Bella Sunshine Designs Emmaline Dress

Bella Sunshine Designs is having a Back to School Sale. Each week two different patterns are on sale. This week the Emmaline and Clementine are on sale for $7 each. I've been on a maxi dress kick and decided to make the Emmaline for fall.

The pink fabric I used is a Cupro from Sly Fox Fabrics. The print is a rayon spandex from Super Textiles, and the brown is a rayon spandex and I probably got it at the fabric district in Dallas as well.

This was my first time using Cupro and I loved it! It is so soft, has great drape, and just 2 way stretch. I hope that Sly Fox Fabrics decides to stock more colors.

 I am not going to lie to you. The Emmaline dress takes a boat load of fabric! I used 2 yards for the bodice, sleeves, and top section of the skirt. Printed section took an entire yard, and the bottom section takes 2 yards! 

The pattern does have a sleeveless option, and multiple skirt options. There is a knee length skirt with the color blocking, and you can also make it with a plain solid skirt. But this color blocking is so fun!

 What's really fun - is twirling around in a dress this full. I took so many photos twirling, but look like a bit silly in most as I'm making the weirdest faces while I twirl.

Before I cut into the lovely Cupro Sly Fox Fabrics sent me to promote, I did a trial run in some other fabric. I am so glad that I did! I screwed up and took too much length out of the pattern and made my skirt midi length. Yikes!

This is not the length I was going for, but you better believe I'll still wear it. 

 I used a mustard cotton lycra from Made Whimsy, the print is one of my designs from Spoonflower on Modern Jersey, and the brown is a poly jersey from the Dallas fabric district.

I plan to wear this dress with some knee high boots this fall. I put my boots away for the summer or I would have worn them for photos. 

 And here is one more photo of me twirling.

The Emmaline is on sale through August 29th.


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Ellie & Mac To the Point Tunic & Dress

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac! This week I'm sharing the To the Point Tunic & Dress.

I've made this pattern only one time before and have intended to make another. The first one I made was a tad too tight across my belly, so I graded out one size for this To the Point Tunic.

Last time I really thought there was going to be enough ease that I wouldn't need to grade for my waist or hips. I was wrong. It wasn't a horrible fit on me, but I felt self conscious in it.

This one has the perfect amount of ease and I'm ready to make another!

I paired my To the Point Tunic with a pair of Greenstyle Creations Everyday Yoga Pants that I made with a reverse french terry  distressed knit.

Wacky Wednesday patterns are on sale for only $1 though midnight on August 28th. Find all the Wacky Wednesday patterns on sale HERE.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie & Mac Around the Block Hoodie

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac. This week I'm featuring the Around the Block Hoodie. I've been wanting to make this pattern ever since I saw Sharon's (Sweet Mama Life) that she made during testing.

The color blocking on the Around the Block Hoodie is so fun! It's perfect for using scraps. My printed portions are french terry scraps that I got from Sharon. We love passing scraps back & forth.

The pattern includes pockets which are nice and roomy.

I love the offset drawstring on the hood. The pattern calls for faux drawstrings, but I wanted a real one.

My Around the Block Hoodie is all french terry. All my french terry came from the Dallas Fabric District. The only piece that was not a scrap was the navy blue. I previously made pants with the burgundy at the top.

I'm not a big fan of hoodies. I did wear this hoodie almost all day earlier this week while I was volunteering to take photos at a historic house in McKinney, Texas for their website. I was surprised at how comfortable it was. But I am tempted to take the hood off and replace it with a cowl.

Be sure to check out the other patterns marked down to only $1 during this weeks Wacky Wednesday Sale! See them all HERE!

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

5 out of 4 Mabel Ruffle Cowl

I recently had the pleasure to test the Mabel Ruffle Cowl for 5 out of 4 Patterns. I love cowl neck tops and I really love tops that are swingy as they help to disguise my swollen belly caused by autoimmune gastritis. The Mabel Ruffle Cowl has both of these things and the top is pure love.

The Mabel features a high - low hem that can be made with or without a ruffle.

To prevent the Mabel from looking frumpy, you will need to make sure you make it the proper length. You want the ruffle in the front to start about the belly button and in the back, it should start mid to upper butt.

 I'm 5' tall and removed 3" from the length and the back ruffle starts about mid butt on me.

The Mabel can be made with or without the cowl. It's important to make the Mabel with a drapey knit so that the cowl is not too bulky and the top can drape beautifully.

The Mabel has short, 3/4, and long sleeve options. I removed 2" from the sleeve length and cut at the 3/4 length sleeve cut line and I ended up with almost long sleeves. My sleeves are not hemmed in these photos. I folded my sleeves up to a 3/4 length for these photos.

I wanted long sleeves initially, but had run out of fabric for long sleeves. So after I took these photos, I added a cuff to my sleeves to keep them long. 

 Below is a photo of the first Mabel that I made. This Mabel is too long on me and looked extremely unflattering from the back. I'm trying to decide what I want to do with this Mabel - 1) take the ruffle off and just hem it; 2) take the ruffle off then remove 3" from the top and reattach the ruffle; or 3) give it to my mother. I'm leaning towards option 1 or 3 and 2 sounds like more work than I want to do.

 The Mabel comes in Womens and Kids sizes. My friend Sharon (Sweet Mama Life) also tested the Mabel in the Womens and Kids sizes. The patterns are on sale for $7.95 each. Buy the Womens and Kids and get an additional $2 off!

Sharon and I met up at the Dallas Fabric District to shop and we both wore our Mabel's so we could get photos together. Well, someone forgot to bring a memory card for her camera and wasn't able to take any photos. Oops.

The Womens and Kids Mabel is on sale through November 11th.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Natures Fabrics Cotton Rib Knits

Nature's Fabrics has a huge selection of fabrics. This month, I'm sewing up their cotton rib knit. They have all kinds of rib knit and I used a few different ones for my newest Duck Butt Designs Back to Fall (BTF) Hoodie.

I received the Crimson Organic Cotton Spandex Rib Knit. This Organic Cotton/Spandex Rib Knit is 96% Organic Cotton and 4% Spandex. It is 49" wide, tubular and weighs 250 GSM. It's amazing and perfect for cuffs and bands.

The printed rib knit is called "As it Is Written". The print is on a 100% cotton white rib knit. It's a nice weight and best used for loose fitting items as it does not contain any spandex to recover as it is stretched. 

I also used the Black Cotton Spandex Rib Knit. This Cotton/Spandex Rib Knit is 95% Cotton and 5% Spandex. It is 60" wide and weighs 200 GSM. This is not as hefty as the Crimson Organic Cotton Spandex Rib Knit, but it would also work amazing as bands and cuffs.

I'm not a fan of hoods, so I made this BTF with a split cowl. I made the split cowl in the same manner as the one on the Halla Patterns Stella Pullover.

All these rib knits have 50% horizontal stretch and very minimal vertical stretch. That  means I won't have to worry about my pocket getting stretched out if I put something heavy in it.

This BTF is so comfortable. I'm ready for the weather to cool down so I can wear it.

Nature's Fabrics is having a sale on all cotton rib knits, jersey, and interlock through October 19th. All cotton fabrics can be found HERE. This sale includes fall and Halloween prints on cotton spandex and bamboo spandex jersey. Those can be found HERE.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Duck Butt Designs Carol's Favorite Tee

I recently got two of these cool cactus panels from Nature's Fabrics. Each panel is 25 inches wide by 30 inches tall. I got 2 so I could have the cactus design on the front and back of a top. Panels are 50% off through August 14th! I also got this Ocean cotton interlock to coordinate with it.

I made the Duck Butt Designs Carol's Favorite Top (CFT). I love this pattern for using two different fabrics. I feel like the color blocking is sophisticated. The CFT is perfect for wearing to work as it's modest and looks great under a cardigan or jacket.

Since I'm trying to get into the groove of making items for my fall wardrobe, I did 3/4 length sleeves.

The cotton interlock has great stretch and worked great for binding the back neckline.

I think the CFT was perfect for showing off the cactus design of these panels. These panels are Organic Cotton/Spandex Jersey and are 92% Organic Cotton and 8% Spandex. The tallest cactus on it is 14". 

I can't wait for the color weather to arrive so I can wear my newest CFT.

I'll definitely be buying some more fabrics from Nature's Fabrics. I was so impressed with how soft it was and how beautiful the colors were. Nature's Fabrics has all panels on sale for 50% off through August 14th! Find them on their website by searching for "panel" or click HERE.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.

Ellie and Mac Cold Shoulder Top

Ellie and Mac has a new release that is perfect for transitioning into fall - the Women's Cold Shoulder pattern. It has multiple sleeve lengths and a side cinched tunic version. I made the banded top version with 3/4 length sleeves.

I made this Women's Cold Shoulder top with a ribbed sweater knit. Green is my favorite color and this green matched one of my favorite bralettes perfectly.

I did not remove length from the top for my short height. I love the slouchy and comfortable fit of the Women's Cold Shoulder top.

I'm wearing my Women's Cold Shoulder top with my Palazzo Pants in these photos, but think as the weather cools down, I'll pair it with some skinny jeans and boots.

The cold shoulder detail is really cute, but can make it hard to hide bra straps. I think it looks super cute with the bralette though. Hopefully I'm not too old to pull off this look.

Here's a view of the back. The neckline and sleeves are finished with a binding. This can be a little tricky to get perfect. You will definitely want to pay attention to how much stretch and recovery your fabric has when sewing and cutting the binding.

I redid my sleeves twice as this sweater knit was really stretchy and did not have good recovery. But in the end, I think it came out great!

I made this version early in testing. I used cotton lycra for this one. I also removed 2.5" from the length for my height. If you look close, you can see that my bra straps peek out a little bit.

Using cotton lycra is a lot easier than sweater knit for this pattern.

The pattern is only $3.85 through Sunday. In addition all patterns are 40% off  - no code needed, prices are marked on the website.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. These links provide me with a small compensation if you make a purchase using my link. There is not cost to you when you do this. My thoughts and opinions given in this blog post are mine.