{Happy Birthday} Simple Life Pattern Co.

Eeek! Simple Life Pattern Co. is turning ONE! I am so honored to be included on their celebration blog tour. Katie, Laura, and Ashley (of SLPco) teamed up with Laura (of Punkin Head Threads) and provided me with all the patterns and fabrics.

When I received the invitation, I spent some time browsing Laura's shop, Punkin Head Threads and I seriously wanted it all. I decided to take a night and sleep on it before I made my selections. In the middle of the night, I awoke with an idea -- a pretty fantastic idea that inspired my entire look.

Yep, I had a dream about cording. And I thought it would look awesome as the straps of Bella's Dress and then I thought of Michael Miller's Regatta Borderprint I had swooned over while shopping Punkin Head Threads. I quickly messaged Laura with my selection, along with a solid red from Art Gallery Fabrics for Braxton's Blazer {coming tomorrow}. Shipping was lightning quick!

The fabrics are amazing quality and of course, wash up (and iron) nicely. I had zero bleeding and used no color catchers. I had that much faith in the quality of MMF and AGF!

While my girls were having fun with their "snow days", I was dreaming of summer and crafting away, dreaming I was sailing away on one of these boats. I adore nautical prints and decor (check out the props in the top photo -- those are my normal decorations in my house :) )

Bella's Dress is so easy to sew up -- you only need to print the bodice! You can customize the skirt portion {gathered skirt, gathered skirt with ruffle, gathered maxi, gathered maxi with ruffle}. The Regatta border was the perfect height for knee length for my littlest. I added a faux sash at the waist for a little extra pop of red.

Braxton's Blazer is releasing tomorrow in the new collection. It features an open back or a narrow tulip back (as pictured). It also has 3/4 sleeves (pictured), long sleeves and cuffed long sleeves. Did I mention it's fully lined so it's reversible?! As I was halfway through sewing it, I ran across some picot-edged bias tape in my sewing room.... and then I got another idea. I sandwiched the bias tape in between the back layers so just the picot edge showed on the back petals. It was so worth the seam-ripping! Luckily the pattern sews up rather quickly so not much time was lost.

Now if you are looking at the above picture and thinking that your eyes must be playing tricks on you, they aren't. As I was finishing the blazer, I started thinking about the nearly two yards of stripes I had remaining from the top of the Regatta Borderprint. A single layer of Daphne's Skirt was the perfect pattern to create a trendy skirt that would pair great with the blazer I just finished. (Note: I added a little height to my waistband in order to feature my stripes how I wanted.)

Of course, if you make a new skirt, you'll need a top to go with it (I'm starting to think I'm in my very own "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie" book...lol) This is Cami's Tank {coming tomorrow} and will be free for members of SLPco Fan Group on Facebook (please do not share the code outside the group). How sweet is that?!

Of course, I couldn't let my littlest have all the fun! My girls are so close in size that they can often share clothes (convenient for me!). Big Sis joined in on the snow day photo shoot :)

Then we ventured out in the Great Snow of 2016 (that resulted in no school for 3 days) to get a prize and lo and behold, it was nearly 55 degrees (F) outside! So I ran back in for my camera and managed to snag a couple more of my oldest who didn't want to take off her new outfit.

If you look closely, you'll notice I ruched the sleeve hemline a tad with clear elastic. (Note: This was possible because I did not line the sleeves as my blazer is lined with the same red and not reversible). Also, note, I made a tiny error on the ruffle -- I misread the directions and stopped it at the shoulder seam instead of continuing around the back of the neck. I realized as I was sewing my two jacket halves together. I was not seam-ripping at that point. HAHA Luckily it ended up being a cute mistake.

Simple Life Pattern Co. is releasing several new patterns tomorrow so don't miss out!!