Black Friday Fashion (Plaid and Boots Tour with Laela Jeyne Patterns)

Thanksgiving and Christmas crept up on me much faster than I intended for them to arrive so when my sister mentioned that there are only 5 Sunday's until Christmas is here, panic set in.  We're going to be in Georgia this year for Black Friday so we decided to trek to the mall a little early, and well, if you HAVE to go shopping, you might as well look amazing doing it, right?  So, yes, I absolutely
made us new outfits.

My daughter opted for the Little Birdy top and pants.  We're kind of fairy crazy around her so, when Michael Miller agreed to sponsor the tour, I knew that we needed some Holiday Fairies!  I really love the vintage look of the Little Birdy set.  We went with the long sleeve option, and Nini was adamant that she didn't want bias tape on the cuff.  As a compromise, we shirred the bottom of the sleeves.  I paired the top with some champagne fairy frost, also courtesy of Michael Miller Fabrics...perfect!

This set comes in a wide range of sizes (6M-14) and is pretty true to size.  My girl is in a size 7 ready to wear, and the 7 in this set fit her like a glove.  The Little Birdy top can also be made as a dress so this pattern is very versatile.  There are buttons on the back of the bodice, but you could probably also use snaps if you wanted to.  I opted for some vintage buttons that I had from my grandmother.

Then, there's my boy.  Ash is my "rough and tumble, noise with dirt on it" boy, and I love that about him.  For him, I went with Charlotte sweatpants (one of the unisex options with the Deluxe Charlotte pattern) and the Emmy tee (also unisex up to size 6).  The cool thing about both the Charlotte and Emmy is there are mommy and me options for them!  You can grab the Taylor leggings for free if you join the Laela Jeyne Patterns Group, and the Emily is the Mommy version of the Emmy.

The beauty of these patterns is that it's easy to custom fit them to your child.  My son is on the smaller side for his age. He's 6, but wears a size 5 with a size 4 length on pants so it was nice to be able to tailor them to his size.  Thankfully, being super tiny is one of his favorite things about himself because he's pretty sure "sissy stole all the tall beans".

Starting to fade on the shopping adventure

Again, you get a pretty wide size range with these patterns.  Both range from 6M-14 (unisex up to sz 6).   They're also both very quick sews so these are easily going to become well loved in our house this winter when it gets cold out.  In all, both took about an hour and a half from start to finish...including cutting the fabric.  He doesn't like elastic around his ankles so I just hemmed them across at the bottom, but the pattern does call for elastic at the ankles.

Quite over shopping and photos...

I made myself a Samantha Swing top and some Dani woven joggers.  I am a huge fan of both of these patterns.  The Samantha has both a standard sleeve option or a racerback option. You can make either style in tunic or dress length.  I went with a standard sleeve and used a panel from another tour sponsor, Moon Man Printing.  If I could spend half my day just sewing, I would be in bliss so I love the panel that Myrna sent.  The fabric is so soft, and there was enough left over that I could make the neck band from the same fabric as the panel!  I paired it with a Nicole Miller floral knit from JoAnn Fabrics.  I added two inches to the length because I do like my shirts to come a little lower in the front.  This shirt is so comfortable that I'm not sure that I want to take it off. ever.

Both of these patterns come in a large size range (XXS-3X), and again, the Samantha is such a quick sew. It took about an hour to finish to include fabric cutting time and a few starry eyed moments when the TV caught my attention.  Just a quick note about Marisa's patterns that I think deserves a giant head knod is that they are almost all no trim.  This means no time is needed to cut the edges so you can line them up.  I just run a glue stick up the side and match up the lines.  It's such a cinch to piece together the patterns, and the pattern instructions always include very detailed illustrations if you're like me and appreciate the visual references!

The Dani joggers are designed for woven fabrics, and I have about 10 pairs of these.   I opted for some black peachskin, and it was so amazingly soft and drapey.  Marisa does everything she can to make sure that her patterns are a good fit for any body type so this pattern has rise adjustment and "mommy belly" adjustment instructions.  I did both of these, and I really could live in these.  They fit so much better than any pants I have from the store.  I also chose to add the pockets to mine but you can skip that if you want.  These also have a maternity band option for soon to be mama's so that makes this pattern doubly versatile!

As a little bonus, here's a shot of the recently released Sydney Slouchy Raglan.  My husband rolled his eyes when I told him to take a picture of it, but he still did it so he couldn't have been that annoyed, right?  I wore this one with a pair of jeggings when I went back to the mall today to scope out some stuff for the kids! This is one of my favorite tops.  Off the shoulder or v-neck option, option to add a hooded cowl, 3 sleeve lengths, swing or slouchy silhouette...seriously a great pattern.  I didn't make this one for the tour but I figured I'd throw it in here since I wore it out today and was not so secretly excited that I saw one in a store that was almost this same exact style for about $35.

All in all the outing was a lot of fun, even with two very "over it" kiddos by the time we were finished. The mall was partially decorated for Christmas so I'm finally starting to feel like the holiday season is upon us...if you disregard the 81 degree weather we've had here in Oklahoma this month. Ash didn't even last the whole trip before he laid down and closed his eyes!  Thanks so much to Marisa from Laela Jeyne Patterns for hosting this tour and for inviting me to blog along!

We're right in the middle of the week, and there are some amazing bloggers still to come.  As you are checking out the different ideas everyone has come up with, don't forget to enjoy a special coupon code to celebrate the season and the tour by using coupon code P&BTOUR20 for 20% off your cart at the Laela Jeyne webstore!  You can also get yourself entered into the rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win one of three prize packs:

Rafflecopter Giveaway 

If you haven't had a chance to see the first two days' bloggers or you would like to see what's still to come, here's the complete line up with the other blog stops on the tour that you won't want to miss!

Monday

Kaleidothought  - Idle Sunshine - Allie J.

Tuesday

Sew Pinspired - SewSophieLynn - The Wholesome Mama

Wednesday

Nini and Ash - Sew and Tell Project - Sweet Red Poppy

Thursday

Pear Berry Lane - Paisley Roots - Threadbear Garments - Lace and Pine Designs

Friday

Olive Ashby - Sunflower Seams - Elegantine

And I'd like to send out a very special thank you to our tour sponsors for providing the fabric for our creations!  It really has been so awesome to see what everyone did with their fabrics!  

Thanks so much for reading along and Happy Sewing!

Blessings, 

Kim