FO: Flutterby Dress by Little Kiwis Closet

It seems hard to believe but with all my patterns both paper and pdf I didn't own a single peasant dress pattern.  I know shocking isn't it.  Don't panic though everyone LittleKiwisCloset came to the rescue with a tester call for not only any peasant dress but pretty much the ONLY peasant dress pattern you will ever need.  Honestly the options within this pattern are almost endless.  The Flutterby Peasant Dress/Top includes dress and top lengths (both with or without ruffles), and six different sleeve options (including flutter, short, 3/4 and long), all in sizes nb-12y.  I really don't think there is anything much else that could be added in there.
For testing I made up a top out of pink Wee Wander fabric with a contrasting flutter sleeve and a dress from Childhood Memories fabric with short sleeves.  Both Miss M and I love both of these.

I made a size 3 with size 4 length for both of these.  As always with Lydia's patterns this was lovely and clear, easy to piece together and the instructions were simple to follow.  I hope you all enjoy sewing this one up as much as I did :-)

FO: Biddybelle

This is the first test-knit I have done in a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG time.  I was in a bit of a knitting funk and often a test will help get me out of it because I have a strict deadline and motivation to keep going.  Then up popped this gorgeous wee dress on my Facebook feed and before I knew it I was knitting again :-)  Actually doing this test forced me to finish the hood on this too because I didn't want to start until the hoodie was finished.

So what was the project that took my eye?  The cute Biddybelle Dress by Hollyberry Designs.  This is a sweet wee tunic/dress with either short or long sleeves and colour work border.  There are lots of lovely wee design features that make this special, the wee 'V' at the neck, the pop of colour at the button band no the shoulder and the wide choice of colour work charts to choose from (or the option to do stripes instead).

I worked the size 21" for Miss M and did length to suit her and I love the result.  The main yarn is some I picked up in a Knitworld sale a couple of years ago and I bought a ball of Skeinz Urban for the colour work (this is one of the flower designs)

And just because they are cute :-)

FO: Princess Peplum

Here I go slowly catching up with my testing frenzy.  This time it was a top for me, woohoo.  The schematics of this design caught my eye straight away and I was excited to see it was available in both children's and adult sizes.  Introducing the Princess Peplum by Dandelion's n' Dungarees.

What's not to love right?  Those princess seams, the cute cap sleeves and the gorgeous shaping of the extra panel in the back all won me over.
This pattern is designed for knit fabrics with 4 way stretch and as such requires no zippers or fastenings, woohoo.  During testing there were some gorgeous versions made including many lovely colour blocked tops and even a maternity version!
Here is my take on the Princess Peplum, I used some unidentified rather slinky and very stretchy knit fabric I found in stash.  I did have a couple of issues with this particular fabric being friendly with my overlocker but once I got that sorted this went together quickly and was pretty straightforward.  The neck and sleeves are both bound and can be done using any standard knit binding method.

Excuse the hideous modelling and photos taken by a 7yo and you can see the top is pretty cute right?  I love where the neckline falls and the V at the back adds a bit of interest.  The princess seams are also really flattering and give a lovely shape.  On the whole I love this pattern and will be making more.  The final version of the pattern does include a little added length compared to this version which I also like.  So the Princess Peplum is available in children's sizes XXS-XL and women's sizes XS-XXL (or both patterns as a bundle) so none needs to miss out :-)
So don't be scared of knits and go get sewing.

Miss M Turns 4! (including the birthday dress)

It seems hard to believe that Miss M was just a few months old when I started blogging and a few days ago my 'baby' turned 4!  Yes FOUR!  Well actually she's not that interested in being 4 other than the fact that it means that your are 'nearly 5' and then you can be a big school girl (I'm not sure I'm ready for that but she certainly is).

We had a lovely time celebrating Miss M's birthday.  It started with a  wee party for a few of her friends.  She wanted a 'Frozen' party (like every other girl her age) and while I don't really do themes we gave it a go.  She also wanted to do pass the parcel and dancing to Frozen and that was it.  Mummy provided the tutus for all the girls to dance in and overall I think a blast was had by all :-)

I need to clearly state here that other than the baking I can take virtually no credit for the cake.  The amaaaazzzzing snowflakes are courtesy of my dear friend from Imaginarium Cakes who has more talent than you can shake a stick at (go check out her work it's totally out of this world).  And we bought the figurines so it was pretty simple to pop it all together the night before, and it went down a treat :-)

Of course every birthday girl needs a new party dress.  The brief from the wearer was that it needed to be pink and twirly and I think we ticked both of those off nicely.  For once I actually dug out a paper pattern (I know shock horror).  I used Butterick B4718 and cut a size 2 with size 4 length for a near perfect fit.  The only thing I found was that it was too big around at the top of the bodice so I needed to take in the side seams quite a lot on each side.  The fabric was from stash and the gorgeous rosebud trim I also found in my 'trims box', I'm pretty sure it either came from my Mum or my Gran at some stage.

From there all that was left was the actual birthday.  Miss M got thoroughly spoilt by family and had a wonderful time.

It's hard to believe our wee princess is growing into such a confident, articulate and caring wee girl.  We love you Humph.

FO: Cannes Hoody

I thought it was about time that I proved I haven't forgotten how to knit :-)  I actually have 2 knitting projects that are waiting to be blogged about but  chose this one first since I started it  *cough* quite some time ago.

The story behind this project goes something like this:

Me "Mr A what kind of jersey or cardy do you want for winter?"

Mr A "One with a hood and those twisty bits on"

Me "Perfect"

I had the yarn already picked out and I knew the perfect pattern, in fact I'd knitted it before (tested it even) but Mr A never got to wear it as he grew out of it before winter arrived, grr.

After the last sizing debacle I chose my size very carefully, so carefully in fact that I picked up a couple of errors in the pattern which have since been fixed by the designer.  Oh yes the pattern is Maritimes by Elena Nodel and there are countless options with this pattern, including the one that fitted Mr A's brief. I love the interesting cables that Elena puts into her patterns, they look fantastic and make the knitting so fun.

This time around according to the size chart I did a size 5 with 6 length for mr A, even though I did the loose fit version it has turned out more of a slim fit (as per issues now corrected mentioned above) and I did have to rip back the bottom cable to add more length to the body (possibly because my row gauge was slightly out).  The only other change  made was to not add the buttons to the front placket, again at the request of the wearer.

So was it all worth it?  I think so :-)  The yarn I chose (Red Riding Hood Yarns Beau Superwash in colourway Cannes) was amazing to knit with and made the whole process a joy, and I haven't had one complaint about scratchiness, woohoo.

Once again my photography really doesn't do this project justice and the boy has barely taken it off since I finished so he must be happy with it.  Now to hope he doesn't grow too much and can wear it next winter too (I don't like my chances).

Omni Tempore Review and Giveaway!

First of all this post is totally skipping the queue of all the things I have mentioned in my previous post but it's more exciting because it includes a pattern giveaway :-)

This pattern was originally real eased a wee while ago and at the time I contemplated requesting to test it but didn't have the time.  When a call went out for testers for the extra versions of it to be added to the pattern I jumped at the chance, not in part because it gave me a chance to test something for Mr A when Miss M seems to have been profiting far more of late.

So what is Omni Tempore by Sofilantjes?  Or maybe a better question is what isn't it?  There are now so many options in this pattern.  It is a perfect unisex top/tee/jumper all in one.  With options for short or long sleeves both either cuffed or hemmed, hem or bottom band, hood or shawl-type collar and with or without kangaroo style pocket the possibilities are virtually endless.

As we are coming into summer here I tested the short sleeves with bands, hood and pocket and the result was a winner all round.  The pattern runs from size 12m through to size 14, I made a straight 6 for Mr A with no mods and the fit is fantastic.

The only change I made to the pattern instructions is that I decided to bind the pocket openings rather than hemming them, that's just personal preference but the instructions for this aren't included in the pattern.

With such a wide size range and the fact that this pattern is completely unisex and can be used year round I can't think of any reason not to go buy it  :-)

 

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Lots Of Sewing But Not Much Showing!

It would be very easy to assume form the lack of posting on here that I've been slack on the sewing front lately. Actually the reality is quite the opposite and the state of my house is testament to that (I mean honestly those who think housework comes before craft need some kind of emotional guidance and help). I can share this cute wee top that I made a few weeks ago for a dear friend of my DD who was turning 3. It's a size 2 (she's tiny) Raindrop Tee (I am all sorts of in love with this pattern and have about a gazillion more planned) in some gorgeous owl print euro knit that I've had stashed for quite some time. She had an owl party so I felt this was fitting :-)  The best part was she loved it and it fitted, woohoo.

Raindrop Tee

 As for everything else, well for one reason or another I can't share any of it yet :-(  But the wait will be worth it I promise, well I think so anyway.  Most of these projects are either pattern tests which are awaiting pattern release (or blog tour dates) or for Miss M's birthday (can you believe she will be 4 in just 8 more sleeps!).
So just to prove I've not been completely lazy here are some sneak peeks of what will be coming up over the next couple of weeks, any guesses as to what each photo is are welcome but there are no prizes I'm afraid.

And finally some fluffy mail I got the other day.  Now to decide what to make with it all (and for who?).