Bubbling it up!

The darling, darling, darling Hopscotch Dress pattern by Lilac Lane has been released and I can FINALLY tell you about it! It has been hard to keep this one under our hat. It is such a sweet dress design, we are loving it! So sorry to to do this to you but you need this pattern. Cuteness overload!!! Size 2t to 14 you have a dress to make for every girl on your block! Sweet and girly this is one that trascends all ages.

Cute details are included like puff sleeves, a drawstring waist, pockets and bias trimmed hems and elastic casing. This pattern is really a great blank canvas for getting creative and playing with your fabrics.

 You can make it all from one fabric or mix it up with multiple fabrics, your scraps, just whatever you want to do. The instructions are there to guide you to fulfilling your imagination so let it fly! I had to dive into my wonderful Tanya Whelan fabrics to test this pattern. I felt with the sleeves, the cute at the knee length, and patchy style of the design that this needed to be a sweet and cheery dress. After making it, we even bought some shoes to match! You will see those in another outfit later. The dress has a drawstring waist which I think is so nice as you can just adjust it to fit any waist size. This is going to be another go to pattern for us. Just love everything about it. So what are you waiting for? Go get it here at Lilac Lane on Etsy!!!

Oh and she says to have a good day. Make sure you take time to have a good belly laugh!

Motoring!

 Last weekend we went to a grassroots kind of VW Classics car show. Oh my word, we all wanted to take home a mini bus!

 The campervans were our favorites. If only the speed limits all over the US were 40mph and money grew on trees we would have been making offers left and right! They are not the speediest vehicles and I  have yet to see that money tree.

Don't you want one too??? The did have all the other great classics but this is a sewing blog so I will spare you the vintage Beetles, Things, Dune Buggies etc.



I thought it would be fun to make my daughter a little dress with the cute new minibus-like fabric by Stenzo.

 The dress is the Farbenmix Whitney pattern. The pattern offers only a few pieces, the front and back and binding  for the arms and neck. What that means to you and me is a blank slate for fabric play! Yay! I had fun with the Stenzo and Hilco fabrics in my stash. I even used some of the Hilco campan stripes scraps as hair ties! You cannot get a closer match than that!

 I also thought it would be fun to make a coordinating skirt for myself. I just plopped an existing skirt I have on top of the fabric and started cutting. If I look a little sleep deprived...you are looking at 3 am sewing people! I have not done that in soooo long! It was quite fun!

 Summer time is coming so why not have a road trip skirt or dress!? Ha ha ha! Good times! This fabric is temporarily out of stock but more is coming so check back at Banberry Place, she should have some more buses in the next week or so in some different colors(I cut fabric for her once a week when I can so I get the skinny more often now!). Or just go browse the gorgeous Stenzo knit prints. Love her selection this time around.
 
I just tested the cutest little pattern by Lilac Lane. I cannot WAIT to share it with you! It is so very sweet and girly and everything I like in little girl's clothing. Cannot for you to see!

Gorgeous Stenzo Roses!

Do you like Pip Studio or Cath Kidston? This round of Stenzo knits at Banberry Place have that feel to them. Bright and happy pretty flowers, dots, and even birds. Oh I love it!

I am still digging into that pile of Euro knit! Isn't this Stenzo rose print gorgeous??? I had to try out a rolled stretch hem on my serger. It was super fun. I think I have some adjustments to make next time on the stretching but overall we are both  happy with the results. I mean how can you not love pink and red and roses??? I didn't take a picture of the shirt up up close but you can see it in the picture below. It is the middle one. Swoon!



The top is a pattern made for WOVENS! YES! The Pink Fig Olivia Top! Such a great staple to have in your stash. You can make it 100 ways. Okay maybe not that many. I was going to make this top more like the cover picture on the pattern but my daughter wanted me to stop, she liked the shirt exactly like it is in the picture above. Well she is the boss! Okay not really, but I am not going to argue over 'to shirr more or not to shirr more'.  Oh and as for shirring this knit, I shirred it just like I would a woven. I didn't make any adjustments. It worked beautifully! I am going to have to make one like the cover still. I mean it's kind of hard to have your vision shot down like that! Hahaha! I will make it while she is at school, then maybe she will love it because it will be presented to her finished instead of a work in progress. I am thinking I am going to make it with the pink knit on the far right in the picture above. I know I am crazy. I have these roses in THREE COLORS! You would too if you walked into her studio and saw it in person!

The jeans are the Studio Tantrum Lunada. I made these a couple of years ago. They still fit! I still  love the way the swing when she walks. So cute! Great design!

All of these things can be found at Banberry Place. She has a very large pattern inventory both domestic and overseas.She has the best Euro selection of patterns and fabrics in the US hands down. I encourage you to check them all out!

Oh won't you take me to Banberry Place!

I have been joining Corie for tea, conversation, laughter, the occasional smoothie and a lot of cutting fabric on Monday's lately. She has been getting in the most gorgeous Stenzo knits and I have been taking a cut of it here and there(and there and there) home. These knits take up a lot of space.

 

 So hang on to your hats, you are going to see a knit sewing bonanza coming from me! I already have two things sewn up and am about to start in on a third. If you see something you like in the Stenzo section of her shop you need to grab it. Once this fabric is gone, it is gone. She typically cannot get it again. And this time around there is not a single piece I do not love. It is all beautiful. Some of it is moving really fast too so hop to it! She has one more shipment coming in so there should more really soon! Gasp!

These super cute Petunia Petal leggings are by LilyGiggle. I have seen so many people post their cute Petunia Petal leggings I could not stand it anymore. I had to make a pair. I have to say I am super impressed with her pattern! It was well written and very easy to follow. She included tips on working with knits that were new to me and so very helpful. I highly recommended this pattern!

As for my daughter, I could not get her to take them off yesterday. She loves them so much! So I need to get busy finishing the coordinating Sis Boom dress before she wears them out! I am going slow on the dress because I am making notes on all my measurements. I hope to have a pattern for you before summer gets going. Woo hoo!
More to come. Fish Fashion Factory is still in high gear!

Sandi Henderson's Sewing the Seasons

 The super talented Sandi Henderson has written another book and she has some great new things for US!

 

 This beautiful book is filled with with recipes, lifestyle projects, and clothing patterns including, are you sitting down, NEW girl's dress patterns! Woo hoo!

 The book is divided up by the four seasons and in each season she has a sampling of recipes and sewing projects that work well with the season. Some of my favorite projects are the Wind Rider Kite you see on the cover( great background for photos), Two Sizes Tie(yet another pattern for the GUYS!), and the quite substantial looking Tee Pee Tent.

You could spend a year sewing from this book, I find it quite appealing that you have something for each season. I am excited she has provided new patterns for our girls! The dresses and bloomers are simple and quick and have that Portabellopixie signature look.

My daughter happens to be wearing the Ice Cream Sundress Top.

 It turned out long (yay!) so we thought it would be fine without shorties or pants for now.

I am going to continue to sew from this book so more samples to come! In the meanwhile go pick up a copy of the book and join me in discovering the new patterns and recipes Sandi has provided and tell me what you think! I myself am quite excited about it!
Available at Amazon.com now!!!

Fabric Play

Do you doodle sew? I have been playing around with fabrics since the Easter dresses. Well kind of before that but really since then. I love these twirly dresses I see all the time. Especially the Hickity Pickity dresses! My dear sweet friend Judy Buchanan is my inspiration. She is just so amazing. Seriously, love her and all her work! I kept seeing these pictures and kept wanting one so I decided to pull out my fabrics and see what I could come up with(with her blessing. I did offer to buy one!). Now I didn't use a pattern. There are so many out there I think probably my favorite one is the Liddy Dress by Juvie Moon. I like how twirly it looks. So if you need a pattern that is the one I would recommend.

I have been tinkering with designing dresses and well I have sewn enough dresses now that I kind of get the 'rules' of things like how big a piece of fabric needs to be cut for shirring, ruffling, straps, etc. I decided to test these rules and see how everything would turn out. I generally like it. Well with Jennifer's fabrics, how can I not like the results!?! That part I just LOVE! You can never go wrong with Jennifer Paganelli's fabric! The way I mixed together the shirring and strap measurements did not quite turn out but nothing a little ripping and resewing cannot fix. I mean if you are going to play, you know there might be some ripping involved! I think if I made this again I would play with the height of each row of fabrics. I think the first and second row need to be shorter in length. Not a lot, just a bit.
So what do you think? Go buy the Liddy pattern and see what you can come up with and tell me about it! I think this design just lends itself to mish mashing up your fabrics! Just think if you pieced each row! Gasp! If you don't feel like making one then go buy one from Hickity Pickity and sigh and oogle over her wonderful work!

Happy Easter!!!

I hope you are having a good Easter. We are full of chocolate and Easter lunch here and just enjoying some down time. Much needed for this momma who has been running crazy with all the things that entail this wonderful holiday!

 I wanted to share what I made my daughter and her best friend for Easter Service. The Fish Fashion Factory went into overdrive this week to get these finished. Most of the work was done yesterday. Kind of amazing when I think about it! I am usually a pretty slow sewer. I like to check double check and triple check. I flew by the seat of my pants yesterday and could not believe I did not have to rip once! Not once! Miracles do happen.

My daughter is wearing Dena Leanika and her friend is wearing the lovely Super Fly by Jennifer Paganelli.

I used the Olabehle pattern Natalie. Oh how I love this design! My daughter use to have a dress like this and I was so sad when she outgrew it! I was so happy to find something pretty similar at Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops! The dress pattern has an optional crinoline. I really like how it finished out the overall drape of the dress.

The back is really the star of the design. It has a pretty cut that makes the dress perfect for special occasions or church.

My son was able to wear his Sis Boom Ethan shirt. You are going to love this pattern! Seriously you will need the child and adult versions. It is a staple pattern. The shirt was just perfect for today!

Happy Easter from the Fish family and friends!