Bundle Up Boy Tour

I have been keeping a secret.

A BIG secret.

I'm on the Bundle Up Boys blog tour for 

Pattern Revolution!

I was so excited when I got that Email that my coworkers thought that I had won the lottery or something ((the sewing lottery of course ha!)) I was that excited. I saw some snippets of what the bundle was going to be all about this time around on the Pattern Revolution Facebook page and knew that I was going to buy WHATEVER the bundle could offer me. Anyone who sews for boys can tell you it can be so hard to sew for boys sometimes when the patterns all seam basically the same. I know that Pattern Revolution has some awesome designers and whatever they could come up with for this bundle would be new, fabulous, awesome and cool.

For the tour we got to pick which patterns we wanted to sew! It was a tough decision but I knew that I was on a time crunch because of a planned vacation to the beach the weekend following the notification. That wasn't going to stop me;l I had to say YES!!!! I looked at the patterns that they were offering (and they are ALL cool) and figured out how much time I had to spare and what could be sewn up in my time frame. I opted to go for the Fishsticks Honor Roll Henley and EYYM's Zander hoodie.


I picked to sew up the awesome Honor Roll Raglan Henley by Fishsticks Designs first. I love this pattern, you can do color blocking, mixing patterns, use 3 different fabrics on the front if you wanted. It is a great way to use up that small square of that favorite knit for the front bottom of the henley. This pattern also includes a short sleeve as well!


I made this top for my Nephew who is 5 and I sewed up a size 6 in the long sleeved version. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get pictures of him in his new henley but luckily for me my 5 year old nephew and 4 year old son wear the exact same size!





For this top I used some woodland animal knit fabric from JoAnn's I had left over from last year. I hear that they have this knit back in though for this fall. It is paired with some blue knit that I got at a second hand sale for the Salvation Army. I got quite a few yards of it for just a couple of dollars!

The tip that Fishsticks gives about starch spraying your knits before sewing will seriously change your life. Why have I never done this before???






My little man is also wearing the Nowhere man pants that I blogged about here.


























For my next pattern I decided to do the EYYM (Everything Your Mama Made) Zander Hoodie and Vest.

I love, love, love this pattern and so does my son. He has worn it half a dozen times already and always gets compliments on it!  The lovely Kymy came up with a pattern that is a modern take on the classic zip hoodie featuring asymmetrical zipper and front pockets. It is fully lined pattern which will keep my little guy snug as a bug. I am already planning on a second Zander but with long sleeves; on the hunt now for some thrifted sweatshirt fleece like Olga from olga-kidapproved used! You MUST see her version, so cute!!

For my Zander vest I opted to use a fleece from JoAnns (of course) and another Salvation Army knit fabric find. I cut the pattern out all kinds of crazy to put the pattern of the fleece on the same angle as the zipper but I figured with the fleece, being off grain would not make much difference.

Kymy has also thoughtfully included detailed instructions to her pattern that shows up close how to stitch the lining/shell/band. If you have never stitched a fully lined jacket you just need to follow the instructions/images. Just know that it might look crazy in the middle but it WILL WORK! AND it will be amazeballs.







I sincerely hope that you will check out everyone else's amazing work. Some fantastic sewist's got in on this tour and put out some great pieces that I know you will fall in love with!

 20th Boy, Oh Boy, Sew Like My Mom, Sew a Straight Line

21st Made By Sara, Friends Stitched Together, Max California

22nd Just Joshin, Kid Approved, Gracious Threads

23rd Mimi's Mom, Feather's Flights, Once Upon a Sewing Machine

24th Handmade Boy, Made By Momma, Bee Quilted Beauties

25th Handcrafted By Red, The Crazy Tailor, Kelly Hogaboom

26th Mae&K, Get Your Crap Together, Lady and the Gents

27th Paisley Roots, The Berry Bunch, Knot Sew Normal, 

 BabyFish Designs, Rebekah Sews, Lady and the Gents

28th Swoodson Says, Petit a Petit, Kelly Hogaboom

29th Beaza & Llama, Shaffer Sisters, Fabulous Home Sewn

If you would like to buy these great patterns from the Pattern Revolution Bundle Up or check out the  other patterns ((which I am SO buying)) go to the Pattern Revolution Bundle Up sale site.

A Lovely Sunny Dress (Review)

Another designer I recently was 

given the opportunity to test for was Veronica of SewVery..

 The woman behind SewVery patterns and the SewVery Blog. 

She is just so sweet and a talented sewist. 

You should really check out her recent finish of  Radiant home studio's retro rucksack. I love the colors Veronica used! 

I actually won this pattern a while back and it is still hanging out it my to-do pile:) 

Any-who back to the Sunny Dress and Top pattern review.

This pattern includes a cute tie back and two neck options and two lengths.

 One neck option is your basic rounded neckline and the other includes a ruffled neck. 

Your two lengths available in this pattern is a regular top and a dress length. 

For my first run testing of this pattern I sewed up the size 8 for my Niece using view B (no ruffle) in a dress. The dress sewed up so very quick and you could easily sew up 3 or 4 assembly style for school in an afternoon. 

 This dress fits her perfectly; both in size and style. I used some Mr Men fabric from my stash.

 I had justenough fabric for this top and sadly have no more.

My Niece loved this so much I knew I had to sew her up another one. In true me fashion I used another irreplaceable fabric. I got this fabric in an estate sale recently and I just love it so much. I decided that I should stop hoarding these types of fabrics and just make something that can be loved or worn.

On this version I opted to lengthen the top to a tunic length (I went down to the length of a size 5 dress to make a size 8 tunic). I also used some estate sale fabric for the yellow mini polka dot bib and scraps to make a turned tube a ruffle down the center of the bib. Then accented  that with some white rick-rack
 I had laying around and a few buttons.
I really hope to see this on her in the fall with some skinny's, boots and a long sleeved shirt under it!


On adorb overload yet??
If you want to get your own copy of the Sunny Dress/top pattern you should go to the
 SewVery Pattern shop . And I mean like, right now because until
 tomorrow (August 17th) the pattern is 20% off!!

If you would like to try your luck Veronica is graciously giving away 2 copies of the pattern
(also ending tomorrow) I've included the rafflecopter for you.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

There are many talented sewists participating in the blog tour and you should totally
 check out all the awesomeness they have cooked up.

Monday, August 11th Sewing Mama RaeAnna While she was sleeping 4Kids + 1 Momma = chaos Mama Says Sew Wednesday, August 13th Sew Like My Mom Made by Sara Shaffer Sisters Friday, August 15th Rae Gun Ramblings Rebel and Malice Right Sides Facing Sunday, August 17th sewVery

Tuesday, August 12th Handcrafted by RED Two-Many Feathered Ruffles Call Ajaire Thursday, August 14th Crafty Biggers Sweeter Than Cupcakes Giggles and Beans Pattern Revolution Saturday, August 16th Thirtynine Made by Momma Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop

Cartwheel Collection by Love Notions

I have been very fortunate recently to be picked to test some patterns. I can't tell y'all how much it means to me to be selected. I think that it speaks volumes to how much my sewing skills have come along since I started sewing. I know that I still have much to learn and I am grateful to have these opportunities.

Well now that I have gotten the mushy stuff out of the way...

My next pattern test is the cartwheel collection by

The lovely Tami of Love Notions has a new pattern in the works for a collection called the Cartwheel collection. It is appropriately named because the girlies can do all the cartwheels they want and remain modest with the attached bike shorts on the skirt (if you pick to sew that version). This is a a great collection because you have so many options. You can have a dress, shorts, tee shirt or a single or double skirt either without or with shorts attached.











I made the collection for my eldest niece. I think that it will be great for back-to-school which is quickly approaching. I used a purple and pink hounds tooth from Jo-Ann's as well as a solid lighter purple.

I was picked to do the tee-shirt

 (don't you just LOVE the cut out back?))

and the double skirt with attached bike short.

I have the perfect fabrics to do another one

for another niece, next time I'm making the dress though.

Here is a link to the Love Notions Etsy page.

The word is the first 100 purchasers can use the code
sixinone 
     for 15% off their purchase of the cartwheel collection!

Shared on

 Simple Simon Sewing Saturdays