Bella of the Ball

Sometimes, you get the opportunity to try something out, and it turns into an instant love!  That was how it went with the Bella Party or Play Dress from Snuggle My Baby Patterns.  I was testing the tulle skirt version the first shot out the gate, and I’ll admit, I was a little worried about the tulle.  We usually aren’t besties, but oh my, was it amazing on this dress! 

Okay so some basics about the pattern first:

- Pattern ranges from 2T to 16 so it covers a very large size range.

- There are 4 dress options: long tulle, short tulle, special occasion fabrics, and play dress

- The bodice has options for long sleeve, short sleeve, or no sleeve.  All seams are enclosed so you won’t have any seams showing when complete (except where you sew the sleeves on…)

- There are pattern pieces for the bodice and measurement charts for the skirt pieces and sleeve cuffs so that we can save our paper and ink.

- The bodice closes with 3 buttons so NO zippers!

- The instructions are very concise and straightforward.  There are also tons of pictures for those of us who do better with the visuals.  Jennifer also made a video on how to attach the tulle in case that parts sticks us up.

As far as the pattern, I had no problems with following along.  I read it a couple of times before I got started to make sure I understood what I was doing.  My favorite part of the dress has to be the bodice.  It closes using buttons and has a sweet little curve in the back that is really unique.  My daughter was over the moon over the twirl factor.  When we went to raid my stash for fabric, she opted for a long tulle skirt and….um, ninja fabric.  I wasn’t terribly excited about her choice until it came together, and it was love! 

I also did a second dress in the play dress version that my little could wear to church (they wear uniforms for school which made me uber sad that she won’t be wearing this to school, but it’s all good). This time momma got to pick the fabrics so we went with some gray floral that I’ve been hoarding for a while.  It was a pretty awesome Hobby Lobby find and was perfect for this dress with some yellow solid that I had picked up from Ozark Fabrics on Facebook. 

As far as the fit, I found it to be true to RTW.  Little Miss wears a size 6 RTW, and I made this dress in a size 6.  It fit her perfectly!  The bodice is slightly form fitting, but there was still plenty of room for my ninja princess to wage war on the skeleton army (i.e. her brother).  The skirt was definitely roomy enough that she could chase her brother around the yard and play in it.  Even a ninja princess needs to be able to play, right?

I made my own buttons for the bodice using the button covers that you can get a JoAnn’s or Hobby Lobby.  It’s really easy to do that with this pattern because you don’t sew button holes.  The pattern calls for elastic loops so you can use pretty much any type of button you want.

All in all, we really do love our Bella around here, and I see many more of these in our future!  Now for the best part!  It’s going to be on sale for a special release price at Jennifer’s shop from today through Sunday, 31 January!  You can get your copy of Bella for $5.  After that, it goes up to $7.95.

So just head to Snuggle My Baby Patterns or visit Jennifer’s etsy shop!  Also, Jennifer has a facebook page where you can follow her happenings:

Shop Snuggle My Baby Patterns here at her webstore or here at her Etsy shop!  Remember, the Bella Party or Play Dress is on sale for a limited time to celebrate the release of this amazingly versatile pattern!  

If you want to skip on over to the Facebook group, you can find it here.  Jennifer posts all of her happenings here so you won't miss out on new releases or special events!  

Now, if you've read this far, then I really do appreciate your for sticking with me!  Now head on over and pick up your copy of the Bella!

Happy Sewing,

Kim

PJ partying with Laela Jeyne!

Last month, I had the opportunity to test the Comfy PJ pattern from Laela Jeyne Patterns.  If it were up to me, I would never ever change out of my pj’s. Ever.  So, I was ecstatic when I saw that Marisa was getting ready to release a pj pattern, and I was even more ecstatic when I found out I would have the chance to be part of her test team.  And let me tell ya, this pattern is perfect!   It comes with pattern pieces for short sleeves and shorts or long sleeves and pants.  Being vertically challenged at a whopping 5’1”, I was stoked to see that this pattern has a shorter inseam option as well with higher and lower rises.  With sizes ranging from XS to XXL, this pattern really covers a wide range of sizes.  It can also be made is either a woven fabric or knit!  I actually made one in flannel and one in cotton woven. 

As with all of Marisa’s pattern, this one is very clearly and concisely written AND there are tons of photos to help illustrate the directions for those of us who are more visual sewists!  And one of my favorite things about this pattern are NO TRIM pages!  This essentially means I didn’t have to spend precious sewing time cutting the edges off the pages to fit them together.  And the pieces just slid right into place when I glued the pages together!  Oh, and layering.  I really love that I could select the size that I wanted to print, and just the size that I wanted.  It makes for much easier cutting when I have only the one set of lines to cut on!

The design and construction of these also lends itself to some pretty nifty embellishments if you’re wanting to do some piping or add a little something to the pockets.  It’s really such a versatile pattern, and you have so many options that you can’t go wrong.  One of the testers even made some of these for men, and she said they turned out great so really, what’s not to love about this pattern?

Now, sewing for myself is iffy because I’m never sure how the fit is going to go with the finished product, but I love the fit of these pj’s.  The top is roomy enough to allow movement but not so roomy that I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of fabric, and the bottoms have just enough give for me to have some "running around after the kids" freedom.  I didn’t add the pockets to mine, but I wish I had now that I’ve worn them a few times.  I’m always looking for a place to stuff my phone or tuck away the treasures that my kids need me to keep for them while they continue tearing through the house so I think I’m going to be adding some pockets on the next pair that I sew up…WHICH, I might add is going to be happening when Marisa starts her sewalong for this awesome new pattern!  It starts in just a week on 11 January on the Laela Jeyne Facebook page!  You can join in the fun by RSVP’ing to the event and you can snag the pattern on sale by clicking here!  Sale ends the 11th, though, so don't miss out!

So, go grab your copy of this pattern and then raid your stash for some fabric so you can join the sewalong!  Happy Sewing and see you at Marisa's FB page on the 11th!

Blessings,

Kim