{Riley Blake Designs} Lucy June by Lila Tueller

 

Last week, I was prepping for Christmas, but today, I'm soaking up the last month of summer with this gorgeous floral summer dress.  I always get excited when Lila Tueller releases a new collection because she's my favorite designer.  I love her handpainted, vibrant prints featuring large flowers.  Her color combinations are equally stunning.  

Her newest line, lucy june for riley blake designs is a gorgeous collection inspired by summer gardens.  The color palette is aqua, pink, plum and lime.  There's even a fun avocado print!

I tend to gravitate toward the main aqua print because I love the oversized floral prints.  This time, however, I sewed up lucy june flowers aqua.  I loved the added whimsy of the polka dots in the background and the size and repeat of the flowers were perfect for a twirly dress.

I've been dying to try out the emilia dress by little lizard king and it did not disappoint!  It comes with several options and I chose all the little details.  My daughter still loves her dresses and I'm going to cherish every moment she allows me to still make them for her.  At 10, I know I'm on borrowed time.

It has a gorgeous low back which is perfect for our hot summers.  

Fit tip:  If your child has a smaller waist size than chest size, it's important to blend the waistline down at the side seams to the smaller size so the back doesn't gape open.  My daughter currently has a 6 chest, 4 waist and 10 height.  

One of my favorite details is the curved hem with ruffle.  I love that Riley Blake cottons drape so well on ruffles.  And of course, I had to add the pockets!  Pockets are always a must.

These straps are SO fun and unique and easier to sew than you think!  I do wish I had ordered a pink coordinate to peek out on the bottom layer, but all one print is pretty too.

We all know my daughter's favorite part is the twirl though.  The bottom ruffle really makes the difference in the twirl.  It's totally worth the extra effort of gathering.

Gathering tip:  Run 2 lines of gathering threads (at 1/4" and 3/4").  This helps hold the gathers while you attach the skirt.

Be sure to head to your favorite quilt shop to find Lucy June this month!  You'll fall in love with all the prints.  I definitely need to grab the main print for a maxi dress I've designed in my head!

{Riley Blake Designs} Winterland by Amanda Castor

 

Happy Christmas in July!  It's hard to believe in just 5 short months (and 2 days if we're getting technical) that it will be Christmas.  I love sewing a Christmas fabric in summer because then I feel so accomplished and I'm not rushing around during Christmas season trying to squeeze in a holiday outfit.

This year, I chose winterland by amanda castor for riley blake designs.  Not only did I love the color scheme, but this dress will work all season long!  This is a gorgeous collection inspired by the wonder and beauty of fresh fallen snow.  

For my main print, I selected winterland main midnight and paired it with winterland flurries red.  I love the delicate sprigs and bright red cardinals against the teal background with tall birch trees.  (Bonus, they look like stripes until you are close enough for the details.)

When I picked out the fabrics, I had just sewn my daughter's Easter dress and knew it'd be the perfect dress for another holiday too.  This is the lily dress pattern from peony patterns.  We added all the bells and whistles (read: all those micro ruffles) to make it extra special.  

I absolutely love the pop of red along the edges and waist.  Don't forget to take the extra step to match up your print across the button placket.  It's really rather easy and is so aesthetically pleasing.

Access the tutorial here: how to match prints across a seam and placket 

This dress has a deep 3" hem which really helps the skirt hold it's shape.  I decided to use a blind hem so I wouldn't have a row of stitches running through my trees.  Can you find the hem?!  

New to blind hemming?  Follow along here: sewing a blind hem

No outfit is complete without a pretty bow, right?  The bluebell bow sews up in just minutes and comes in 4 sizes from doll all the way to large.  Super cute and free!

This fabric is perfect for pretty dresses or home decor!  Find this collection coming this month at your favorite quilt shop!  It's so stunning.

I'm curious, what is your favorite holiday tradition?

{Riley Blake Designs} Spotted: Day to Night Tween Fashion

 

If you follow me at all, you know by now that my oldest daughter and I cannot get enough animal print!  At this point, she has at least a dozen different pieces in her tween wardrobe. 

As soon as I saw Spotted by Kate Blocher for Riley Blake Designs, I couldn't resist it!  This collection has so many options but leopard prints are our absolute favorite and was thrilled to find a pink and black color combination!

I chose Spotted Leopard White and it's so vibrant in person!  I really don't think I could have choses wrong though.  Check out this spread!!

Right away, I knew I'd branch away from my normal dresses.  My tween is at the age where she much prefers comfy, lounge-y pieces or something she can throw on with jeans.  With some creative thinking, I was able to make her two pieces that could take her from day to night -- depending on how she styled them.

I started with the Halsey Shorts from Little Lizard King.  They are the cutest little woven sporty shorts.  I loved sewing them last year and then forgot all about them -- whoops!  

She's finally old enough to try out for track this year so I sized up one hip size with the hopes they fit for tryouts in the Spring.  For now, she'll use them to start training!

Next,  I sewed up Laramie by Little Lizard King -- another pattern I sewed last year and then forgot about.  It sews up lightning fast and is finished inside with facings, including the hem.  I think it looks great paired with jeans and a pair of sandals.

Then, we paired the pieces together and BAM -- the perfect tween pjs!  She had to bring her favorite stuffed panda along for the shoot.

Spotted is coming out this month to a quilt shop near you!!  Which print is your favorite? The butterflies would be fun to color in with some fabric markers!

{Raspberry Creek Fabrics} My Favorite Things Blog Tour 2021

 

Last year, I was lucky enough to earn a spot on the Promo Team for Raspberry Creek Fabrics.  It's been an absolute fantastic year and I'm sad to see the year end.  Raspberry Creek Fabrics has always been a fantastic place to grab custom prints at a reasonable price.  While they carry other fabric selections, their in-house printed CLUB line is what I love about them.  And now they're about to get even better!!!  (I'll come back to that... keep reading!)

For our stop on the "Favorite Things" Blog Tour, we needed to pick 3 things -- Favorite Fabric, Favorite Pattern and Favorite Sewing Notion.  I can honestly say, it was harder than I imagined to pick my favorite.  I decided to start by choosing my favorite base hoping that would steer me in some sort of direction.  My favorite base is SWIM -- I love that it's near instant gratification.  I can sew the girls a suit in way less time than I can make a dress.  I don't have to stop after each step to iron which saves time!  Plus, the suits get worn over and over -- we go to the pool daily because it's too hot not to!  Finally, the girls love getting to "order" custom suits and I love that they actually fit (unlike store ones).

As I was deciding on which swim print, Tami made a game-changing announcement -- RCF will be able to print current prints, old prints, custom prints on a whole list of substrates!  WHAT?!!  (This will all be ready by the end of this month! We got a little sneak of the possibilities for this tour.) Okay, that just opened up my swim possibilities wide open! I thought about choosing a print I sewed earlier in the year, but figured I'd enlist my oldest daughter. She immediately loved the Sage Green Mustard and White Painted Daisy Print (normally Double Brushed Poly). This print is a double win because daisies are my favorite flower!  Then we grabbed coordinating mustard stripes (another favorite of mine!) and micro dots (normally these coordinates were on cotton spandex and French Terry).  These prints are so good paired together, but in the past, they probably have never been sewn up together because they came on completely different bases.  I cannot wait to make more custom combos!

I started sewing swimwear in 2018 and my very first swim pattern I sewed was Laguna by Little Lizard King.  And it's definitely my most sewn swim pattern so it was a no-brainer for my favorite pattern.  My girls love the many options that allow them to make their own choices!  I also love that it's a great base pattern, making it easy to hack.  The girls now look at the swimwear in the store to give me ideas.

My oldest loves the halter option, bikini length top and bikini rise bottoms and I don't dare add a ruffle anywhere.  HA!!    For the halter options, I personally omit the elastic in the ties because it makes for much thinner straps.

These striped bottoms have my whole heart!  I think it's my favorite piece of both bikinis.  She's obsessed with this suit -- in fact, she hasn't worn any of her others since I finished it.  That's a total win!

My youngest has been into ruffles lately so she always requests the ruffled vintage bottoms.  She originally requested the exposed ruffle on the bikini top but as I got to that step, she decided against it.  (Personally, I think she just wanted to snuggle and it's hard to snuggle when I'm at my machine).   She also prefers more coverage on top so I sewed up the high neckline and then used the binding finish here.

She doesn't like halters so I love that it has the option for fixed straps.  If you peep the tie in her hair, I sewed up a matching hair tie for each girl to surprise them and they LOVED it.  

If you've not sewn Raspberry Creek Swim, you need to try it! It's 50+ UPF Protection, 225 GSM and at least 60% 4 way stretch.  Fabric content is 82% Polyester 18% Spandex and is 58/60" wide! I've been sewing RCF swim for a couple years now and our suits look just as good the second season around!

Last but not least, my favorite notion (and one of my most used) is my seam ripper!  I am a perfectionist so I seam rip A LOT -- even on these two suits.   This seam ripper is Cindy's Seam Ripper from Riley Blake Designs.  They sent it to me for Christmas along with some yummy minty chocolates.  The shape makes it so much more comfortable to hold -- you can hold it up or down, hook it on your finger, use the outer finger rests, etc.  It also can't roll off your desk onto the floor which means I haven't lost it yet.  (Seriously, all my others are lost in a day). It is SHARP!!  There is nothing more frustrating than a dull seam ripper and some seem to dull after a few uses.  I've used this religiously for 7 months and it's just as sharp today.  Plus, the little cap not only protects your seam ripper when in use, it acts as a stitch eraser!  It's seriously SO good!!

And that's a wrap on our favorite things!!  This has been fun and my girls have seriously enjoyed all the Raspberry Creek Fabrics makes over the last year and they are worn over and over!  

For more Raspberry Creek inspiration, check out the other stops on the tour!

Made By Kates, Kainara Stitches, I Sew Best After Midnight

Sew Mary Mac, Tessa Does for Love Notions, Sew Love You

All My Spare Time, Pins and Pinot, Crafty Professor

Sew Hard of Hearing, Replicate then Deviate, Sew Sophie Lynn

Genwin Design Co., Shwin Designs, That's Sew Kari