Today's post is another Reader's Choice. Perhaps I should make Friday, Reader's Choice Friday? If you'd love to see Friday be Reader's Choice, I'm going to need ideas. Please feel free to contact me here OR on facebook at my page Organics By Ti! I got so many good photos today thanks to a quick fabric back drop and a very helpful 5 year old. I think I'm getting close to actually having nice photos!

So today's post inspiration was the result of someone asking for something they could wear to cover up their leggings after a work out. That's an easy one, Tunics! Swap out your work out tank for a simple tunic and you look like you actually got dressed, not just stepped out of the gym. Problem was, my sweet reader didn't have a tunic pattern. WHAT?! I know, try not to die on me here. She also didn't have money to buy a tunic pattern. Further she's an inverted triangle and just didn't know what to do.

Sewing by Ti to the rescue! So if you do have money for a pattern AND are an inverted triangle, these are my favorites:
Patterns for Pirates Layer Me Up
Patterns for Pirates Slim Fit Raglan
Love Notions La Bella Donna

All 3 are awesome for different reasons. But, if money is scarce and you REALLY need a tunic, you've got 2 very good choices.

Love Notions Laundry Day T (free with code from the Love Notions facebook group)
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare Dress

Wait, you're probably saying the Fit and Flare isn't a tunic. You bet your booty its a tunic. Get it, booty, tunic... I kill me! This one, is MEANT to be a tunic (also a shirt and if I can  manage to find enough fabric in my stash a fabulous sleeveless maxi dress for the summer. Oh yes, this dress can be all those things and for the low LOW price of FREE! So you've probably already seen my other 2 posts on this fabulous dress, but if you need to revisit them here they are:
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare as a Shirt
So Sew Easy Fit and Flare as a Dress

So welcome my Fit and Flare Tunic. Oh it is a little piece of love. Please note, I extended the short sleeve that comes with the pattern into a long sleeve. It worked beautifully on my dress version. This time, not so much. :( The forearm is just a tiny bit too tight and the stitches blend in so well, I can't unpick it. :( I will be able to easily cut it at 3/4 length though and the fit will be acceptable.

So this one is sewn up in my favorite Purple Seamstress Black Cotton Lycra. I just LOVE this stuff. Have I said that on like 15 other posts? Maybe. But it is just the right weight to be thick but not too thick and stretchy but not too stretchy. It is just my favorite.

My awesome side panels are from Girl Charlee. This is an awesome Ponte De Roma that I snagged up with other intentions. Then it was shipped to me and it wasn't quite what I expected. It isn't as stretchy as I had expected and I sort of wish I had taken that into account. If I was going to sew this one again, I'd definitely use smaller seam allowances to make up for the fact that the stretch isn't as soft as my jersey dress. But ripping these seams would result in more tears and anger than it is worth. I'll still wear this one because it is so beautiful, but important lesson learned, this pattern needs some soft horizontal stretch or it'll feel restrictive.

So as you can see I made this an almost tunic length. I actually intended to put a band on the bottom rather than hem, but then I was so upset about the sleeve that I just couldn't. I admit I wasn't thinking rationally. Just cut the sleeves just below the elbow and all would be fine.

So how did I get from the pattern as written to here?
-My measurements are 33 over bust, 37 full bust, 29 waist, 37 hip. I used Size C which matches up to 35 (my over bust +2), 30, 38
-Raised neck line 1/2". It was scandalously low, even for me! Add a 1/2"
-Full Bust adjustment of 2 inches (1" to 1/4 pattern piece)
-Raise waist 1 1/2". I'm 5'1" tall. The last 2 versions the waist didn't quite sit where it needed to. I feel these new ones make me look even thinner!
-Figure out where to hack the pattern at the bottom to get a tunic length. The best way to do this is to compare the pattern to a tunic you already love. BUT, if you don't want to do that, you can measure down the side of your body. Just remember to include hem allowance.

There's one other thing I want to cover today and then I'll touch on it more in a post next week. SHOULDERS. There is a marvelous document that talks about the measurements the garment industry uses to draft clothing. The document itself is CRAZY overwhelming. But I just want to chat about shoulders, because if your shoulders don't fit, the rest of your garment isn't going to fit right either. So my shoulders are 15" across the back and 13 3/4" across the front. This is a pretty average back to front for a size 22. My hips fit into a size 12. Oh boy. Now, obviously there's no vanity sizing in that and we're only comparing within this chart. But that explains why the bottom half of me needs a size small and my top half needs a large and why ALL my RTW shirts have crazy shoulder wrinkles.

I'm not saying any of this to overwhelm you are scare you or make you say, "fitting is too hard!" Nope, I just want you to tuck this little bit of information into the back of your mind. Take a minute with a friend or a spouse this week and measure your front and back shoulder measurements. Compare it to the chart. Do your waist and hip measurements match your shoulders? And then check back next week, because we're going to use that information to make sure you pick the right pattern size!

Today's Free pattern towards our Free Pattern Girl's capsule is the Create Kids Couture Marilyn's Slim Fit Peasant Dress and top.

This pattern doesn't need much of a review. With the free pattern you get the armscye cut out pattern piece. That means very little printing. It includes sizes 18 months through size 6 and lengths for both dresses and tops. The best thing is that the chart includes finished lengths, so you can be sure that you're making the right size. My only complaint is that the front and back are the same shape. This means less shaping to the front and back. BUT, it also means, your kid can't possibly put their clothes on backwards. FTW! Also, it means you're only cutting out rectangles and that means SUPER fast as long as you use a cutting mat and ruler.



I actually have a love hate relationship with Peasant Dresses. You see they're very good at what they do. They're excellent for fitting across several sizes as evidenced here and that's a great thing when you're making an entire seasonal wardrobe. You can see the size 6 on my 7 year old and on my 3 year old. I actually made the dress for my 5 yo, but she refused to take photos today. Whatevs.

So why do I hate them? There isn't much fitting and well, I'm such a stickler for fitting. But there's no fitting! Its always going to be "good enough". So as a quick, no fuss garment, they're perfect. Don't get me wrong, they're easy, they're fast and you can really fancy them up with layer upon layer of ruffles. But, its always just going to be "good enough." So while my daughters have a few of these in their closets, it isn't my main focus for garment construction.

If you're new to sewing, Makes these. Make TONS of these. They're easy, they're fast and you get lots of practice sewing nice straight lines, which is the key to good looking garments. And if you need a quick dress with limited time and no fitting, then make this, because you can't beat the instant gratification.

Today's post is a short one but a good one. We're going to revisit the Once Upon A Sewing Machine Cecilia. If you remember, we talked about this great free pattern 3 weeks ago, here. I want to thank my daughter for suffering for 5 whole minutes in the freezing cold so we could get half way decent photos. Lessons learned. #1- Its hard to model in the cold. #2- don't wait for the last minute to get photos.

In my previous post I talked about some possible hacks. Today I bring you not 1 but 2 hacks in 1 garment.

Hack #1 is the long sleeves. You can grab the free long sleeve pattern on the OUSM website here. Don't forget to true up the top of the sleeve cap!

The one problem with the long sleeve pattern is that the cuff pattern piece is the same size as the width of the sleeve. That doesn't seem very much like a "cuff" to me. So to remedy that, I shorted the pattern piece a little. I used the measurements from another one of my patterns to get it just right, BUT, you could use your child's wrist measurement to choose your width.

Next time, I really think I'm going to smooth out the sleeve cap to get rid of the puff. I feel like it isn't quite enough "puff" to look right.

Hack #2 is the turtle neck/cowl piece. Today my hack looks like a turtle neck and that's just fine. I measured out the finished neckline and then cut a pattern piece that was that width+seam allowance and the same length. This made a great fold over turtle neck piece.

If you want a looser cowl looking pattern piece you will need to either scoop out the neckline (a lot), or draft a pattern piece that is an inverted trapezoid (or both). Don't be afraid of geometry! Here's what your pattern piece will look like.

To do that math, the bottom (skinny) part will be the width of the neckline. You will need to cut the pattern on the fold, with the top line being the fold. Your top line should be at least 3-4" wider than your lower line. To estimate this, I recommend taking a cowl that you like and measuring it. For the height, I liked the length I got using the same measurement as my full neckline width. So to cut this, it would be 1/2 the neckline. Don't forget to add seam allowances on all sides. You'll be cutting just one of these pieces on the fold. Sew up the size seams and then fold in half and attach at the neckline.

There you have it, 2 hacks for the Cecilia. We're well on our way to having everything we need in a t-shirt for our spring capsule. Tomorrow on the blog will be my favorite Winter Wear Designs Aviator Pants as part of the Winter Wear Designs Blog Tour. I've got great content for women coming up later this week as well as a review of the Sofilantjes Hibernis. And behind the scenes, I'm working like crazy for a pattern review tour you're going to love. Keep checking back!

I'm so happy to share my So Sew Easy Fit and Flare dress with you today. If you need to re-read the full review, you can see that on my page from earlier this week "So Sew Easy Fit and Flare".

You obviously don't need another review. Just suffice to say, I love it! The only 2 things I think I should do.
1- I should probably shorten the body of the dress by about 1 1/2" so the "flare" starts a little higher up.
2- After I shorten the dress, I'd need to add 1 1/2" to the bottom hem (to add back in the 1 1/2" taken out of the body and then 2" more to make a longer length dress. I will absolutely wear it at this length, but I prefer longer dresses when wearing them without tights or leggings under.

Today's fabrics are my favorite cotton/lycra from Purple Seamstress and a black and gray (I know it looks purple) cowboy plaid from Girl Charlee. Check out my beautiful pattern match at that side seam! You can't get that in Ready To Wear!

So instead, today I'm going to talk about something different. Today I'm talking about New Years Resolutions. Not the usual kind where people say, "I'm going to work out and eat healthy this year." Those rarely last. I'll take the time to talk about those in context with a pattern review later this week or early next week.

Up until a few months ago, I was in the "stay at home mom" funk. You know the one. The one where you change from one pair of yoga pants to the next, ad nauseum, for about 3 years, or until your next kid comes along and you reset the clock for another 3 years. That was a sad unstylish place to be. And anyone that knew me "pre kids" knows I like being fancy. I like glitter and healed shoes and pretty dresses. Not every day, but I liked going to dances in high school. Now that I have kids, dances and party dresses aren't so much on my "to do" list so much as cook dinner and do laundry seems to be. At least that was what I thought.

But this year, I vow to party more. Even if I'm only partying in my kitchen or dancing to Disney soundtracks in my living room. Dance more, play more, and bring on the glitter! And before someone goes saying, "You're too old for glitter."

I say, "Ain't no body got time for that." Wear what you love, love what you wear. Party more, even if it is only in the comfort of your own home. You don't need some place to go to put on your favorite clothes and some nice make up.

I am so excited to be sharing this pattern with you all today.

Today's pattern is the FREE So Sew Easy Fit and Flare Dress. I was actually asked to blog this pattern by a member of the Pattern Reviews and Resources Facebook Group. Like me, they'd had a lot of fails with free patterns and were afraid this would be yet another bit of frustration. If you're paying attention to the photos, you're probably thinking, that is NOT a dress. Don't worry, we'll get there!

Right away I was able to take a look at the pattern and see that it looked ok. Sometimes you can tell a pattern is a bad one just by looking at the lines. I will say I LOVE that the pattern drafting is similar to my body shape. I was able to use the Size C with just an FBA without having to grade any seams. That means if you're an inverted triangle or rectangle shape, you won't need to make as many adjustments to this pattern.

So i printed the pattern using my size only. When I printed my size, I ended up with a few lines that didn't match up to anything. It was sort of strange, but I was still able to figure out which cut lines were mine, so I kept going.

I already knew that I would need a full bust adjustment, but with a princess seam, that's actually pretty easy. But doing the adjustment on a full length dress piece is a hassle. It involves a lot of paper and I didn't want to feel like I was wasting fabric or paper in case this was a complete fail. So I did a little math and figured out approximately where to cut to make a shirt. I probably could have measured a little better (but as you can see it turned out ok).

So I did my full bust adjustment and started sewing. The pieces matched up perfectly. Like so perfect I was worried that I made a mistake somewhere. But I kept going.

I'm so excited to say that the photos you're seeing are my muslin. I actually used some black cotton lycra from Purple Seamstress (my favorite) and a piece of scrap from my Girl Charlee Knit Fix. I barely had enough of the contrast but I'm so glad I used it, even though I couldn't line up the print perfectly. I added a nice little waistband at the bottom to pull it all together. I should have made the band a little more snug, but otherwise I'm really happy with the over all shirt.

And look at this shirt. OMG. It makes me look skinny and like I have a waist. If you want to catch the illusion, take a ruler and hold it up to your screen. You can see, I don't have a waist indentation. I'm quite the inverted triangle. AND this pattern makes my bust look more proportional to my body. Normally I look so top heavy, but now I look balanced and like I have a waist and hips and everything!

This pattern has a tiny little truing problem in the shoulder seam. But it is super easy to fix up. Just use a square edge and even out the shoulder seam on the sleeve side of the contrast piece. And really, if you don't, you're just going to get a tiny little "blip" in your shoulder seam and you probably won't even notice, its THAT tiny.

I was a little disappointed that the pattern didn't include a long sleeve. I know, I'm so greedy! But I took the few minutes to draft out the long sleeve and even made the full length dress. Check back on Thursday to see photos of that.

All in all, I really LOVE this pattern. I've so far got a shirt now and a dress ready to wear. And I can see sewing up a LOT more of these.

If you would like to see me review something here on the blog, feel free to reach out to me, either here or at my facebook page, Organics by Ti.

Welcome back this happy Monday. I want to apologize for not getting a women's pattern up last week! I
thought a pattern I was testing would release in time, but it didn't. But no worries, I've got some good stuff coming for you this week, including an awesome free women's pattern! But that post will go up tomorrow, because today, I've got a free girl's pattern for you.

Climbing the Willow Izzy Top

The Izzy top comes in 2 size ranges, 18 months to 5 and 6-12. I remember when this pattern first came out and it was ALL over the Facebook. Things have since died down, but this is still a pretty good free pattern. And many people have extended it to be dress length too. With a nice straight hem, that is pretty easy.

Now, if you've been following my blog, you've probably noticed that I've become a little bit obsessed with truing. What is this truing I speak of? The best definition I've found comes from Madalynne.com: "Truing patterns is the process of checking and correcting seam lines, shapes, and measurements on a pattern. It’s the process of making sure the seams of two adjoining pattern pieces equal, making sure both legs of a dart are the same length, and making sure that shapes are smooth as they continue through different seams. If truing is not done, then when it is time to sew, one seam or dart leg may be longer than the other and stretching or easing any seams that aren’t meant to be will cause puckering."

The more I learn about truing, the more I realize I need to know! I'm by far no professional but I do know that since I've started learning about truing and checking patterns to see whether they are true, I've learned a LOT. I've started pinning resources about truing and pattern drafting. if you'd like to begin following my learning journey, you can check my pin board here. So far, I've learned that:
1- Many designers use Adobe Illustrator, and it doesn't "true" the corners into right angles automatically.
2- If you don't true a pattern, it can be harder to assemble
3- Patterns that aren't true can make from some strangle lumps and bumps.
4- Truing is easy if you are drafting by hand on paper. As a designer, I can't imagine drafting every pattern size on paper and then scanning into adobe and digitizing it.

So all this talk of truing, is the Izzy Top perfectly trued? Nope. Does that make it a bad pattern? Nope. Just means we need to be cautious with our assembly. The area of most concern to me is the underarm seam. It pokes out a little rather than having a nice smooth transition. Part of this is the curved underarm seam and part of it is that the corner isn't trued. I don't love it, but for every day wear, I can live with it.

The other area that is not trued is where the skirt attaches to the bodice. The angle of approach from the underarm seam is so angled that when you go to sew the 2 together, you have to do some shifting of the fabric to get it to sit flat at the underarm seam. Problem is, I have no idea how to fix it. The angle of the side seam on the bodice is really sharp and I think I'd end up changing a fair amount of the pattern to get it to straighten itself out.

Big deal? Not really. I'd still sew up this pattern. Its pretty fast and actually looks pretty good. And I just LOVE fast sews. When you're trying to sew up a complete wardrobe for a kid each season, fast is priority. Sure, I take a little time and make some more time consuming pieces, but I aim to have a majority of my projects be an hour or less. A seasonal wardrobe here equals 7 shirts, 7 pants or shorts, 7 complete sets of jammies (shirt and pants/shorts each take about an hour), 2-3 skirts, 2-3 dresses and then any necessary layers. That makes for 34 separate pieces, minimum. Even if each only took 1 hour, that's 34 hours of sewing. If I dedicated all my sewing time each night (2-3 hours), I'd finish a seasonal wardrobe in 10-17 days. That doesn't even include fabric shopping time or project planning! Now I don't know about you, but I have to take breaks from the grind to sew things for me. That means I have to spread out those 34 hours across about a month. Whew. OVERWHELMED. So, summary. Add the Izzy Top to your free pattern list. Its worth the little bit of frustration with the angles.

It might seem early, but you may want to start planning out your little girl's wardrobe for the spring. Start thinking about what pieces they'll need. You probably already know how to do this if you've ever bought clothes. Just instead of buying, you're making. If you are feeling overwhelmed trying to know what patterns to use, you can take a peak at the patterns I've picked so far for my free pattern wardrobe on my pin board. To keep yourself organized, I LOVE this free printable from Jessica of The Berry Bunch. Her chart is AMAZING. It includes spots to write down measurements and individual pages to plan out outfits all the way down to fabric selection! I wish I was that organized, but if you're a planner, this is a great chart. BUT, don't fill in measurements just yet. Chances are your kids will grow more before spring!

Check back tomorrow for a great FREE women's pattern review.

Back again with ANOTHER free pattern to help us build our Free Pattern Girls Wardrobes!

Today's pattern is from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom, the Girls A-line Pull Over Dress.

This is a simple dress but a good one. It is for sizes 4-10 and uses 1/4" seam allowances. I hate 1/4" seam allowances. But that's my problem, not the pattern's problem.

So my muslin I sewed the pattern 100% as its drafted, EXCEPT I used a 1/2" turned over hem instead of a neck facing and arm band. You can see the results in the black and gray plaid from Girl Charlee. It is super cute and the absolute right length for my skinny 7 year old. However the neckline is WAY too wide for my girl. Even if I sized down to match her chest measurement, the neckline would be too wide, especially since I didn't use the facings. But that is a fit preference and not a pattern problem. And the solution is SUPER easy.

For the first 2 photos she was NOT wearing her usual undershirt. The dress kept falling off her shoulders. It was frustrating. It was clear that it wasn't the right fit. NOT the pattern's fault. But something I would need to fix before I started hacking this pattern up.

The third photo here is how it looks with her regular undershirts. Definitely not acceptable from this mom's perspective!

So how did I fix it?
#1- I used 3/8" seam allowances on my next run through. That brought the pattern in enough on the sides to make it fit better for my skinny girl.
#2- I brought the neckline in 1" on the sides. This is actually a really easy hack. Just extend the shoulder line in 1" and then redraft the neckline using a french curve... You do have a french curve, right? If you don't, you could also just hand draw the neckline, it doesn't have to be perfect. Just remember to true up that center front! The green section is what I added to the neckline. While the pattern includes 2 separate necklines for front and back, I cheated here and only used 1 neckline piece.


#3- I color blocked the top by measuring my daughter to see approximately where the empire line would be.
#4- I shortened the entire length to t-shirt length. I used a well fitting top I made sure to use my french curve to create a curved hem at the bottom. I think curved hems look nicer than straight ones. I used the same curved shape as the dress, only at the short length.

I used some super cute dot fabric from Mabel Madison for the skirt portion and a nice stretch french terry from Nature's Fabrics. This is a definite winner. AND if you use this tutorial by EYMM, you can even add a long sleeve option to this.

Seems like our pattern collection is coming along nicely. We've got 2 patterns that when used together, we can get quite a few variations to fill out our Spring Wardrobe. Next up with be woven top patterns.

Did you know that if you sign up for the Once Upon A Sewing Machine newsletter you get a copy of their Cecilia Puff Tee pattern, FREE. So run on over and sign up for the newsletter, because you need this one. Don't worry, I'll wait. :)

Welcome back. I actually stumbled on this by accident, but what a wonderful accident it is. I was still looking for the perfect Tee to include in my Free Pattern Girl's Wardrobe and then BOOM it just showed up in my e-mail.

Now let me point out, this pattern isn't perfect, but so very close. And it will be perfect for hacking.

So I sewed up a straight size 7 for my 7yo. Her chest measurement is actually a size smaller than the pattern, but she likes her shirts a little looser, so I sized up. Fingers crossed this also means the shirt will fit longer, but I won't hold my breath.

The pattern comes in sizes 12 months to 8 and has cute little puff sleeves with a banded sleeve hem.

Overall, I'm really happy with this pattern. There were a few tiny things, but for free, I can work with it.

So what "things"?
The sleeve pattern piece does not hit the "fold line" at a right angle. That means the sleeve piece will have a funky little dip in it. But this is super simple to fix. You can see here I just smoothed out that top line to get the right angle. This process is called "truing" a pattern.

Also, I wish the sleeve was a little puffier. But that is a tiny hack we can manage. Check out "the girl inspired" for a tutorial for making puffier sleeves!

The neckline (both front and back), just barely miss the right angle for the fold line. Do the same as above and smooth that line out a tiny bit and that'll fix it.

Lastly, my neckline binding was just a smidge too long. I'd say the measurement is about 3/8" too long on my pattern piece. But, again, that is easily fixable. Also, this clearly depends a GREAT deal on the fabric you use for the neckline. The best way I've found to calculate this measurement is to measure the total neckline (minus seam allowance) and multiply by 0.85. Add back in seam allowances and you've got a close to the right measurement neckband.

I also would prefer a 1 3/4" width band versus the 2" band that is recommended. But that is a personal preference.

Those tiny changes and I have the perfect pattern for changing around to make the perfect combination of knit tops for my daughter. Don't believe it? Then stay tuned because there's nothing I can't do with a decent pattern!


Possible hacks:
-Adding a hem band at the bottom
-Extending it to tunic length
-Color Blocking
-Adding ruffles to necklines, sleeve hem, sleeve seam, hem, across a color block... RUFFLE ALL THE THINGS!
-Adding lace
-Cutting it at empire length and adding a skirt for a tunic or dress
-Adding a long sleeve
-Add a hood (oh yes, I'm definitely adding a hood)
-Making a henley
-Adding a cowl
-A Jacket?

Ha, that's more than 7 completely different t-shirts with just a little hacking magic. And trust me, we're talking "Little" hacking. These are things that any seamstress at any experience level can do. If you can sew knits, you can tackle these hacks. Stay tuned for a follow up series with a few of those hacks!

Have you been following along with my free pattern round up? That's great, because today, I'm going to share a review of one of those free patterns.

Today's pattern is the FREE Nap Time Creations Girls Free T-shirt. You can get a copy of the pattern on craftsy, but don't go downloading too quickly, because I have less than great news.

Before I get into the less than stellar review, please understand. I have worked with Nap Time Creations in the past. I have tested for her and I still stand 100% behind the paid patterns she has released that I tested (you can see the Slouchy Sweatshirt Review Here). I went back and forth with my conscience, not wanting to hurt a friend and designer with a bad review. But I also want to be true to myself and my blog. So please read this knowing that I'm saying these things to help people learn to be better seamstresses, not because I want to bash someone. I write it all with more than a bit of a heavy heart. :(

I was more than a little disappointed when I printed the pattern out. I should have looked before I told my husband which patterns to print. Once I saw the shaping of the shirt, I knew it wouldn't fit well. If you head over to the link (Nap Time Creations Girls Free T-shirt), in the middle of the page, you can see an assembly diagram. That diagram says it all. What, you don't see it? Then let me share with you how you know whether a t-shirt has been well drafted from just an initial glance.

Just from looking at the pattern pieces, I can see that:
1- The end of the shoulder point ends further out than the side seam. A good shoulder point should end at the end of the shoulder, which is generally even with, or less than the side seam, especially on a fitted shirt.
2- The armscye is SUPER shallow. The reason that you don't draft this close to the shoulder on a fitted garment is there's no room for the arm to move forward. Knits are a bit more forgiving, but you still need room for the arm to move.
3- The sleeve cap is very flat. Now, a flat sleeve cap isn't a bad thing in and of itself. It can be a style feature AND it will give more room in the shoulder for rotation and upward movement. But the sleeve cap ended up flat because there was very little curve in the armscye. For the 2 to fit, the sleeve cap has to be flat. This is good on a drop shoulder garment, NOT on a standard fitted t-shirt.
4- The shoulder seam is very flat. There are a few people with very squared off shoulders, but most people have a gentle slope along the shoulder from the neck to the end of the shoulder. This pattern, doesn't reflect that.

Ok, so I knew it wouldn't be enough to just tell my readers that the pattern was bad. That would be a disservice to Nap Time Creations and to you! So included below are photos of the garment. It isn't the worst fitting shirt I've ever seen. it is technically wearable and we will keep it as a pajama top.

But the wrinkles in the armscye and shoulder seam are bad. You can see clearly that the end of the shoulder is flowing past the shoulder point and down onto the arm (from point #1 above).

Further, you can see that the armscye is super shallow and doesn't hit against her actual underarm. (#2).

And of course wrinkles all pointing into the armpit.

So, we could redraft all of this. It would take time and if you had more than one kid, that would be frustrated. We COULD buy a well drafted t-shirt pattern. That wouldn't be a guarantee of a great pattern, but maybe a better chance, but it costs money! OR we can just find another free t-shirt pattern.

Lucky for you readers a bit more googling and I've found us another free t-shirt pattern that "looks" better drafted. At the very least, it doesn't have the problems I've listed here. BUT, I haven't tested it yet. If you have a bit of patience, I'll have a new free t-shirt pattern sewn up soon. It will be a mash up
the Girls Twirly Dress and the Girls Knit Tank, both by Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom.

Part 2 of the Build a free pattern girl's spring wardrobe



Hey June has this super cute racerback dress. You'd have to layer it over something to get you from winter to summer, but that's the best way to get the most mileage out of your work anyway.

There's also this "Good Deeds" dress by Elysium Patterns.

And Peek a Boo Pattern Shop has the Janey Jump Around Dress.

And if you want to get blown away, check out George and Ginger. They have 2 kids layer patterns.
1- All wrapped up sweater
2- Effortless Cowl Poncho

Super cute AND AND AND they come in women's sizes too. ALL FOR FREE. I might need this in my life. :D You can access their drop box from the "free patterns" link on their webpage or here.

Part 3 will include the little extras that make an outfit (headbands, purses, appliques, ribbon and RUFFLES) and the how to begin planning your wardrobe. And NO, we aren't starting sewing just yet. So follow along so that you too can have a free pattern wardrobe completed in time for spring!

In our home, my favorite tradition is the kids opening their Christmas PJ's on Christmas Eve.

As always, my kids have been watching as presents just appear under the tree. I try to wrap things as I can because I think part of the magic is seeing things just appear under the tree. So when I snuck the last 3 gifts under the tree, the girls knew those had to be their Christmas PJ's. I used a different wrapping paper so I could be sure they didn't get mixed in with all the other goodies.


After a long day of playing outside in the 70 degree weather (seriously, where is winter?!) they were excited to open up their Christmas PJ's after dinner. They love comparing what each one got and how they're different and the same. One day they probably won't want to coordinate any more, but for now, matching jammies for all.

Despite a horrible shoulder injury, I'm so glad that I was able to keep this tradition going with homemade jammies. I used my favorite pajama designer Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop. I just love the awesome selection of pajamas that this designer offers. My biggest favorite is the Alex and Anna PJ's. These come in winter and summer and are my constant "go to". Don't get me wrong, these jammies are simple. A snug fit pant and snug fit tee. Yup, nothing fancy here, but its perfect for a quick sew pajama.

DD1 gets a size 7 with a smaller waist elastic. (I just follow the chart for their waist measurement).

DD2 gets a size 6 with a smaller waist elastic.

And while I do love the Alex and Anna's, I just can't sew up the same thing over and over. So to keep things interesting, I used the shirt from the Happy Feet Pajamas and the FREE Bonny Leggings by Made For Mermaids. I used the size 4 for both the shirt and leggings. The elastic were cut with a smaller waist elastic (per the chart). I wanted the leggings to be a little looser (and I also didn't want to recut the pattern in a smaller size), so I went with my 5yo's size 4.

I really enjoy coordinating my 3 girls, so of course I used combinations of 2 fabrics by Funkalicious Fabrics. The first fabric is the Adorable Flying Pigs and then a coordinating red cotton lycra. These were SO easy to work with. Soft and just the right amount of stretch. And I'm so happy I still have more yardage of the blue colorway.

I'm sure my kids are very eager to get up early tomorrow, so for now, Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!