Hosh Pants over on Alida Makes!

GUYS!
You've got to check out the AMAZING Hosh Pants that Alida made!  

Do not Pin this image from here - click through to Alida, please.  :)

They are FLORAL DENIM.  Squeal!
Hop on over to check both pairs out!

Please Pin responsibly. If you like something you see here that isn't original to EmmylouBeeDoo.blogspot.com, please click through to the original Author's post. Thank you!

Skater Dress Pattern Tour!

Good day, all!

I was recently contacted by Amanda from Kitschy Coo, to see if I'd be interested in joining her Skater Dress Pattern Tour.  Um, YES!

It came as a welcome break in what has been months of work on my own pattern making.  I was more than willing to come up for air and sew for funzies for a bit!

That dress!  That smirk!  :D

When I got my serger a few years back, I went on a hunt for knits that were different and unique.  So I feel like I owe everyone an apology when I tell you that this fabric is from eBay and I know nothing about its origins.  Ack, I'm sorry!  

I do know that it's a rayon knit, and it's delicious.  And it's covered in the most ultra-specific array of flora and fauna from the high desert of the American South West.  Lol.  It was decided over on Instagram that the smaller purple fellow is the elusive javelina.  Unique, indeed.

The Skater Dress is the perfect style dress to show off a fabric that you love.  So perfect, that I finally pulled this fabric off the shelf after 3 years!

The skirt has a great shape - it's got a good twirl factor, but it's not in-your-face girly - which I definitely prefer for Emmy.  One exception - her 3rd birthday dress.  Doesn't get too much girlier than that.

Emmy is a beanpole.  Her circumference has hardly changed since since she was born - she's just gotten taller (#iexaggerate).  So knowing that, I decided to make her the 18-24mo size.  She just turned THREE last week.  Crazy, I know, but since this pattern is sized to fit over a 2 year span (um, awesome), I knew the 3t/4t would be too big on her right now, and I require instant gratification in order to get anything done in life.  The 18-24mo is perfect!  It likely won't fit her next summer, but that's ok - I have no objection to churning out heaps of these. 

For the arm and neck bindings I used another rayon knit in a coordinating gold color that I couldn't believe I had, let alone matched as well as it does.  I didn't go out to buy ANYTHING for these dresses - super bonus stash buster.

I also added an eensy sliver of the gold fabric along the waist seam.  LOVE it.  To do that, I cut two strips about an inch wide, and as long as the front and back bodice pieces, folded them in half lengthwise and serged them into the seam.  Easy peasy!

Emmy loves, LOVES her Skater Dress!

And I'm telling you, this pattern is a breeze to sew.  The instructions are great, especially if you're newer to sewing with knits.  There are tips and helpful hints throughout.  Amanda is a fountain of knit-knowledge.

So after this dress came together so quickly, I knew I ought to make Em another right away.  She is really lacking in the dress department, and this pattern is just the perfect summer wardrobe builder.  Throw-on-and-go is definitely our speed.  

Here's a couple shots of the second dress:

This rooster print seemed like the obvious next choice, right?  Haha :D

This is the sleeveless variation in another eBay knit from years ago (gah!#%#@!), with an emerald green rib knit binding.  The rooster print is tissue weight - so thin, so soft - it'll be fantastic on sweltering hot days.

The rib knit I chose was a little too diesel for this lightweight print, and that made the armbands kind of stand up on their own!  I love how that looks though, actually!

I again added the trim at the waistline, only this time I gave myself a smidge more width to work with, so the effect is a little bolder.  

So there you have it - Skater Dresses of the Great Outdoors!  :D

BLOOPER REEL!

That bottom left pic makes me laugh out loud EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I look at it.  

She looks like she's peddling some cheap wares in a back alley.   So shady, Em.

Thank you so much, Amanda, for having me on the Tour!

And peeps, don't miss the previous and upcoming stops on the Skater Dress Tour:

There's LOADS of talent in this group! 

***

Have a great day, all!  I hope Spring has finally sprung wherever you are!

Birthday Dress!

Happy day all!
I finished sewing Emmy's birthday dress!  Behold!

This precious, smart, incredibly funny, beautiful and gentle little soul turns three next week.

I am so in awe of her, so proud of her, and pretty much the luckiest Mama in the land.

So to ring in her third year (can you hear me sobbing through the screen?), I made what is probably the prettiest dress I've made her to date!  

Emmy L.O.V.E.S this dress, so much.  She pets it.  She hugs it.  She squeals words that I can't make out when she puts it on.  Hahaha!

See? Petting:

And after about 3 minutes of dressform pictures, the agony was over and she got to put on the 'DRESH'!

The pattern is New Look 6115:

It was a really fun dress to make!  I gravitate towards these yoked dress patterns all the time, even though I am well aware of how fiddly they usually are.  But this one really wasn't too bad.  The whole dress took about three nights to sew, an hour or so each night, and way WAY too much Instagraming in between.  

The floral fabric is a Maggy London satin from Fabric Mart.  They just sold out of it, presumably because all of their Maggy London is 30% off right now.  Huzzah!

The periwinkle fabric is a crepe that I can't remember the origin of.  I've had it for a while, and it jumped off my shelf as the obvious match for the floral.  LOVE.  IT.

The lining is a nice high quality cotton in a lighter blue.  Super soft and adds more POOF.

I really took my time with this dress.  I even hand stitching the facings down.  I never do that, I usually just tack them down at the side seams and let them flop about on the inside.  MACHINE SEW ALL THE THINGS!

Twirling, and a poor attempt by Papa me to wrangle that glorious hair.

I cut out the bow pattern piece for the dress but opted not to use it - I didn't want to cover up any of that floral print!  What do you think?  Add the bow, or leave it as is?  The bow would be the solid periwinkle crepe.

The back.  What a silhouette, right?!

The seams line up!  THE SEAMS LINE UP!  Drinks on me!

So there is the dress.  Pretty special, eh?  

It's supposed to be chilly on her big day (boo... it was 72 degrees the day she was born, so we were holding out hope for nice weather.  Ack.), so it'll have to be accessorized with tights and a cardigan probably.  But she can absolutely wear this for Easter, too!  

Ahh, Spring!

:)

Have a great rest of the week, all!

A Spring Bimaa

Good day!

I wanted to share with you my most recently made Bimaa Sweater - made in a t-shirt knit!

Cute belly.

The great thing about this pattern is that it can be made in ANY 4-way stretch fabric.  It's called a 'sweater', but it can also be a t-shirt!

With the weather starting to warm up, this shirt will be perfect for playing outside without a coat on.  The long sleeves, long bodice, and cowl neck are ideal for breezy Spring days.  The sleeve cuffs and waistband will keep the chill out!

Emmy LOVES her Bimaas.  She's got 6 of them now!  Two in warm, cozy sweater knits, and the rest in various jerseys and cotton knits.  

Are you starting to wonder why she's always looking to her right in all of these pictures?  She's looking down the hall towards her bedroom where our 70 pound dog is likely rolling around scratching her back on Emmy's shag rug. Haha.

So there you have it - a Bimaa Sweater - for SPRING!

What's better than a t-shirt, anyway.  :)

Have a great day, all!

InstaFriday 3.8.13

Good Friday to you all!
I hope you've had a good week and have fabulous plans for the weekend!  I have been working so, so hard on getting my patterns released, and there is much more work to be done - so this weekend I've decided to give myself a hot minute and just sew for fun, in an effort to regain my sanity.  :)  Plus I always feel recharged after a quick new project.  It'll be nice to blog about something other than this pattern line, amiright?
So here is my week in review, as seen through my Instagram foolishness.
I was Google searching for sweater knit sources, and Joann Fabrics came up.  I was intrigued, so I clicked.  This is what met me on the page:

Cats in Sweaters.  CATS. IN SWEATERS.

Go home, Joann.  You're drunk.

Then a few nights later, we made some cats in sweaters!

Funfetti with orange frosting... Tastes like an Orange Creamcicle!

Then one night while sewing, and Instagraming, and enjoying an adult beverage - I hit a pin on my serger.  NEVER have I ever done this, and guess what happened?  The KNIFE broke.  Not the pin - the pin isn't even bent.  The top part of the knife flew off, right by my eye, before I even realized what actually happened.

Horrifying.

Horrifying and also really not good for business!  I had to finish the leopard print sweater you see here by the next day.  So off I went the next morning to my local sewing machine shop to get a replacement knife.  THIRTY dollars, in case you were wondering.  That Pabst Blue Ribbon cost me THIRTY dollars.

Shiny new knife. All is well with the world.

I shared a picture of the lines of my Bimaa Pattern... they are colorful!  The Hosh Pants are digitized in all black lines, but that wasn't possible with the Bimaa.  Pretty, non?

And, finally, listed for sale!  Clicking that Publish button is an amazing feeling.  I can't wait to do it again and again.  :)

Bought myself these ridiculously amazing loafers on Etsy for $20 including shipping.  Sort of a congratulatory gift-to-self, and also in anticipation of Spring!  My favorite season!

Drool.  They have arrived since, and they are spectacular.

But today - this is happening:

Oye.  SO Winter weary.

It's supposed to be in the 50's all next week, so there is light at the end of the snow blower.

So that's my week in Instagram pics.  Come follow - there are lols to be had.  :)

*

And here's what I think I'm making for Emmy's birthday dress... 

New Look 6115.  The adorable bow version.

I have this fabric that I really want to use for it - it's just a matter of finding the perfect mate to use for the other panels of the dress:

Maggy London satin, found here.  (There's 5 yards left as of now... If ya' like it, better hustle!)

So I'll raid my stash tonight and see what I have to work with it.  I think it'll be really cute - I pull this pattern out all the time to remind myself to make the dang thing!  The bow!  The panels!  Ahh!  Perfect for a lovely lady who's turning three, don't you think?  :)

So what are YOU doing this weekend?!  Do share.

New Pattern Release - the Bimaa Sweater

Good morning friends! Exciting news... There is a new pattern in my Shop! The BIMAA Sweater!

The Bimaa (Navajo for Vermont) Sweater is a slim, long sleeved top, with options for a big gorgeous cowl neck, or a contoured shawl collar.  I imagine the shawl collar version on boys with a collared button-down shirt underneath... Squeal!  Or what about the cowl version with the cowl sewn in a complimentary fabric to make it look like a separate infinity scarf?!  Gah!

The pattern calls for knits with 4-way stretch.  In these pictures I've used a medium weight leopard print sweater knit, and a lightweight red sweater knit.  The last picture shows the Bimaa in a thin, silky-soft lavender modal knit. 

You can truly use ANY 4-way stretch knit you want to!  Sweater knits in the cooler months, lightweight knits in Spring and Summer.  I will do some tutorials here on the blog for how to make this top short sleeved, and sleeveless!  Stay tuned for those!

Some excellent sources for sweater knit and other high-quality knits are:

Fabric Mart

Girl Charlee

Harts Fabrics

There are cuffs at the wrists and at the waistband, so there is NO hemming!  No hemming on knits is ALWAYS a good thing!  

The Bimaa Sweater is a very quick sew, and is recommended for the Confident Beginner.  If you have a serger, you can use it from start to finish.  If you don't have a serger - a stretch/zig-zag stitch will work perfectly.

Emmy somehow managed to convey MY pride in this last picture.  :)

I have made many of these of the past few weeks, and she LOVES to wear them!  One night she even wanted to wear one to bed - that's always a great sign, right?!

So, please do check out my Shop for the new pattern!  

There are three more (for now, at least!) patterns coming down the pipeline that I'm so excited to share with you.

But for now - a cocktail break.  And some fun sewing!  Emmy's birthday is in 2 weeks (?!!), so I think a dress is in order.

HUGE shout out to my pattern testers - Ari, Kenda, and Veronica - for being so helpful and gracious with their time.  Thank you ladies, infinitely.

Have a great week everyone!