Archive for May 2017

Tamara Kate has done it again and designed another exquisite fabric collection for Michael Miller Fabrics. Frolic is a hand-painted, Mexican fiesta inspired garden full of whimsical creatures in bright, vibrant colours. You can even see some of the original paintings in this post on Tamara Kate's blog! There are more possibilities than ever with this collection because, for the first time, Tamara's designs are available in knit! How exciting is that?!

My daughter loved all the available prints as much as I did, which made it a lot of fun to choose which ones to pick for our projects. The Frolicking on Knit in raspberry was our final choice, and it is so perfect! This knit is top quality and the design is so lovely! I chose to use the Skola Dress pattern simply because the style seemed to suit this print so well. With a matching headband, Anja was ready to frolic down our main street!

For the second outfit, I just had to include the highlight of the collection: the Frolic Border. I can't resist a beautiful border print, and that's exactly what this one is. It was a perfect fit for a new pattern I've got in the works, when paired with Summer Portrait. The floral hedgehogs just blew me away when I saw them and I had to make them the centrepiece of this dress. As with other Tamara Kate fabrics I've had the pleasure of sewing with, these are a perfect weight: light enough to have a beautiful drape without the necessity of a lining. I added a pair of capri leggings with my leftover Frolicking on Knit in raspberry to complete the outfit, and we were off to park to show it off!

Thank you, Tamara Kate, for the opportunity to create these pieces with your works of art! This collection is sure to be the must-have of the summer (and beyond!). For more Frolic inspiration, follow the updates on Tamara Kate's blog. Frolic is shipping to stores on June 15.

Suz from sewpony and Jill from Kneesocks & Goldilocks have collaborated to create a beautiful new pattern called Juliette, and we just love it! When asked to participate in the tour, it was an easy yes, because I just love a versatile pattern with a classic design. The signature feature of this dress (which can also be a top), is the soft ruffle at the neckline, although it can be omitted for a simpler look. There are two closure options: button & loop or bias ties. In seam pockets can be added as well as a faux button placket and three different sleeve lengths or the option to keep it sleeveless.

What I love about this pattern is that it's super easy to make, and very achievable for a beginner, while still having enough options to keep it interesting for those who are more advanced. My daughter doesn't like wearing ruffles much these days, but she still liked this design. What I did do to appease her aversion to ruffles, is shortened the length of the ruffle (by 8cm) so that it's less pronounced. The result is more subtle and she loves it! I made a size 5 and opted for the biased ties closure. The fabric is a lightweight floral cotton lawn from my local fabric store. The pattern itself was well written with high quality photo instructions. The dress came together very quickly, and I look forward to making more of them soon!