Little Kiwis Closet Bow Back Beauty Blog Tour

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to take part in this blog tour and it has given me the kick start I needed to get back into blogging again.

I am always a fan of the patterns from LittleKiwisCloset and this latest release is no exception.  So what is the Bow Back Beauty?  Well really a better question is probably what isn't it!  This gorgeous pattern is a tee/peplum/dress and even onesie all in one pattern.  It covered sizes nb-12y and is even suitable for boys if you omit the bow from the back.  The other options include the following.
Sleeve options:
~ Sleeveless with binding
~ Short sleeves
~ Short sleeves with cuffs
~ Long sleeves
Skirt options:
~ Peplum
~ Dress
~ Hi-lo
~ Double peplum
~ Skirt + peplum
Bodice:
~ Natural waist length
~ Hip length
~ Onesie (nb-4 only)
Back:
~ Plain back
~ Bow back

So how do you choose just one option from all of that?  Well I decided to check out my list of what was needed in Miss M's wardrobe and go from there.  As we are going into winter I chose the long sleeve option and decided to make a tee over a dress as that is what she needed.  Also due to the cold weather we are expecting I decided to morph the plain back with the bow back to omit the open back but retain the bow :-)

Since it had been a while since I had made anything for Miss M I did a quick measure and chose to make her the size 2 with size 4 length and to cut the bodice hip length.  I let Miss M choose from a selection of fabrics and I must say she was thrilled with the result (and so am I).  I used a cotton/lycra 4-way stretch for both the tee and the bow, and the same white cotton lycra for all the bindings.  I found the printing, taping and tracing of this pattern all went very smoothly and the tutorial was easy to follow.  I really like the finish given of the binding technique used in the pattern.  It's not the induing technique I usually choose as it gives a slightly more bulky finish, but it was perfect for this particular top.
Because I wanted to morph the plain back with the bow back this meant that I ended up with 2 bound edges together at the front of the envelope neck, as this was bulky I offset them slightly with the bow piece in front and used the shoulder mark of the bow piece to match the backs/front before adding the sleeves.
Construction was very straight forward and I was surprised at how quickly this wee top went together considering the details that are included.  Really once you have bound all the neck/bow edges you are pretty much done.  The only other change I made from the pattern tutorial was that I sewed the sleeve/side seams before I hemmed the sleeves (this is purely personal preference).  Also I tried the tee on before hemming the sleeves and decided they were too long so I cut approx 4cm off before hemming.  I was surprised about this as I've never had to shorten sleeves for Miss M before, and it turns out I shouldn't have this time.  They have turned out a little on the short side now - gah!  I still love it and they look cute but next time I will leave it alone!  Other than that the fit is spot on.  It is nice and slim through the body and I think I may even size up through the body next time I make a tee, but I wouldn't if I was doing the open back version as I'm pretty sure adding any extra width would result in gaping of the lower back portion.
So here is our end result.

And even better now that you know that you need this pattern you can enter here to win a copy :-)
a Rafflecopter giveaway