Ellie & Mas Tres Belle Dress

I recently shared my Ellie & Mac South Shore Romper. I love it and now I've tried the dress version - the Tres Belle Wrap Tunic & Dress. The Tres Belle has three skirt options. The bodice is slightly different in length than the bodice for the South Shore Romper.

For some reason the Tres Belle Bodice seems to give a lower v at the crossover than what I had with the South Shore Romper. I will likely wear a cami under this Tres Belle Dress.

I used a gorgeous Knub Jersey from Sly Fox Fabrics. It is a poly linen blend - 85% polyester, 15% linen. It is a lightweight and ended up being too light for this dress. I am wearing a black skirt under this dress and a nude colored bra. I took photos initially with a hot pink bra and it was clearly visible through the knit.

This fabric is fairly soft. I've purchased linen blend knits before that were scratchy and took several washes to get them to soften up. This starts out soft and I anticipate it will get even softer as I was it.

I used the gathered maxi skirt for my Tres Belle Dress. I also added pockets - because pockets make everything better.

Since this Knub Jersey ended up being a little too light for this dress, I am debating something. Do I make myself a slip to wear under it or do I cut it to be a tunic length and wear it with leggings?

The Knub Jersey I used is the Charcoal color. It is also available in a gorgeous Deep Red. Even though it is too light for a dress, it is perfect for tops.

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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 Autumn Spice Top

It's Wacky Wednesday at Ellie & Mac and one of my favorite patterns is on sale for $1! The Autumn Spice top has a great fit with two different style options and is a great scrap buster. I'm thinking forward to October and my next cruise to New England and Canada. I decided to dig into my scrap bin and make both versions of the Autumn Spice with long sleeves.

This is the below bust version. I used Moss Dreamy Solid from Made Whimsy, Medallion Double Brushed Poly from Sly Fox Fabrics, and a teal rayon spandex - unsure where it came from.

So yes - you can mix and match fabric types. I would suggest putting the fabric with lease drape on the top.

I love how my Autumn Spice turned out with these scraps. One confession though - I ended up not having enough of the moss cotton lycra. I had cut the top and back pieces, and one sleeve and did not have enough for the second sleeve. So I bought a yard so I could finish my top.

Next I made an above the bust version of the Autumn Spice. This is the version I have made previously.

I made this one with a navy/white stripe mystery knit that had some vertical stretch (this will be important later), Moonstruck floral brushed poly from Sly Fox Fabrics, and white distressed reverse french terry from Mily Mae Fabrics.

I really love how these fabrics look together. I was a bit concerned putting the white on the bottom. You know they say lighter colors add weight. But in  this case, I think it works and doesn't make me look any bigger.

On a previous post I made of the Autumn Spice Top someone posted that they didn't like the way the seam went through the middle of my boobs. Yes - someone said that. What I have determined is that you really should use a fabric with no vertical stretch for the above the bust piece. This navy/white stripe did have some vertical stretch, but not a lot. It does come down lower than the pattern piece when I hold it up to my chest.

Now this post has me thinking. Which version is more flattering on my figure? Should I make more below the bust in the future, or stick with the above the bust version? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Check out all the Wacky Wednesday Sales at https://www.ellieandmac.com/collections/wacky-free-patterns?aff=675

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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.

Greenstyle Creations Every Day Yoga Pants

I'm so excited about this blog post! First off, I want to thank Sly Fox Fabrics for supplying me with fabric and Greenstyle Creations for providing the Everyday Yoga Pants Pattern.

Since I was making the Everyday Yoga Pants, I decided I needed to make 7 pairs (one for every day of the week) and each with a different type of fabric to show you the versatility of the pattern. I find it helpful to see a pattern when made with different fabric so I can see how the drape effects the fit.

We will start off with the pair in my favorite color - the Chartreuse Modal Jersey.  This pair of Everyday Yoga Pants feels so good on. This modal jersey is so soft and feels slinky on my legs. It has a ton of drape and hangs nicely on my legs.

I attempted to take a photo of each pair in the pose below with one leg straight and the other bent out to my side. I'm hoping this lets you see easily how the fabric hangs. I'm wearing a Sinclair Patterns Shelby Tunic made with Athletic Brushed Poly from Zenith & Quasar. This beautiful butterfly print will be at preorder soon!

Every pair of Everyday Yoga Pants were made exactly the same. The modal jersey is a heavy weight at 250 gsm. It is opaque and my undies do not show through. It feels durable and I'm curious to see if I get pilling on the inner thighs.

My next pair of Everyday Yoga Pants is made with Techno Crepe. This fabric has amazing texture and looks "dressy". This color is currently out of stock. I love the soft drape of this fabric.

I wore this exact outfit to work one day and got so many compliments. The techno crepe feels amazing on, but it snags so easily. My necklace caused several small snags where it was hanging and I got a handful of others all over the lower half of my top. My pants had a few, but were not as noticeable as those on my top.

The techno crepe is lightweight and slightly sheer. You could make out my underwear through this pair of Everyday Yoga Pants. I made a Shelby Tunic and was made with leftover Techno Crepe and love that it's long enough to cover my behind.

Next is my Techno Scuba Solid Olive Everyday Yoga Pants. I was pleasantly surprised by the subtle sheen of this fabric. I love scuba for structured items and think it gives a completely different look to the pants.

As you can see here, the techno scuba sticks out a tad as it does not have a lot of drape.

The fabric feels very durable and I expect it to hold up well to wear. The subtle sheen makes these feel a bit dressy and I have a feeling I will wear them to work often.

My next pair of Everyday Yoga Pants is made with a single brushed poly. This particular print is no longer available.  I was fortunate to get an extra large cut of it to make a matching Shelby Tunic with it. I found that most of my pants and the two tunics I made all mixed and matched very well.

I also wore this outfit to work. I wore the day after I wore the techno crepe outfit. This one also garnered me many compliments. This outfit feels like secret pajamas. So much so that I slept in my outfit - bra and all. It was completely unintentional. I guess I was so tired I just crawled into bed dressed and woke up in the middle of the night and was tangled up in my clothes and realized I was not in my pajamas!

The single brushed poly is so soft and has a lot of drape. It feels amazing on. I do tend to have problems with brushed poly getting pilly on the inner thighs, but find that it's not as visually noticeable on prints as it is on solids.

I had to snap one photo showing my single brushed poly Everyday Yoga Pants with the techno crepe Shelby Tunic.

I know it's hard to tell from the full length photo, but these Everyday Yoga Pants are made with the Natural Ash Heavy Ponte de Roma knit.  I love Ponte de Roma (also referred to simply as Ponte) for work pants. It's structured and has the look and feel of RTW pants.

This Ponte de Roma feels great and I expect it to be very durable and hold up to lots of wear.

Here is a closer look of the Natural Ash Heavy Ponte de Roma. It is an off white color with black melange specks.

This pair of Everyday Yoga Pants are definitely more traditional as what most think of when they hear the term yoga pants. These are made in a Dark Mocha Baby French Terry. I love French Terry for casual pants and Baby French Terry is so soft and has great drape.

This Dark Mocha Baby French Terry is a great neutral brown that will go with a lot of items in my wardrobe. They are probably a bit too casual to wear to work, but they will definitely get worn a lot when I'm working from home and on the weekends.

The soft drape of this pair of Everyday Yoga Pants makes them so comfortable. This Baby French Terry does contain some rayon and I find that rayon tends to pill a bit more than some other fabrics. I'm interested to see how they hold up.

My final pair of Everyday Yoga Pants is made with Party Lights Swim Knit. Swim knit is one of my favorite fabric to make clothing with for the spring & summer.

Swim knit has great drape, feels cool to the touch, drys fast, and hardly wrinkles. I find it great for traveling as it packs up light & compact and looks great right out of my suitcase. And if you are traveling to a beach, encountering lots of rain, or like to hand wash clothing while traveling - it is pretty stain resistant and drys super quick.

It also looks great and is office appropriate. Plus you can get fun prints like this Party Light print. It looks great with the cream techno crepe, but will also look good with many solid colors. The smooth and slick surface of swim knit makes it great for swishy pants and you will not get pilling on the inner thighs!

I hope you can see from my photos that the Everyday Yoga Pants are a great everyday pant. Whether you need them for working in an office, want comfy pants for travel, or really just need some pants for yoga, they are the perfect pants. They are a super quick sew and easy to fit. They do come with a foldover waistband, but I did not use it. Instead, I used the contoured waistband from the Strides as I find a contoured band fits my shape better. The Everyday Yoga Pants are on sale for the month of May for $8.50. Here's one last look at all of my Everyday Yoga Pants.

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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.

Sly Fox Fabrics Medallion Double Brushed Poly

I love wild and bright prints. That shouldn't surprise you if you've been following me for awhile. When I saw this print previewed by Sly Fox Fabrics, I knew I had to have it!

This Medallion Double Brushed Poly (DBP) is just gorgeous!

I knew immediately that I wanted to make the Halla Patterns Autumn Sweater Cocoon Cardigan with it.

I love it! There are so many beautiful colors in this print, that I will be able to wear this a bunch!

The DBP is so soft too. It makes the ultimate cozy cardigan for fall.

I couldn't let any of the Medallion DBP go to waste. I used the rest to make the Shwin Designs Hamburg Dolman.

I used a cream colored sweater knit for the body and sleeve cuffs. I love using a neutral with the bold print of the Medallion DBP.

I love the sleeves on the Hamburg Dolman.

This sweater knit was so stretchy that my top came out very long. After I took these photos I cut two inches off and put the bottom band back on.

The Medallion DBP will be available on 11/28 at Sly Fox Fabrics.  Join the Sly Fox Fabrics Facebook Group to get notification of when this print goes live. I expect it will sell out quick.

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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.

ITS Time to Sew Itch to Stitch Blog Tour 2018

I'm so excited to be a part of the ITS Time to Sew Blog Tour! For the Blog Tour, I decided to make a new to me pattern and an old favorite. Thanks to Simply by Ti and Sly Fox Fabrics for supplying me with fabric for the tour.

I love doing blog tours. They force me to commit to sew something on a deadline. For some reason, I do better with a looming deadline. I bought the Mountain View Pull-on Jeans when they released it big plans to make a million pairs as they looked just like my beloved Jag Jeans. I live in pull-on pants! But life and other commitments (pattern tests and blog tours) kept me from making a pair. I even bought stretch denim months ago to make some with. So when I signed up for this blog tour - I knew I had to finally make the Mountain View Pull-on Jeans! Nothing like a deadline to make it happen! And I was working on a shorter timeline as I'm on vacation somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico on a cruise to the Panama Canal as you read this! So if you leave me any comments, I won't see them for awhile. Both Patterns I made are on sale today for $8.

I received some fabulous stretch twill from Simply by Ti in Burgundy and Fuchsia. I ran out of time to make a pair of Mountain View Pull-on Jeans with the Fuchsia - Sorry Ti!

These pants fit so great! I made a muslin with some really wild and very retro stretch woven to see if I needed any fit adjustments and there were no adjustments needed! Yay for small miracles! My muslin pair fit great and my husband said he liked them! I plan to go ahead and finish them and wear them - so be on the lookout for them. I did adjust the length to be 29" inseam for a finished inseam of 28".

Now that I made the Mountain View Pull-on Jeans, I'm so mad at myself for not making them sooner! Seriously - they fit great and feel so good on. The front pockets are the perfect size. Big enough to hold stuff, but not so big that they bunch up.

I put the back pockets where the pattern piece had them, but they feel a little low on my behind. I'll try to play with pocket placement on my next pair. My muslin pair was made without pockets and without the faux fly - so I probably should have at least taken the time to play with pocket placement on them. Lesson learned.

This Burgundy stretch twill is just amazing. It's a gorgeous rich color that will be worn so much this fall. The stretch twill has great stretch and recovery. I've made pants with the Simply by Ti Navy and Olive (no longer in stock) stretch twill and they are in constant rotation in my wardrobe.  I now need to grab the Cinnamon and Teal colors next! I kept wanting to type "pants" instead of "jeans" every time I types Mountain View Pull-on Jeans because, I intentionally tries to  make mine look more like "pants" than "jeans" so that I can wear them to work and not be looked at in a "why are you wearing jeans to work?" way. So no rivets or fun pocket design on my "pants".

I then needed a beautiful new top to wear with my Mountain View Pull-on Jeans. I received the prettiest bamboo spandex from Sly Fox Fabrics. I had good intentions to make another Itch to Stitch pattern that I haven't tried yet, but I was worried about having time to make a muslin and then a final piece for my blog. So I went to one of my favorite Itch to Stitch patterns - the Bellavista. I tested the Bellavista and you can see all the beautiful versions I made HERE.

This fabric from Sly Fox Fabrics is from their Bohemian Soul RVJ line. RVJ stands for Rayon Viscose Jersey. It's so soft and has incredible stretch. The Bellavista is perfect for drapey and stretchy fabric like this.

This print is named Sahara Breeze. It has a beautiful white and soft grey striped background behind a flurry of colorful feathers. The stripes are delicate and not extremely visible in my photos - just as they are in real life.

I make the Bellavista per the pattern - except for the sleeves. I removed 1.5" from the sleeve length for my height, but did not remove length from the body as I like it this length.

One little thing I did do different on this Bellavista was to make it a tiny bit swingy-er. The Bellavista already has a flowy body, but I added a few inches to the swing as I had adequate fabric to do so and figured I'd use as much of my fabric as possible. Cutting the pattern pieces as is wouldn't have left any usable scraps anyways, so I might as well give my top some extra width.

My favorite thing about the Bellavista is the huge cowl! It's perfectly shaped to give that big dramatic drape that I love, yet the neckline is actually higher on my chest and I don't flash anyone when I bend over. The Bellavista does include a neckband if you wanted to make one without the cowl - but I've never done it.

I love my new outfit and can't wait to wear it to work. I know both of these pieces will get a whole lot of wear over the next few months.

Here's a schedule of all the bloggers participating. Do them a favor and try to check out their posts by clicking on the graphic below.



Be sure to visit all the wonderful sponsors for the ITS Time to Sew Blog Tour 2018!



Last, but not least - be sure to enter to win one of the amazing prizes provided by our generous Sponsors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook!

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.