Party Dress from the Riding Peplum and Party Dress Pattern by April Rhodes

I recently had a small piece of voile that had some damage to it that I wanted to use somehow.  I had been wanting to make a Party Dress ever since I finished my Riding Peplum a few weeks ago.  Since I didn't have enough of the voile to make a whole dress, I decided I could use it for the bodice and then use a different fabric for the skirt.  In comes Essex linen, which I am sure I have mentioned before is one of my favorite fabrics.  I had purchased some of the yarn dyed steel color from a friend on Instagram (thank you @auntipami), and it matched the Palos Verdes La Venta voile that I wanted to use for the bodice perfectly....score!  My only concern was that the Essex linen would be a bit heavy and pull on the voile too much.  Turns out it was not a problem.  The Essex linen has a nice drape and I did not have make any alterations to the pattern instructions!

The only bad thing is that the triangles in the print are a bit off and so the waist seem looks a bit wonky but it actually isn't....oh well.

Thanks so much for stopping by and this post is linked up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She.

Farmer's Wife "Progress" Or Lack Thereof

Well, I am still around but just having a hard time keeping up with everything.  I did get to go to International Quilt Market for the first time a couple of weeks ago which was amazing and overwhelming!  I am planning to post a bit about it and do a little giveaway, hopefully soon.  For now, I wanted to do an update of my Farmer's Wife blocks.  In the last month and a half I got pretty far behind with my progress.  I didn't do any blocks in April and didn't start making block this month until a couple of days ago.  While my goal was 12 blocks per month, I have six of the 12 for May finished (with a couple cut out and ready to be sewn) and I am hoping to be able to make up a few blocks this summer.  To see my last update in March go here.  Below is what I have so far this month.

The one in the middle took forever to piece, but I do sort of love it!  I feel like I was trying to do the easy ones first and was flying through it.  Now I have to start doing some of the more time consuming ones and I am not to get as many done as quickly.  So I believe I am currently at 42 of 144...interesting....mearly a dent!

Wish me luck in getting these finished and stay tuned for a Market report!

This post is linked up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Winners....Yes, Winners! And Tula Pink's Moonshine.

First, I have to apologize for the delay in letting you guys know the winners.  I was in Pittsburgh at the International Quilt Market and thought I would have time to take care of it and just could not make it happen.  To hopefully make up for it a bit, I decided to choose two winners!  Winners were randomly selected using the Rafflecopter application, and can be seen on the widget in the original giveaway post.  And the winners are....

Entry #560  Teresa

Entry #19    Sonya M.

 

Both were Facebook likes (and emails have been sent)!  So, many thanks to everyone who participated.  I dearly appreciate the support and I enjoyed reading all of your favorite Tula Pink collections.  But just wait until you see her new collection, Moonshine which will be out this September!  Such amazing colors and the prints are always outstanding.  Here are a few photos to tie you over until then....

We also received our shipment of the new Tula Pink Moonshine Aurifil collections while I was gone. I will post it on Facebook when they are up in the Etsy shop!  There are three of the 10 small spool collections, one called Dandelion, another called Meadow, and the last called Strawberry.  Each one matches one of the fabric colorways....how clever!

Thank you so much again for stopping by!

Giveaway Day: Fox Field by Tula Pink Dusk Colorway Fat Quarter Bundle

Yay, it is Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day today!  I had so much fun last time, that I have been looking forward to this ever since.  So today, I am giving away a fat quarter bundle of the eight prints from Tula Pink's Fox Field Dusk colorway.  One of my favorite things about Tula's collections is that they coordinate so well between them.  We even still have some of the Acacia prints in the Etsy shop that look great with these Fox Field prints.

You can enter below with up to five entries using the Rafflecopter widget.  One entry for commenting below telling me your favorite Tula Pink collection of all time or anything else you might want.  Then you can gain a second entry by following us on Facebook, where coupon codes are announced as well as new items that are added to the Etsy shop. Following my blog via Bloglovin' will give you another entry.  And lastly, you can gain another TWO entries by following us on Instagram, where we always have some sort of deal going on and projects being posted!  Plus, with Quilt Market going on next week I hope to have a lot of great Instagram posts for you with lots of new fabric!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for stopping by and participating!  Entries can be submitted until 8pm EST on Friday, May 16th, and a winner will be announced on Saturday, May 17th.

Fabiana Peplum: A Pattern by Debbie Brooke Designs

I had the pleasure and privileged to be a pattern tester for the Fabiana Peplum and Dress Pattern by Debbie Brooke Designs.  Debbie Brook is the owner of a fabric/sewing shop in Charleston, SC called Five Eighth Seams and they have an online shop as well, which is where you can go order this pattern.

I made the size 12 in hopes that my 13 year old would wear it, at least on special occasions.  You see, she is very much a t-shirt and jeans kind of gal, and I stopped sewing things for her a while ago for this very reason.  Anyway, I thought I would give it a shot since sometimes she HAS to wear something a little more dressy!  In the end I at least got her to pose for photos, however that might be the last time I see that top on her.  I think it looks great on her!

The peplum features a circle skirt and racer back.  The entire top is lined and the is a zipper down the back of the bodice.  The skirt has interfacing giving it body and structure.

My daughter chose the fabric for the peplum, which is Vs in Grey from the Color Me Happy collection by V and Co.  I am a huge fan of grey, so I think it is perfect.

You might notice in these photos that there is some puckering at the waist, I believe the problem was that I only attached the skirt to the front of the bodice and not the front and lining.  I was going to hand stitch the lining to the skirt on the inside, but then decided not to.  When I did attach the skirt to both layers there was far less puckering.  I think that the weight of the skirt, with the outer skirt, interfacing, and lining, was a bit heavy for just the outer bodice only.  I was not however able to get her to put the top back on for anymore photos though, so I can't really show the difference.

One of the best parts about this pattern is that the pieces are already cut out!  To me that is awesome because it is one less step to the finished product which means less time spent total....score.  The pattern instructions were easy to follow with color photos, which is always a plus.  Overall this is a great pattern for beginners and up.  It is available in kids sizes six months to 12.

Thanks again to Debbie Brook for allowing me to test out her Fabiana Peplum and Dress pattern and thanks to all of you for checking out my post!

This post is linked up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Show Off Saturday at Sew Can She.

Riding Peplum Pattern by April Rhodes: A Review

I purchased the pdf version of the Riding Peplum and Party Dress by April Rhodes back when it came out toward the end of last year.  I originally planned to make this top to wear on New Year's with a cute cardigan or something.  As you can see, I am a little behind schedule!  Anyway, since this week was Selfish Sewing Week, I figured I would try and make it happen.  The great thing about this pattern is that it is only four pieces, plus some bias binding.  There are no zippers, buttons, etc. so it is perfect for beginners.  It also goes together rather quickly, so it is a great top to sew in a pinch. 

There are two darts in the front, which I did not alter.  They probably could have used some tweaking but well, I was too lazy.  Also, I used a quilting weight fabric for the top, specifically, Nanny Bee in Green from the Briar Rose Collection by Heather Ross.  The true color of the fabric is more like the first photo in the post, unfortunately my other photos were taken at night so my colors are off.

As you can see from the side and back views, the back is longer than the front and there are only darts in the front.  The bottom has a simple folded hem and the arm holes and neckline are finished using bias binding.  The garment is unlined.

Overall the Riding Peplum is a great pattern.  It is simple and easy to construct, and it goes together quickly.  The instructions are easy to follow with lots of color photos, and you have to love those!  The finished garment is quite comfortable as it is supposed to be a looser more relaxed fitting top.  I do really like the top but I am not totally sold on peplums in general for my body type.  Anyway, it is worth checking out for sure.  Now I just need to make her Staple Dress and I am set!

Thanks so much for stopping by and this post was linked up with Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and Show It Off Saturday at Sew Can She.