Peach Patterns

Lace Sleeve Peasant Top Tutorial

As promised last week I'm posting a tutorial for this cute peasant top for toddlers and girls which uses lace trim to create a sweet flutter sleeve variation on regular sleeves.

(The top which I started out making has actually had a large ruffle added to it and become a dress upon orders from Miss Wink.  You can, of course, make this to any length you wish.)

You will need:

• A basic pattern for a peasant or pillowcase top.  I used my "Butterfly Breeze" pattern but any pattern using this style will do or you can easily draft your own using an online tutorial. (Google "peasant top tutorial" to see the many tutorials available or check out Pinterest for examples.)

• Trim for the sleeves.  The "lace" trim I've used here is not lace as such but rather an embroidered cotton eyelet trim - or you may have another name for it.  It's found fairly easily in the haberdashery section of fabric stores and there are also lots of online sellers who carry it. (Scroll to the end of the post for links.) Trim that's at least 3 inches wide will work best - narrower trims won't have enough margin to create a decent casing to thread the neckline elastic through.

• Fabric for the Top Front and Back. Yardage specified in your pattern or tutorial.

• Elastic for the neckline casing. Length specified in your pattern or tutorial.

• Coordinating thread (and any ribbons, buttons or other embellishments you want to use).

Let's get started:

 

NOTE: The Size 5 pattern I used had a sleeve which was about 6 inches wide across the shoulder. If you have a pillowcase dress pattern which does not have a sleeve piece and you need to cut your trim, I'd suggest you use that length as a rough guide.  Increase by small amounts for larger sizes and decrease for smaller sizes.

 

You can now go ahead and create your elastic casing around the neckline using your pattern instructions as a guide.  Thread your elastic through, sew ends together and sew your casing closed.  

Your final step will be to hem your top.

Let me know what you think - do you have someone who'd love one of these?

Embroidered cotton trim links:

 Image: SonSu

 Image: littlepinkstudio

Image: therainbowgirl

"Madeline Dress" in Eiffel Tower fabric

The dress is finished, just needs some hemming.

Wow, when will this rain stop?  Washing piling up......kids a bit stir crazy.......

    

Have a great weekend.

Peacock Print "Ruffle-icious Skirt"

Continuing the animal print theme from my last post is this Peacock feather print ruffle skirt.  The voile fabric from Spotlight was declared awesome and therefore a must-buy......

I used the Ruffle-icious Skirt pattern for this one.  It consists of a series of rectangular ruffles and connecting pieces, and can easily be modified for an older child (the pattern as is runs to a Size 8) by increasing both the length and width of the pieces by the same amount.

And here we are layering with another top for a complete "look"!

Hope all went well for those of you with back-to-schoolers! Have a great Monday.....

 

Leopard Print "Wrap-Up Skirt"

Last year I expanded the available sizing for this pattern from Size 3-4 and Size 5-6 through to Size 7-8 and Size 9-10.

Here is Cee Cee modelling the Size 9-10.  Florals tend to get the double thumbs down from her these days but apparently animal prints (like this Anna Maria Horner which has been lying around for ages) are OK.

              

I don't like to use the term "tween" as I think it's a bit of meaningless marketing-speak but nevertheless it is hard to find sewing patterns for girls who are no longer in the little girl stage but not yet grown up. So I'm glad this style gets the stamp of approval (for the moment at least!)

Am loving our lazy summer days and even the school holiday insanity, am trying to get bits of sewing done whenever possible.  Hope you too are enjoying your January......

Butterfly Breeze Dress in knit fabric (& a last chance for workshop)

During my little knit fabric sewing frenzy earlier in winter I thought I'd experiment with using some of my patterns (for woven fabric) on knits and see how they turned out.  I had a go at using the Butterfly Breeze pattern to make a couple of comfy t-shirt dresses.

The way that I went about it for this pattern (and also the other blouse pattern I blogged about) was to preserve the length (i.e. use child's normal size for length) but lose a bit on the width (i.e. use one size smaller than usual for width).

This worked well on both patterns.  Substituting knits for wovens may not always be so straight forward though.  You probably need to consider each pattern on a case-by-case basis.  Obviously with a really loose fitting design you may need to come in much further on the width.

The fabric I used is a really pretty rose print by Stenzo which I bought through Crafty Mamas.  I used my twin needle to give the topstitching a nice finish - simple!

I am teaching a Peasant Top & Dress Workshop using this pattern at Sew Make Create in Chippendale this Friday evening (16 August) and there are a couple of spots left.  Would love to see you there!

Little Ellie Dress : Pattern tester pics

I haven't yet shared photos of the amazing dresses that the pattern testers made using the Little Ellie Dress pattern.

This one in white linen and chevron print by Janice of So-Cal Sewing Mom shows off her daughter's cuteness to perfection:

Jen of Lea & Lars made one for her daughter in a pretty sea green and floral combo.

                       

This one is by Suzy of Floating World in a fabulous Liberty birdcage print.  

                   

And these are the work of Kate of Two Little Banshees.  Kate went the extra mile with her fabulous duo of dresses.  Love the dresses, love the smiles!

             

The pattern is in Sizes 1-8 and available in my etsy and craftumi shops.

Digital products: New instant download Etsy feature

Great news for buyers and sellers of digital products on etsy.  E-books, PDF patterns etc. can now be directly uploaded to etsy listings so that when a buyer purchases that listing the files are available immediately from their "Purchases" page.

Having buyers in lots of different timezones means that as sellers we're often asleep or not "at work" when sales come in.  So now there's no panic to fill orders for the seller and instant gratification for the buyer!  A total win win!  Thank you etsy....(more information on the etsy blog here).

Source: art by wiley via amazing miniatures

All Wink Designs patterns are now available as an instant download.  Also, only a few more days left to take advantage of 20% discount on the newest (Little Ellie Dress) pattern.  Enter LITTLEELLIE123 at checkout...

Wrap-Up Skirt news :: New larger sizes & workshops

One of the most frequent questions I get asked about the patterns is whether I have the Wrap-Up Skirt for Girls beyond a Size 6.  I'm excited to tell you that it's now available for girls up to a Size 10 as an instant download (more news about etsy's new digital products feature in a separate post).

               

This pattern was the first I ever released and it was in need of a makeover. So as well as adding extra sizes I've also thoroughly updated it with new instructions, drawings and pattern pieces.  Here is a little sample spread of some of the pattern pages:

AND (this is a biggie!) I'm also super excited to announce that I'll be running some Wrap-Up Skirt and Peasant Top/Dress sewing workshops at the lovely Sew Make Create space in Sydney over May and June.  (I blogged about Sew Make Create in an earlier post here.)  The details and dates are here and here and the patterns are included in workshop costs.

The classes are totally suitable for beginners or anyone who'd like to whip up a few cute pieces for their littlies with a like-minded and fun group cheering you on.  Given that we're now well into autumn I can also help you with fabric advice and options for the cooler weather. I'd love to see you there!

New pattern :: Little Ellie Dress

I'm happy to announce that the Little Ellie Dress pattern is available now in digital PDF format in my shops at etsy (enter code LITTLEELLIE123 at etsy checkout for a 20% discount until end of April) and craftumi:

        

I pared down my earliest version of this round collar sundress pattern to a simpler and more sophisticated style which would suit both toddlers and older girls.  The pattern comes in 5 sizes which cover girls from 12 months to 8 years.

As you can see, the circular collar/yoke is attached to a gathered dress which is finished with a narrow contrast hem band.

   

The design works best when made with lighter weight fabrics (at least for the dress pieces - the collar can be made from medium weight fabric).  

This version (in a Size 4-5) was made in Liberty "Mauvey" for the dress and a lovely sky blue linen for the collar and hem band (both from Tessuti).  There is a bit of a "crinkle" factor with the linen obviously, but I quite like the effect....

   

The pattern doesn't currently include the modifications necessary to make a top but you can easily do that if you want to by shortening it and making the hem band narrower to fit the modified width at the bottom.  

To show you the top (and also because I didn't have enough of the fabric to make a dress) I used this Anna Maria Horner voile in "Square Dance" to make one for Cee Cee in Size 8.  

       

The dress simply pulls over the head and the front and back are identical, minimising pattern pieces and making it easy to cut and sew.

A lovely moment of sisterly harmony for the camera (!):

                 

And that's about it.  I hope you like this simple but very sweet and pretty addition to the pattern range.  As always, I've tried to design the pattern so there is a minimum of cutting and taping required (a bit of a bugbear, I know, for a lot of people). 

Also, I am only a short email away if you need any "sewing helpline" advice on making up your Little Ellie Dress.....

                             

Note: Thank you so much to my pattern testers:

Janice

Jen

Suzy

Kate

Dani

Fran

Your detailed feedback and help was truly appreciated!  I'll do another post soon showing off some of the fabulous creations made by these ladies.

Birthday & Easter special

Easter Sunday falls on my birthday this year so if I'm good it'll be Easter eggs and birthday presents for me on the same day.  The reason I'm posting though is to let you know I've put an "Easter Special" listing in my etsy store.

        
Purchase the Easter Special listing from now until Easter Monday eve and you'll receive 2 PDF sewing patterns for the price of 1 (tell me which 2 you'd like at checkout).  

That's around $20 worth of patterns for just under $10.  Woo hoo!

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter.....