come in sizes 6mo-10 and feature pockets, paper bag waistline, pleats, optional leg bands (to give the bubble look) and optional belt. With baby girls shorts I decided to do every option and am very happy with the results! Seriously, who doesn’t like that cute little tush in those cute bubble shorts? I will be making plenty more of these- however without the leg band too for a non-bubble look. Another forewarning: if you do the leg band option, yes you guessed it, more hand sewing. Again, you can always topstitch though! Even though I’m not a huge fan of hand sewing, I love that Michelle incorporates this into her patterns. Really challenges me to get back to the basics of sewing and makes the garment extra special, at least for me anyways!

Don’t forget about the other two wonderful spring patterns! The Chloe Pleated Skirt and The Harper Blouse both come in sizes 12mo-10 and are equally perfect for spring! Right now there is a sale going on too! You can get 15% off the individual patterns with coupon code: Spring14 or to get the most bang for your buck, you can purchase all four spring patterns in a bundle pack for only $21 with the coupon code Collection2014!! Codes are only good till 3/31 so shop now!! You don’t want to miss out on these. Don’t forget to show off your creations in the pattern group on Facebook too! Yay for spring, seriously it’s time!!!

A big THANK YOU to all my readers that voted for me in the Violette Field Threads contest!  With all the votes that came in I managed to come in third place!!!  Very excited about this!!  Couldn’t have done it without you all.  Virtual high fives, cheers, hugs, however you like to celebrate!!!

Say tuned for tomorrow as I am going to review a couple awesome new patterns by My Little Plumcake.  You won’t want to miss it!

Also did you see my new watermark on my pic?  Pretty nifty eh??