Sunny Romper + September Showcase Giveaway!

My lovely friends, Ashley and Emily (the sisters behind Frances Suzanne) contacted me a few weeks ago about a twist on their Flip This Pattern series for September called the September Showcase.

Instead of having competitors flip a single pattern, 30+ bloggers will feature 10 up-and-coming Indie pattern designers by sharing items flipped or not flipped from the designers' patterns. To kick-off the modified series, Ashley and Emily themselves wanted to "showcase" me and my sewVery Sunny Pattern! What an honor! More about this and the giveaway later in the post, but first...

Their Flip This Pattern series is one of my favorites--and not just because I won back in February with this flip! To celebrate the launch of their September Showcase and my pattern feature, I decided to share a "flip" of my own Sunny Dress & Top Pattern--the Sunny Romper!

The Zephyr Romper and Romper Week Giveaway

It's Romper Week again with Sewing Mama RaeAnna!  I love rompers and wish I were young enough to wear them still and not get funny looks!  Instead, I'll just have to sew up a few for Ella and live vicariously through her.

This year, I put together one of the prettiest and most detailed rompers I've ever sewn--The Zephyr Romper by Figgy's.  A long, long time ago, I bought the Kid's Romper Revamp Class at Craftsy (affiliate link) that has Shelly Figueroa of Figgy's walk you step-by-step through the process of sewing her Zephyr Romper.  I've now forgotten why I waited so long to take the class and make this romper, but I wish I had tried it sooner!  This Zephyr Romper is amazing!

Children's Corner Baby Boy Bubble Rompers

Recently I was contacted by a long-time family friend to ask if I would consider sewing some baby boy bubble rompers for her new grandson.  I searched online for the perfect bubble romper pattern based on a photograph she sent me, and what I found was the Taylor Pattern by The Children's Corner!  Since the pattern only comes in paper form, it was lucky for me that I was able to drive to The Children's Corner Store and pick up the pattern the next day!

How to Make Scalloped Edge Shorts

So a lot of you want to know how I made those sweet scalloped edge shorts to match Ella's Fly Girl tops (Read about Version 1 and Version 2)! It's really very easy to do, and I'm going to tell you how you can make them with pockets without even buying a pattern!

First, head over to Elegance & Elephants (affiliate link) and download her free Pleated Playsuit pattern. Print and cut out the pattern pieces for the pant front, pant back, pocket, and pocket lining.

Next, download and print out my scallop pattern from my Craftsy pattern shop (affiliate link).

When I made Ella's blue pair of shorts, I didn't consider that the pattern for the shorts part of the pattern is designed to sit at the natural waist since the pieces are really for a romper.  I made a separate waistband and attached it, so her shorts ended up being really high-waisted in the front which is fine. Now, the next time I make these, I will cut off at least  1 1/2" from the top of all the pattern pieces before attaching the waistband.  Just something to keep in mind when you cut out your fabrics.

Now cut out of your fabric two of each of the pattern pieces listed above and assemble the shorts according to the pattern instructions. Measure the opening at the top for the waistband.  Cut out a piece of fabric 3" wide x (the length you just measured + seam allowance).  Sew the short ends together, press the seam allowance open, and then fold in half so wrong sides are together.  Press. Attach to the shorts using your preferred method but be sure to leave a 2" opening for inserting the elastic.  Use a piece of 3/4" to 1" elastic that is your child's waist measurement minus 1".  After inserting the elastic and securing the ends, sew the opening closed.

To make the scalloped edge, print out the scallop templates and tape them together.  Then measure the leg opening and cut four strips of fabric 2 1/2" wide x (the leg opening length + seam allowance).  Now follow the instructions in my Scalloped Edge Shorts Tutorial on how to make and attach the scalloped edge to your shorts.

I used this same tutorial last year to make Ella the pink pair of shorts she's wearing with the Fly Girl Top - Version 2 and this cute halter top I made last year.

That's it!  I love the extra detail that the scalloped edge adds to the shorts and the way it mimics the ric rac on the Fly Girl top sleeves.  Plus, Ella thinks it's fun to have pockets to put her hands in or to load up with toys!

Be sure to enter my giveaway HERE for a $35 gift card to Little Lizard King Sewing Patterns! Winner will be announced next Monday!

Retro Romper Pattern

Last week I tested the Retro Romper Pattern by Blank Slate Patterns .  It has officially been released for sale here as of today!

Disclosure:  I am an affiliate of Blank Slate Patterns, but all opinions regarding this pattern are 100% my own.

I love rompers, and apparently, so do a lot of other people!  It's just a shame that adults don't look quite as adorable in them as children do.  Well, I can still get my fix of rompers by making lots for Ella to wear this summer.  This has already become a favorite of hers.

The Retro Romper Pattern is appropriately named.  This design so reminds me of the '80's, and I could swear I had a terry cloth version of this exact design when I was a child.  I've even looked through a few old photo albums searching for a photo of me wearing it.  Hopefully I'm not thinking of someone else, but I have not come across the photo--yet!  When I do, I'll be sure to post an update.

This pattern is such a simple design and the perfect piece of clothing for summer!  It's cool and comfy for running around outside in the hot sun and ideal for playing/bending/squatting both indoors and out.  The Retro Romper Pattern offers both a shorts and skort version, and I think the latter would make a great swimsuit cover-up for little girls!

There are absolutely no seams to hem on this romper since everything is trimmed with bias binding!

I made all my binding out of quilting cotton in order to coordinate with the floral main fabric of the romper. It took a little extra time to fold and iron it all out without the use of a bias tape maker or using pre-made bias tape, but it's always well worth it.  I use bias binding often to hem skirts, dresses, or even tops because it is an easy way to add color or a visual interest to the garment.

For my shorts version of the Retro Romper, I used quilting cotton; however, the pattern is suitable for wovens or knits and includes sizes 18 months to 8.  I made Ella a size 5T and think it fits her perfectly.

The waist is gathered using elastic, and the pattern shows you an easy way to create the casing when you sew the shorts to the bodice.  Although not included in the pattern, you could easily shirr the waist with a couple of rows of elastic thread to create the same fit in lieu of an elastic casing.

I considered adding some pockets to the bum, but after making one and pinning it on to the shorts part, decided to just keep it plain and simple.  One great thing about the Blank Slate Patterns is that the designs are such that you can add all kinds of personal touches to an outfit with the use of trims, buttons, a ruffle placket down the front, pockets in the front or back, a sash around the waist, a ruffle across the front, and I could go on and on.  The bodice could even be appliqued or embroidered to personalize the look. The options are endless!

This pattern was a joy to test!  It was simple, it was a quick sew (roughly 2 hours), it fits perfectly, and it's adorable on!  I can't tell you how many compliments Ella received when she wore this out to my son's ballgame.  Even a few moms said they wish they had one in their size, so obviously, I'm not the only one with a romper crush!

Blank Slate Patterns also released two additional patterns today as part of their Summer Vibe collection--the Big Island Board Shorts and the Baja Hoodie.

And if you love rompers like I do, then be sure to check out some of the others I've made--

Ruffle Neck Romper Tutorial

Ruffle Bum Romper

Adelaide Vintage Romper

Autumn's Peasant Romper

Game Day Ruffle Romper

I'll also be participating in Romper Week at Sewing Mama RaeAnna starting June 19th!  Be sure to follow along the entire week for some amazing romper inspiration.  You can also check out our romper inspired pinterest board.

Have a great day!

Adelaide Vintage Romper - Knit Version + 3 Pack Pattern Giveaway!

A few weeks ago, Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop introduced a new romper pattern--the Adelaide Vintage Romper.  Disclosure:  I am an affiliate for Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, but all opinions provided in this post are 100% my own.  I'm sure you've seen pictures of the pattern cover with the cute girl wearing the teal chevron romper with red trim.  Well, I could have sworn it was knit fabric, so I emailed Amy, the pattern designer, to confirm my suspicion.  She said is was just quilting cotton, but then asked if I wanted to try out the pattern in knit fabric.  I said sure!

The Adelaide Vintage Romper pattern is not designed specifically for knit fabrics, but it is definitely doable to make it out of knit.  I did it with just a few slight modifications to the original pattern instructions.  If you are interested in attempting this adorable romper in knit, then I suggest you read through my post first for some helpful advice.

For my knit version of the Adelaide Vintage Romper, I used 100% cotton interlock knit.  For the piping and the leg cuffs, I used a cotton wide ribbed knit that had a touch of spandex in it.

First, cut out your bodice, shorts, collar, and tie pieces using the main fabric and making sure the direction of stretch is across each of the pieces.  Next, cut out the cuffs and enough 1" strips to make your piping (if you choose to add piping to your look).  I use 1/8" nylon cording found at the hardware store or in the hardware section at Wal-mart to make piping.  You can buy a 40' roll for less than $3.

Follow the Adelaide Vintage Romper pattern instructions like normal for attaching the piping, sewing the collar to the bodice, shirring the back and adding the elastic, and making the pockets.  Here's where I veered away from the order of the pattern instructions and took a slightly different approach mainly because of the knit fabric.

Next, I sewed the bodice lining to the bodice front (RST) across the top using my serger and making sure to sandwich the tie straps in between the two.  Flip the pieces so right sides are out and press the seam flat.  Now I pinned with RST the bodice back and the bodice front along the side seams and serged the edges.  I used my regular sewing machine to tack down the seam toward the back bodice.

By now, you have already sewn the shorts pockets on, so take the two front shorts pieces RST and sew down the crotch seam with your serger.  Leave the inseam open.  Do the same thing for the two back shorts pieces.  With RST, sew the front shorts to the back shorts along the side seams (inseam is still unsewn).  Take one of the ribbed knit cuff pieces and fold it in half along the length with WST.  This piece will be shorter than the leg opening, so stretch it as necessary when pinning it to the bottom of the shorts.  Make sure that raw edges are matching and that the cuff is on top of the right side of the shorts leg.  Hope this makes sense!  Once you have it pinned in place, serge the cuff to the shorts and then flip the cuff down so the seam will be on the inside of the garment.  Repeat for the other leg.  Now pin the inseam RST and making sure to match the seams of the crotch and the cuffs before serging the seam.

Again, you can tack the serged seam at the leg opening down with a regular stitch on your sewing machine.

You should now have a separate top and bottom for the romper.  All we have left to do is attach them together at the waist.  I turned the bodice wrong side out and slipped it over the right side of the shorts and matched up the raw edges and side seams.  Pin the pieces together and then sew together using your regular sewing machine's zipper foot and a stretch needle (since there is piping along the front bodice at the waist).  Then use your serger to finish the edges of the seam.

That's it!  Easy as can be, right?  The knit version is so soft and comfy to wear, and perfect for play time or a walk outside.

Now I want to make an Adelaide Vintage Romper in quilting cotton just so I can say I've played by the rules!  The knit version was fun to make though, and if you have experience sewing with knits, I recommend giving it a try!  I'm pretty sure you'll be glad you did!

Oh, guess what?  Today is Thrifty Thursday at Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop, and that means one special pattern is on sale for today only for $4!  This week's Thrifty Thursday pattern is the Susie Sun Dress! Don't miss this deal!

Now for the giveaway!

Want a chance to win a 3 pack of pdf patterns from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop?  Of course you do!  Who wouldn't?!  Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below to earn up to three entries.  Winner will be announced here on Monday, May 27, 2013!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stopping by today, and a big thank you to Amy from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop for offering the patterns in the giveaway!

sewVery's 2012 Top 5 Most Viewed Posts

Before I recap the 2012 Top 5 Most Viewed Posts from my blog, I'd first like to say that I sincerely hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year!  I've been busy these last couple of weeks visiting with family, celebrating the holidays, and enjoying time with my family.  In particular, I have spent a lot of time cooking and baking with my children in both a real and play kitchen, decorating plastic princess jewelry with my daughter, and assembling some major Lego Ninjago pieces for both my son and daughter (we're talking close to 1,500 pieces of Legos)!

The year 2012 marks the year I began blogging about my sewing projects, and the year that I made countless new, wonderful friends.  It's truly been a blessing, and I hope that blogging in 2013 will continue to be as rewarding.  

I am so thankful for the loyal followers who read my posts and occasionally leave me a comment letting me know their thoughts on the subject, especially when my post provokes you to remember something you haven't thought of in ages.  And I am so amazed that others around the world find my projects and tutorials interesting and useful!  

So here are the 2012 Top 5 Most Viewed Posts from sewVery:

No. 5:  Giveaway Day - International Entries Allowed!

I still get hits on this even though this contest was held last May!  I think lots of people find it because of the Cute Little Zipper Coin Pouch that I made for the giveaway.  I wish I could claim the idea and tutorial for this pouch, but I discovered it here.

No. 4:  A Patchwork Purse and Coin Pouch

This Patchwork Purse is one of my favorites, mainly because I made it using Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection fabrics!  I made it to challenge myself, but it's much smaller than I would normally carry.  I held onto until this Christmas so I could give it to my sister-in-law.  She really likes Vera Bradley purses, and although this is not the same thing, I hope she really likes it and will use it some.

Since I like to carry a little larger purse, I've thought about scaling the pattern up some so I could make one for myself.  I guess that is a project for 2013.  Also for 2013, I need to try out the other purses from this Simplicity 2617 pattern since I didn't get to that last year!

This post also showed off the very first little round coin pouch that I made using this tutorial.  It really is a great little zipper pouch.  I use mine to carry extra earrings when I travel, and I made my dad one in Auburn University fabric that he carries change in.  He put a spring clip on his so he can easily attach and remove it from his pant's beltloop.

No. 3:  My Emmaline Bag

My No. 3 most viewed post was this very bold and bright Emmaline Bag I made using a pattern I won from Janelle at Emmaline Bags & Patterns. Janelle is a super sweet person that I became friends with after making this bag and writing the post about it.  I really recommend you read the post and check out her patterns!

In fact, I still haven't tried out her Teardrop Bag pattern (even though I purchased it a long time ago).  That's another project just added to my 2013 To-Do List!

Coming in at No. 2 is my Ruffle Neck Romper Tutorial.

I just love this simple little romper. I know I'll be making more this spring for my daughter to wear.  And the picture graphics are one of my favorites, too! I had a lot of fun making the romper, tutorial, and the photo.

The No. 1 most viewed post on sewVery in 2012 is (drum roll, please)...

Felt Fabric Flower Tutorial

I made these fabric flowers last year for my daughter's Beautiful Flower Birthday Party.  These flowers are sewVery simple to make and can be made in a variety of ways as seen in the post.

This tutorial was featured at a couple of different places and receives lots of views everyday almost a year later!  Just goes to show you that sometimes the simplest projects are the most well received.  Now I just need to come up with a project that can top this one!

Well, that's it!  Thanks again for following my blog and this new journey of mine.  It has been such an adventure for me, and I hope blogging and sewing continue to open doors to new opportunities and new friends this year.

Have a great day!

Ruffle Neck Romper Tutorial

Well, several of you asked for it, so here it is!  (Now, just imagine party horns blowing and balloons falling from the sky)!

I finally put together a tutorial on how to make a Ruffle Neck Romper like the one I made here a few months ago.  I apologize for it taking me so long to finish, but better late than never.  Right?!

First of all, let me just say that I am excited to have readers and followers of the blog so interested in something I've made that you want to know how I did it.  That's just so cool!

I first got the idea to make a Ruffle Neck Romper when I saw this one in a Kelly's Kids Catalog a friend gave me.

Kelly's Kids Play Date Romper 

I then looked through all the store bought and e-patterns I own to see if any had a ruffle neck feature so I could read the directions on how to do this, but to my disappointment, I didn't have one.  Then I searched online and only found a couple (at the time) of e-patterns offered for sale, but I kept thinking to myself that it couldn't be that difficult to make.  I mean, it's just a pretty basic peasant/pillowcase top pattern with a ruffle added on.  So I went to bed that night and fell asleep trying to figure this out, and when I woke up the next morning, I had it!

I then remembered seeing a pattern in my stash for a cute little pillowcase style romper that I had purchased at Joann's when they had Simplicity patterns on sale for 99 cents.  I hadn't tried it out yet, but all that was about to change!  The pattern was Simplicity 1903 View C.

I'm sure other romper patterns would work for this as well, but this is the one I happened to have on hand.

Ok, are you ready to get started with how I took this Simplicity pattern and made it into this adorable Ruffle Neck Romper?

Here we go!  

The first time I made this romper, I cut out the pattern using size 4T for Ella. At the time, that is what she had been wearing so I thought it would be a perfect fit.  Some things I didn't take into consideration though were how the shirred waist and the elastic in the ruffle neckline would make the romper rise up.  Although the first romper fit, I always felt like it was a little short in the rise, so to remedy this, I decided to cut out the pattern this time using the size 6 pattern (keeping in mind that the finished romper will be a size 4T)! And I must say that the newest romper fits like a dream.  I'm much more pleased with the fit than I was with the first one.

So, I would definitely recommend cutting out at least one size larger than you would normally if you are using this pattern for this Ruffle Neck Romper version.

Also, I didn't want the top to have a seam down the middle, so I cut out the top front and back on the fold of the fabric.  Just remember to exclude the seam allowance for this center seam (5/8" + 5/8" = 1 1/4") at the fold (not at the side seams).  

Now, sew the romper according to the pattern directions except leave off the ruffle around the waist, don't hem the neckline, and don't put in elastic on the leg openings (unless you want to).  

I added two rows of shirring (spaced 1/2" apart) at the waist seam to cinch the romper.  I strongly recommend using Stretch Rite elastic thread for your shirring.

This is now what your romper should look like.

Wasn't that so much easier than you thought it would be?  Now you know how to add a ruffle neck to any basic peasant top or dress pattern or even just a basic pillowcase dress pattern.  

And the width of the ruffle can be easily adjusted to fit your taste or style.  I just like the look of a 3 to 3 1/2" ruffle on this romper.  Any wider and it reminds me of a clown for some reason!

Oh, and if you are wondering about the fabric, it is a Little Lisette fabric called Watercolor.  I purchased it from Joann's off the clearance isle.  It's so soft and smooth feeling and the perfect weight for this outfit.  My daughter loves the pink and the flowers.

If you decide to make one of these lovely rompers for your lovely little girl, please send me a photo when your finished.   My email is sewvery(at)gmail(dot)com.

Thanks for stopping by!  

This tutorial if for personal use only and it may not be reproduced or copied in part or whole without my expressed written consent.